A different past might have led to a different outcome, or someone might have been willing to act.

The idea

Use would have plus a past participle for an imagined past result or unrealized willingness. A past condition often uses if plus past perfect; the condition may instead be implied. Questions invert subject and would; negatives add not.

Examples

  • I would have caught the train if I had left earlier.
  • Mina would have brought a map, but nobody told her about the hike.
  • We would not have found the café without your directions.
  • Would you have joined us if you had been free?
  • The seedlings would have died without water.
  • I would have helped with the dishes, but you had already finished.

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Watch out

Do not use the base verb after would have, or normally put would have in the if clause: use a past participle and past perfect respectively.

Try it yourself

  1. Choose the correct option. If the gate had been open, we ___ inside. (would have gone / would have go)

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    would have gone

    would have gone describes the imagined result of an open gate.

  2. Choose the correct option. She ___ the invitation if she had seen it. (would have accepted / would accepted)

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    would have accepted

    would have accepted gives the unrealized response to seeing the invitation.

  3. Choose the correct option. They would have called if they ___ the number. (had known / would have known)

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    had known

    had known supplies the past condition that was not met.

Use it today

Imagine a missed opportunity and write what you would have done, including the reason it did not happen.