Lesson 9

Conditional Perfect

Conditional perfect is an English grammatical tense. It indicates an action that someone would have done in the past. It describes what one would have done differently or how something could have occurred differently if the events had been different.

Conditional perfect structure: Subject + Would + Have + Verb in past participle:

Affimative	Negative	Interrogative
I would have gone to NY	I wouldn’t have gone NY	Would I have gone to NY?
He would have run faster	He wouldn’t have run faster	Would he have run faster?
We would have called you	We wouldn’t have called you	Would we have called you?

Use would have or should have to talk about imaginary situations in the past.

Examples with “would have”	Examples with “should have”
What would you have done?	What should I have done?
I would have showed him the door	You should have spoken to him about the situation
I wouldn’t have done anything.	You shouldn’t have lied to him

Roleplay

Person 1: Is your houseguest still staying with you?

Person 2: Thank god, no. After a month, she finally left.

Person 1: So how did you get rid of her?

Person 2: Well, I had to lie and told her my parents were coming for a visit and I needed the room. I shouldn’t have lied. Now, I feel bad. What would you have done?

Person 1: Oh, I would have told her to leave after a few days. By the way, my mother in  law is coming to visit us next month. Can I move in with you for a few days?

Person 2: No way!