STAN - Inverted Conditionals
STAN - Inverted Conditionals
STAN - Inverted Conditionals
To invert this:
Easy, right?
We can use the second conditional to talk about something in the future that probably isn’t going
to happen.
You know, like how everyone said that Brexit wouldn’t happen. Or that Trump wouldn’t get
elected President.
Of course, these things happened — but they seemed very unlikely to happen at the time.
Here’s an example:
To invert this:
or…
The last examples (Trump getting elected and Brexit happening) were solid events, with
“proper” verbs.
But we can also use this inversion with the verb “be.”
To invert this:
1. Remove “if.”
2. Invert subject and verb. (“I was” → “was I”)
3. If necessary, change “was” to “were.”
Want more examples and practice? Check out the quiz at the end of the post.
To invert this:
1. Delete “if.”
2. Invert the subject and the auxiliary. (“we had” → “had we”)
Had we arrived sooner, we wouldn’t have missed the beginning.
So we’ve covered how to invert first, second and third conditional sentences.
The answer?
If you want to use a mixed conditional sentence AND invert it (you maniac!), the process is
really quite easy.
Invert it:
It makes no difference whether you want to mix the second conditional with the third:
First conditional:
Should Batman not come, we’re in big trouble. But don’t worry, he always comes.
Second conditional:
Were Tom a smart person, he’d invest all his money in Cobra Industries.
Were Anna not a smart person, she’d give all her money to Shady Nick.
Third conditional: