subjunctive mood - The third conditional for "if I could"


What is the third conditional for "if I could"? For example, we say:



If I had studied hard, I would have passed the exam. How about this:


If I could study, I would have passed the exam.[Is there a past perfect for could?]




Answer



Although could is the past tense of can, past tense in modals often doesn't mean past time. In the if I could, the past tense could has a counterfactual meaning rather than a past time meaning. Of course, the verb following the modal can't be past tense, so to give it a past time meaning, use the perfect aspect (i.e., could + have + past participle). So your example about studying could be changed to



If I could have studied, I would have passed.



Another option, as Irene has pointed out, is to avoid could and use be able, leading to



If I had been able to study, I would have passed.



The idea of zero, first, second, and third conditional has been much criticszed. See, for example, here.


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