II Study this example situation:

Last month Ann was sick. Tom didn't know this, and he didn't go to see her. They met

again after Ann got better. Tom said:

Ifl had known that you were sick, I would have gone to see you.

The real situation was thatTom didn't know Ann was sick. So he says Ifl had known ...

When you are talking about the past, you use the past perfect (I had done / I had been / I

had known, etc.) after if.

• Ifl had seen you when you passed me in the street, 1would have said hello.

(but 1 didn't see you)

• 1would have gone out ifl hadn't been so tired. (but 1 was too tired)

• If he had been looking where he was going, he wouldn't have walked into

the wall. (but he wasn't looking)

Do not use would (have) in the if part ofthe sentence:

• If I had seen you, 1would have said hello. (not if 1 would have seen)

Both would and had can be shortened to 'd:

• If I'd seen (= had seen) you, I'd have said (= would have said) hello.

Use the past perfect (I had done) after wish when you say that you regret something that

happened or didn't happen in the past:

• I wish I had known that Ann was sick. 1would have gone to see her. (I

didn't know that she was sick.)

• 1feel sick. I wish I hadn't eaten so much. (I ate too much.)

• Do you wish you had studied science instead of languages? (You didn't

study science.)

• The weather was terrible. I wish it had been warmer. (It wasn't warm.)

You cannot use would have after wish:

• 1 wish it had been warmer. (not would have been)

Would have (done) is the past form of would (do):

• If 1had gone to the party last night, 1 would be tired now. (I am not tired

now - present.)

• If 1had gone to the party last night, 1 would have seen Ann. (I didn't see

Ann - past.)

Might have and could have are possible instead of would have:

• If we'd played better, we might have won. (= perhaps we would have won)

• We could have gone out if the weather hadn't been so bad. ( = we would

have been able to go out)