Lesson: Third Conditionals
If we had sold more, we would have made a profit.
This lesson gives you a brief overview of third conditionals.
What is the German equivalent?
The German translations are slightly different to the English and cause a few problems for German speakers. Pay special attention to the verbs and tenses in these examples:
English: If we had sold more, we would have made a profit.
German: Wenn wir mehr verkauft hätten, hätten wir einen Gewinn machen.
English: If we had received more orders, we would have employed more staff.
German: Wenn wir mehr Bestellungen erhalten hätten, hätten wir mehr Mitarbeiter angestellt.
English: If there hadn't been a rail strike, I would have been on time for work.
German: Wenn es nicht einen Bahnstreik gegeben hätte, wäre ich pünktlich auf der Arbeit gewesen.
Notice that in German you have "hätten"/"wären" (or "haben würden"/"sein würden") in both clauses. But in English, we only have "would" in the main clause. In the if-clause, we have the past perfect (had + past participle) instead.