Practice apologizing in English
Get a breakdown of the dialogue and translations instantly with the Premium line-by-line Audio. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
| Do you know how to extend apologies in English? |
| Welcome to Three Step English Practice by EnglishClass101.com. In this lesson, you will practice how to extend apologies in English. |
| Let’s look at the main dialogue. |
| Two people are having a conversation. |
| When I stepped out to meet you, it just started pouring. Think it’s better just to stay in. |
| I’m sorry to hear that. |
| No, I’m sorry, Jack. If I’d known it was going to rain like this, I would have told you I’d join another time. |
| This last line with the apology is what's called a "third conditional." She starts with an "If," followed by a past perfect verb phrase. After that is "I would have," followed by a past participle phrase verb phrase. In other sentences, "I" is replaced by the pronoun of whatever would take the action described in the past participle. |
| Let’s practice with this grammar more in this lesson. |
| Choose the best answer to complete the sentence. Ready? |
| If I |
| a taxi, I wouldn't have missed the concert. |
| If I |
| a taxi, I wouldn't have missed the concert. |
| Had taken |
| Had taken |
| If I had taken a taxi, I wouldn't have missed the concert. |
| If I had taken a taxi, I wouldn't have missed the concert. |
| While both options are past tense, we need the past perfect, which is "had taken." |
| Choose the best answer to complete the sentence. Ready? |
| If I |
| it would rain, I would have told you no. |
| If I |
| it would rain, I would have told you no. |
| Had known |
| Had known |
| If I had known it would rain, I would have told you no. |
| If I had known it would rain, I would have told you no. |
| To make a past perfect verb, you combine "had" with a past participle. "Known" is the past participle, so it is the correct choice. "Knew" is the 1st person singular past tense, so it's grammatically incorrect. |
| Choose the best answer to complete the sentence. Ready? |
| If I |
| I would've passed the test. |
| If I |
| I would've passed the test. |
| Had studied |
| Had studied |
| If I had studied, I would've passed the test. |
| If I had studied, I would've passed the test. |
| While "studied" is the past participle, it needs "Had" to be the past perfect. Just "studied" is not past perfect. |
| Choose the best answer to complete the sentence. Ready? |
| If we'd |
| another pizza, we wouldn't have gotten hungry. |
| If we'd |
| another pizza, we wouldn't have gotten hungry. |
| ordered |
| ordered |
| If we'd ordered another pizza, we wouldn't have gotten hungry. |
| If we'd ordered another pizza, we wouldn't have gotten hungry. |
| Here, "ordered" is correct because the sentence started with "if WE'D." We'd is a contraction of "we had," so with just "we'd ordered," the past perfect is formed. Otherwise, the sentence would start with "If we had had ordered…" |
| Unscramble the words to make a sentence. |
| Ready? |
| If …, I …reservation. |
| If I'd …, I… reservation. |
| If I'd known …, I … reservation. |
| If I'd known it'd…, I…reservation. |
| If I'd known it'd be …, I…reservation. |
| If I'd known it'd be crowded, I … reservation. |
| If I'd known it'd be crowded, I would've…reservation. |
| If I'd known it'd be crowded, I would've made … reservation. |
| If I'd known it'd be crowded, I would've made a reservation. |
| If I'd known it'd be crowded, I would've made a reservation. |
| Unscramble the words to make a sentence. |
| If I…,I'd…her. |
| If I had…,I'd…her. |
| If I had her…, I'd…her |
| If I had her number, I'd…her |
| If I had her number, I'd have … her. |
| If I had her number, I'd have called her. |
| If I had her number, I'd have called her. |
| Choose the best answer to complete the sentence. Ready? |
| If I'd left earlier, I would (have joined or had joined) you. |
| If I'd left earlier, I would (have joined or had joined) you. |
| Have joined |
| Have joined |
| If I'd left earlier, I would have joined you. |
| "Have joined" is used here because we need a past PARTICIPLE phrase, not a past PERFECT phrase. "Had joined" is past perfect, and not appropriate here. |
| Choose the best answer to complete the sentence. Ready? |
| If I'd bought more, we wouldn't (have run or ran) out. |
| If I'd bought more, we wouldn't (have run or ran) out. |
| Have run |
| Have run |
| If I'd bought more, we wouldn't have run out. |
| "Have run" is used here because it uses the past participle. "Ran" is just the singular past tense, not the past participle. |
| Choose the best answer to complete the sentence. Ready? |
| If I had helped out more, we would (have finished or finished) on time. |
| If I had helped out more, we would (have finished or finished) on time. |
| Have finished |
| Have finished |
| If I had helped out more, we would have finished on time. |
| "Have finished" is used here because we need the "have" as part of the "would have" of the conditional statement. "We would finished" is not grammatically correct. |
| Choose the best answer to complete the sentence. Ready? |
| If I'd finished earlier, I (would've helped or would help) you. |
| If I'd finished earlier, I (would've helped or would help) you. |
| Would've helped |
| Would've helped |
| If I'd finished earlier, I would've helped you. |
| "Would've helped" is used here because it's in the correct tense. "I would help you" is grammatically fine on its own, but the tense doesn't match. |
| Listen to what I say. What is the past perfect verb in the sentence? |
| If I had known it would rain, I would have told you no. |
| Listen one more time. |
| If I had known it would rain, I would have told you no. |
| Did you hear, "had known"? Had known is the past perfect here. |
| How about...? |
| If I had taken a taxi, I wouldn't have missed the concert. |
| Let’s listen one more time. |
| If I had taken a taxi, I wouldn't have missed the concert. |
| Did you hear "had taken"? Had taken is the past perfect here. |
| Next... |
| If I had helped out more, we would have finished on time. |
| One more time. |
| If I had helped out more, we would have finished on time. |
| Did you hear "had helped"? "Had helped" is the past perfect here. |
| Next... |
| If I'd finished earlier, I would've helped you. |
| One more time. |
| If I'd finished earlier, I would've helped you. |
| Did you hear "I'd finished"? I'd is a contraction of I and had, so "had finished" is the past perfect here. |
| And... |
| If I had studied, I would've passed the test. |
| One more time. |
| If I had studied, I would've passed the test. |
| Did you hear "had studied"? "Had studied" is the past perfect here. |
| Thank you for watching. |
| Now you know how to extend apologies in english. |
| ...and now you can move on to the next lesson in the pathway on EnglishClass101.com. |
Comments
HideLet's practice together in the comments!