Mixed vs Pure Third Conditional — Two Voices, One Life
Grammar: Conditionals
Free ESL grammar exercise on mixed vs pure third conditional themed around two voices, one life. Printable worksheet from EnglishPlans.com.
What's on this worksheet
A Level 4 (upper intermediate) ESL grammar exercise on culture, practising conditionals. The worksheet has a short reading excerpt, a grammar reference and graded practice items.
From the reading
"If I had not moved to the United States, I would probably never have thought of myself as African" — that is a pure third conditional. But Adichie also carries the present consequence: "I would simply be Igbo, or Nigerian" — a mixed conditional, because the identity she carries now was shaped by a decision made in the past.
Grammar: Conditionals
- Pure third conditional
- If she had stayed in Nigeria, she would have written different books. — past condition, past result only
- Mixed: past → present
- If she hadn't moved to the US, she wouldn't be the writer she is today. — past condition, present result
Sample items
- If Adichie ______ (not / leave) Nigeria, she... (not / be) the writer she is today.
- If she ______ (not / experience) that perception from her roommate, she... (not / write) 'We Should All Be Feminists'.
- If he ______ (grow up) in a bilingual home, he... (be) much more confident now.
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