Imaginary situations in the past with if

1. Pre-Reading

Are you good at making decisions or not? If you find it hard to make a decision, what do you normally
do?

a) Talk it over with a friend

b) Toss a coin

c) Make a list of pros and cons

d) Research expert opinion

e) Follow your instinct

f) something else?

2. Read about Luke Rhinehart and his novel The Dice Man. Answer the questions

a How does the main character in The Dice Man make decisions?

b What about the author of the book? Give an example of an important decision he made in this way.

c Why did he first start doing this?

d What job did he do before he was an author?

e What made him decide to write a book about throwing dice (‘dicing’)?

f Who encouraged him to finish his book?

g Why did Rhinehart say goodbye to his wife?

h Who rescued them from the sea?

Adapted from:
Cunningham & Moor. (2005). New Cutting Edge Intermediate Students’ Book. Harlow, UK: Longman.
Imaginary situations in the past with if

The Dice Man is a novel about a man who throws dice to decide his every action - and it's based on
fact. The author, Luke Rhinehart, has made some of his best and worst decisions that way. When he was
twenty-one, he was driving on Long Island when he saw a pretty nurse walking along the road. "I took
out the die and said to myself: If it falls on an odd number (one, three or five), I will turn around and
offer her a ride. And it came out odd. So I did. I arranged to play tennis with her the next day. These
many years later, I am still married to the same woman."

Rhinehart first started making decisions by throwing dice when he was at college because he didn’t like
the kind of person he was: a person who always made very ‘safe’ and ‘boring’ decisions. Throwing the
dice was a way of making himself take more risks. Years later, when he himself was a college professor,
he told his students about his ‘dice philosophy’. They were so fascinated that he decided to write a book
about it.

However, the book — and the rest of his life - almost didn’t happen. Five years later, Rhinehart was
living on the Spanish island of Majorca teaching English, but he had still only written two hundred pages
of the book. He met an English publisher, Mike Franklyn, and showed him the manuscript of The Dice
Man. Franklyn knew it would be a big success, and encouraged Rhinehart to finish it.

Then, when the book was done, the author and his wife bought a sailing boat and set off from the south
of France to Majorca. Along the way, they met a fierce storm and lost their engine. "I said goodbye to
my wife. We assumed we were going to die."

However, the couple were pulled from the ocean by some Scottish sailors, the book was published and
Franklyn sold the rights all over the world.

3. Match the beginnings of the sentences in A with the endings in B. Use the text to help you.

A B
a Luke Rhinehart probably wouldn't have started 1 if the Scottish sailors hadn't rescued him.
dicing 2 if his students hadn’t been so interested in
b He wouldn’t have met his wife dicing.
c He wouldn't have started writing The Dice Man 3 if his life had been more exciting when he was
d He might not have finished the book young.
e He wouldn’t be alive today 4 if the book hadn't been so successful.
f He might still be a poor college professor 5 if he hadn't met Mike Franklyn.
6 if he had thrown an even number.

Adapted from:
Cunningham & Moor. (2005). New Cutting Edge Intermediate Students’ Book. Harlow, UK: Longman.
Imaginary situations in the past with if

Analysis

a Are the sentences in exercise 3 true or hypothetical?

b Look at the ‘conditions’ in B. Do they refer to the present or the past? What form of the verb is used to

talk about past conditions?

c Look at the hypothetical situations in A. Which ones refer to the past? Which refer to the

present?

Notice the verb forms.

Past condition → Past result

If he hadn't been bored, he wouldn’t have started dicing.

Past condition → Present/general result

If the book hadn’t been successful, he would/might still be a college professor

Underline these forms in the exercise.

Practice

1. Try making sentences about past conditions with past results: https://www.perfect-english-
grammar.com/third-conditional-exercise-1.html

2. Try making sentences about past conditions with present results: https://www.test-
english.com/grammar-points/b2/mixed-conditionals/

3. Complete the following sentences to make them true for you:

A I wouldn’t have met … if…

B I would have studied … if…
C I wouldn’t have studied … if…
D I wouldn’t have gone to … if …
E I would have more money now if…
F I’d feel better now if …

4. Think about a big decision or event in your life. How would your life have been different if things
had happened differently? Write sentences about it, and then tell your partner.

Adapted from:
Cunningham & Moor. (2005). New Cutting Edge Intermediate Students’ Book. Harlow, UK: Longman.