Paco had had a dream about this journey before: Paco would have landed in Washington before if the weather hadn't been so terrible

Topic 3 is about the third type of conditional sentences and the differences between American and British pronunciation. In this topic you will find lots of videos that will help you gain an idea and identify the American accent. It may seem a bit difficult at the beginning but it is not. Here we go, then.

Reading activity

Georgetown Univ. U.S. Capitol. Washington monument. Civil War Memorial. National Shrine.

By Epicadanm. Creative Commons.

Paco had had a great time in New York. His stay there had been enjoyable. If Paco had known that New York was such an amazing city, he would have gone there before.

The weather was still rainy and freezing, so Paco had a lot of trouble getting a ticket for Washington D.C., his next stop in the United States. Paco would have touched down in Washington sooner if the weather conditions hadn't been so disastrous.

Paco's intention was to visit Florida and Chicago too. He might have changed his mind if he had known that the bad weather conditions could cause the delay of his flight to Washington.

He could have flown first to Chicago if he had foreseen this delay, although, finally, Paco could fly to Washington and everything was O.K.

Identify all the type 3 conditional sentences you can find in the text.

Then, find synonyms in the text for these words:

(1) surprising, incredible (2) landed (a plane) (3) terrible, awful, harmful 4) anticipated.

Reflexión

Before studying type 3 conditional sentences in detail, watch this video to get an idea of its form and uses.

Curiosity

The United States Capitol

The United States Capitol is the meeting place of the United States Congress, the legislature of the Federal government of the United States. Located in Washington, D.C., it sits a top Capitol Hill at the eastern end of the National Mall. Though not in the geographic center of the District of Columbia, the Capitol is the origin by which the quadrants of the District are divided. Officially, both the east and west sides of the Capitol are referred to as "fronts". Historically, however, the east front was the side of the building intended for the arrival of visitors and dignitaries.

By Noclip Public domain.

The United States Congress was established upon ratification of the United States Constitution in 1789. New York City remained home to Congress until 1790, when the Residence Act was passed to pave the way for a permanent capital. The decision to locate the capital was contentious, but Alexander Hamilton helped to reach a compromise in which the federal government would take on war debt incurred during the American Revolutionary War, in exchange for support from northern states for locating the capital along the Potomac River. As part of the legislation, Philadelphia was chosen as a temporary capital for ten years, until the nation's capital in Washington, D.C. would be ready.

Taken from Wikipedia.

Important

Reductions

Reductions are common in natural American speech. Written reduced forms in advertisements, songs, personal writing, reflect natural spoken language, although they are not standard written English.

*STANDARD WRITTEN FORMS*	*REDUCED FORMS*
would have	woulda
should have	shoulda
could have	coulda

Further Knowledge

If you are interested in getting to know more about Washington D.C., then have a look at this video.

Here you can find an interesting way to learn some differences between Britain and the United States.

The White House Government official website offers you a great deal of information.

If you have any doubt about the pronunciation of any word, you can check it here with the help of our interactive teacher Mike.

Click here to use Mike

Now it's time to study the third type of conditional sentences in detail.