Third Conditional Games, ESL Activities and Worksheets
In this engaging third conditional game, students guess verb phrases that complete third conditional sentences. Student A starts by reading the first third conditional sentence to Student B, adding in their guess for the missing verb phrase. Student A has three chances to guess each missing verb phrase. If Student A guesses the exact words that Student B has in bold on their worksheet, they score three points, write the missing words in the gaps and move on to the next sentence. If the guess is wrong, they try again for two points and then for one point. It's then Student B's turn to guess the missing verb phrases in their sentences. The student with the most points at the end of the game wins.
Here is a fun third conditional game for students to play in class. Both students have the same third conditional sentences, but where they have words in bold, their partner has gaps and vice versa. Student B starts by reading the first sentence and guessing the missing words in the gaps using the third conditional. Student B has three chances to guess the missing words. If Student B guesses the exact words that Student A has in bold on their worksheet, they score three points and write the missing words in the gap. If the guess is wrong, Student B tries again for two points and then for one point. Then, it's Student A's turn to guess the missing words in the second sentence and so on. The student with the most points at the end of the game wins.
In this free third conditional game, students complete conditional sentences about imaginary or unlikely situations in the past. Students then play a game where they race to find out who wrote each sentence by asking third conditional questions. First, students complete third conditional sentences on cards any way they like. All the students then fold up their completed sentences and put them in a box. Next, each student takes a card from the box and goes around the class asking a third conditional question to find out who wrote the sentence on their card. When a student finds the person who wrote the sentence, they write the person’s name on the card, keep it, and take another card from the box. The student with the most sentences at the end of the game wins.
In this productive third conditional running dictation activity, students race to dictate a story and then use it to complete third conditional sentences. One student is the 'reader' and the other is the 'writer'. The reader runs to Text A on the wall outside the classroom, reads the first part of the story, tries to remember as much as they can, runs back and dictates the text to their partner who writes it down. This continues until Text A has been fully dictated. Students then swap roles with the new reader dictating Text B to their partner in the same way. When the students have finished, they use the story they wrote down to complete third conditional sentences. For each sentence, students choose two verbs from a box, writing them in their positive or negative third conditional form as appropriate. The first pair of students to complete the third conditional sentences correctly wins.
Here is an imaginative third conditional board game to help students practice or review third conditional forms. In the activity, students play a board game where they complete third conditional sentences and ask and answer third conditional questions. Players take it in turns to roll the dice and move their counter along the board. When a player lands on a square, they use the clause in the square to make a third conditional sentence. If the sentence is grammatically correct and makes sense, the player stays on the square. If a player lands on an 'Ask a question' square, they ask a third conditional question to another student. If a player cannot make a sentence or question or they complete a sentence or question incorrectly, they go back two squares. The first player to reach the finish square wins the game.
In this entertaining third conditional game, students use I wish, If only, and I'd rather with the past perfect to try and complete sentences in the same way as another student. One student from each team comes and sits at the front of the class. You read out the first item from the caller's sheet using the word 'blank' for the missing ending, e.g. 'I didn't know you were coming over today. I'd rather you BLANK.' Students then secretly complete the corresponding sentence on their worksheet with their own ideas, e.g. 'I'd rather you had told me earlier.' When everyone has written an answer, the team members take turns reading the sentence they have written. The student at the front then reveals their answer. For every sentence that matches the student's answer, teams score one point. Two new students then come up to the front, you read out the second item, and so on. The team with the most points at the end of the game wins.
In this free third conditional speaking activity, students find out what happened to their classmates last week and write third conditional sentences about how things could have been different. Each student reads their role card and imagines that this is what happened to them last week. Students then go around finding out what happened to their classmates. After speaking to a classmate, students find out the number on their role card and write a third conditional sentence about how things could have been different next to the corresponding number on the worksheet. When the students have finished, elicit possible third conditional sentences for each role card from the students.
In this thought-provoking third conditional regrets game, students try to identify problems from conditional sentences expressing regret. In groups, each student takes a card and thinks about what caused the problem on their card. Students then plan how to express regrets about the situation using the third conditional, without saying what the problem is. Next, students take it in turns to talk about their regrets for the problem on their card. Students should express at least three regrets for each problem. The other students listen and try to identify the problem. The first student to correctly guess the problem wins the card. If no one guesses correctly, the student expressing the regrets keeps the card. Afterwards, students take a new card each and repeat the process. The student with the most cards at the end of the game is the winner.
In this creative third conditional speaking activity, students role-play accepting responsibility for mistakes. In groups, students have fifteen minutes to prepare a short role-play about a mistake that someone had made. The only rule is that the role-play must include the eight clauses on the strips. When everyone is ready, the groups present their role-plays to the class. While the groups are presenting, the other students listen and hold up a corresponding strip each time they hear one of the eight clauses. After each group’s role-play, the students in the audience make third conditional sentences about the group’s story, e.g. 'If Tom had woken up earlier, he wouldn't have missed his flight'.
In this interesting third conditional speaking activity, students create short speeches by famous people or characters and then play a game where they guess who is giving each speech. Each team prepares a number of short speeches that famous people or characters could have given regretting actions they had done in the past. When the teams have finished writing, they read out their speeches in turn to the class. After a team has read out a speech, students discuss who it could be and each team writes down an answer. Each team then gives their answer and the famous person or character is revealed. Teams receive one point for each correct guess. The team with the most points at the end wins.
This useful third conditional worksheet helps students practice or review positive and negative third conditional sentences. After reading through how to form the third conditional, students practice the structure by completing third conditional sentences with verbs in brackets. Next, students reorder words to make third conditional sentences starting with If. Finally, students read a story about someone's bad day and write third conditional sentences about it using prompts.
