One cousin, one video, millions of learners: mixed conditionals for a past cause and a result now

Q: What are mixed conditionals?

Mixed conditionals join an if-clause and a result from two different times . One type imagines a different past and its result now: If Sal Khan hadn't tutored his cousin, Khan Academy might not exist today. The other pairs a present state with a past result: If I were from Oregon, I would have gone. The B2 lesson One cousin, one video, millions of learners on edio.ai teaches the first type through the story of Khan Academy.

Q: How do you form a mixed conditional?

Put the cause in the past perfect and the result in would , might or could + base form: If I'd studied coding, I'd have a different job now. For an action going on now, use would be + -ing: If he had kept the videos private, strangers wouldn't be using them today. The scheme in One cousin, one video, millions of learners on edio.ai shows the form for every person.

Q: What are some examples of mixed conditionals?

Four from One cousin, one video, millions of learners on edio.ai: If Isaiah's aunt hadn't helped him, he wouldn't be a data reporter now. If Fay hadn't found the videos, she'd still be failing geometry. If Khan hadn't uploaded those lessons, a lot of kids wouldn't have free help today. If you had quit, you wouldn't be in that program now. Every if-clause imagines the opposite of the real past , and every result is about now.

Q: What's the difference between the third conditional and a mixed conditional?

The third conditional keeps both halves in the past ; a mixed conditional brings the result into the present. Third: If you'd left earlier, you would have caught the bus. Mixed: If you'd left earlier, you would be here now. The if-clause is the same, so look at the result and its time word. The meaning quiz in One cousin, one video, millions of learners on edio.ai asks when each result happens.

Q: Is it “If I would have known” or “If I had known”?

It's If I had known : a past cause takes had , not would have . Would belongs in the result: If I had practiced more, I'd be in the band now , not If I would have practiced more . In speech, If I'd practiced is the same thing, since this 'd stands for had . The chat in One cousin, one video, millions of learners on edio.ai uses If you would have quit as a wrong reply.

Q: How do I teach mixed conditionals to B2 students?

Begin with a past fact and a present one : Isaiah's aunt helped him. He's a data reporter now. Students turn both around in one sentence, then compare it with a third conditional about the same past. One cousin, one video, millions of learners on edio.ai moves from Leona's explainer and the office argument to the scheme, a gap-fill, a table of what-ifs and a quiz on meaning.

Q: What's a good game for practicing mixed conditionals?

Play the butterfly chain : one student names a past choice ( I moved to Chicago ), and the next takes it away and adds a result now: If you hadn't moved to Chicago, you wouldn't know me now. The chain goes on until someone slips on a form. For speaking, the boxes in One cousin, one video, millions of learners on edio.ai ask about a decision: If you hadn't made it, what would be different now?

Q: What's good homework for mixed conditionals?

Good homework states the real past first , so only one form fits: I missed the last bus last night. If I ___ it, I wouldn't be so tired today. Add a sort of endings into a result then or now. All ten homework tasks in One cousin, one video, millions of learners on edio.ai check themselves, including Pauline's story of how free videos helped her become a nurse.

Q: How do you practice mixed conditionals one-to-one?

Trade turning points : the student names a choice from years ago, and the teacher asks What would be different now if you hadn't made it? Then they switch roles. The chat in One cousin, one video, millions of learners on edio.ai works without a partner: Ezekiel almost quit his robotics club, and the student answers If you had quit, you wouldn't be in that program now.

This B2 ESL lesson plan teaches mixed conditionals with a past cause and a result now through Khan Academy, which grew from Sal Khan tutoring his cousin in math.

Grammar: If + past perfect, then would, might or could + base form for now (If he hadn't tutored Nadia, Khan Academy might not exist today.), plus would be + -ing.
Topic: How lessons for a few cousins became a free nonprofit and what studies can't prove, with words such as self-paced and feedback.
Activities: An explainer, an office argument and a student's voice memo, self-checking drills, a chat about a life-changing decision and boxes of what-if questions.

What's inside

Chapter 1Warm-up: who taught you?
- PictureUnlock
- Spin the wheel and answerSpin the wheelUnlock
- Study the words: learning onlineVocabularyTry it
- Look at the pictures and choose the wordChoose by pictureUnlock
Chapter 2From a closet to the world
- Look at the picture: where the first videos were madePictureUnlock
- Read Leona's explainer on The Why DeskArticleUnlock
- Read and mark true or falseTrue or falseUnlock
- Read again and choose the correct answerQuizUnlock
- Match the paragraphs and the headingsMatchUnlock
Chapter 3Can a video replace a teacher?
- Listen to Leona and IsaiahListeningTry it
- Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
- Listen and choose the correct answerQuizUnlock
- Listen to the Reader's Rebuttal: Fay's voice memoListeningUnlock
- Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
- Listen and mark true or falseTrue or falseUnlock
Chapter 4Grammar: If he hadn't tutored Nadia…
- Study the scheme: a past cause, a result nowGrammar schemeTry it
- Choose the correct optionChoose the optionUnlock
- Fill in the gaps: use the words in bracketsFill in the gapsTry it
- Fill in the table: what if it had been different? Use would or wouldn'tFill in the tableUnlock
- Choose the correct answer: what does it mean?QuizUnlock
- Put the words in the correct orderUnjumbleUnlock
Chapter 5Let's talk: one decision, a different now
- Choose the right replies: a decision that changed everythingChatTry it
- Open a box and answer: what if?Open the boxUnlock
Chapter 6Homework
- Match the words and the meaningsMatchUnlock
- Unscramble the wordsAnagramUnlock
- Fill in the gaps with the lesson's wordsFill in the gapsUnlock
- Find the matching pairs: words and meaningsMemory gameUnlock
- Choose the correct option: new sentencesChoose the optionUnlock
- Fill in the gaps: use the words in bracketsFill in the gapsUnlock
- Choose the correct answer: which sentence is correct?QuizUnlock
- Sort the endings into the correct columns: then or now?Sort into columnsUnlock
- Choose the correct option: a reader's storyChoose the optionUnlock
- Drag the words into the gaps: Leona answers FayDrag and dropUnlock

Vocabulary

12 words and phrases from the lesson, each with a picture and audio in edio.

+9 more with pictures and audio in the lessonMore words

self-paced
feedback
nonprofit
refresher
flipped classroom
lecture
problem set
one-on-one
embarrassed

Grammar: mixed conditionals: a past cause, a result now

A mixed conditional imagines a different past and shows how the present would change: If he hadn't tutored Nadia, Khan Academy might not exist today. A free online school that began with math help for one cousin is a story of such what-ifs. Learners use the past perfect for the cause, would + base form for the result, and listen for now, today and still.

If he hadn't tutored Nadia, Khan Academy might not exist today.

A mixed conditional imagines a different past and shows how things would be different now.

Two halves, two times

The if-clause looks back: had or hadn't + past participle. The result is about now: would, might (maybe) or could (would be able to) + base form. An action in progress now takes would be + -ing: strangers wouldn't be using the videos today.

Part	Form	Example
the past (the if-clause)	if + had / hadn't + past participle	If he hadn't tutored Nadia, …
now (the result)	would / wouldn't + base form (might = maybe, could = would be able to)	… Khan Academy might not exist today.
now, in progress	would / wouldn't + be + -ing	… strangers wouldn't be using the videos today.

One form for every person

Nothing changes from person to person: If she hadn't found the videos, she wouldn't understand fractions now. If we hadn't found the videos, we wouldn't understand fractions now. With it, the same pattern describes a situation: If it hadn't rained all night, the field wouldn't be wet now.

Person	The past: if + past perfect	Now: would + base form
I	If I hadn't found the videos,	I wouldn't understand fractions now.
you	If you hadn't found the videos,	you wouldn't understand fractions now.
he	If he hadn't found the videos,	he wouldn't understand fractions now.
she	If she hadn't found the videos,	she wouldn't understand fractions now.
it	If it hadn't rained all night,	the field wouldn't be wet now.
we	If we hadn't found the videos,	we wouldn't understand fractions now.
they	If they hadn't found the videos,	they wouldn't understand fractions now.

Third conditional or mixed?

The if-clauses match; the result shows the time. If I'd studied coding, I would have gotten a different job is about then; …I would have a different job now is about today. A result now takes would + base form, never would have been: look for now, today, still.

Third conditional or mixed?

Third conditional: past → past

If he hadn't tutored Nadia, he might never have started recording lessons.
If I'd studied coding, I would have gotten a different job.
If you'd left earlier, you would have caught the bus.

Mixed: past → now

If he hadn't tutored Nadia, Khan Academy might not exist today.
If I'd studied coding, I would have a different job now.
If you'd left earlier, you would be here now.

Find the “now” word

Look for now, today, right now or still in the result. They show a result in the present, so use would + base form: If she hadn't found the videos, she would still be behind now. Not: she would have been behind now. A result that is finished in the past takes would have + past participle: that's the third conditional.

'd means had or would

In If I'd studied coding, I'd have a different job now, the first 'd is had and the second is would. Here have is the main verb (own), so write have, never of. And would stays out of the if-clause: not If he would have tutored her.

'd can mean had or would

In speech, 'd can be both: If I'd (= had) studied coding, I'd (= would) have a different job now. Never put would in the if-clause: not If he would have tutored her. And in I'd have a different job, have is the main verb (= own): write have, never of.

Common mistakes

If he didn't tutor Nadia back then puts a past cause in the wrong tense: say hadn't tutored. Wouldn't have been learning for free today clashes with today: say wouldn't be learning. And If I would have practiced more becomes If I had practiced more.

If he didn't tutor Nadia back then, Khan Academy wouldn't exist today.
If he hadn't tutored Nadia back then, Khan Academy wouldn't exist today.
a past cause: if + past perfect
If he hadn't tutored her, many kids wouldn't have been learning for free today.
If he hadn't tutored her, many kids wouldn't be learning for free today.
a result now: would + be + -ing, not would have been
If I would have practiced more, I'd be in the band now.
If I had practiced more, I'd be in the band now.
no would in the if-clause
If I'd studied coding, I would of a different job now.
If I'd studied coding, I would have a different job now.
would + the verb have; write have, never of

At The Why Desk

If Sal Khan hadn't tutored his cousin, Khan Academy might not exist today.
If he had kept the videos private, strangers wouldn't be using them today.
If Isaiah's aunt hadn't helped him, he wouldn't be a data reporter now.
If Fay hadn't found the videos, she'd still be failing geometry.
If Khan hadn't uploaded those lessons, a lot of kids wouldn't have free help today.
If I'd studied coding, I'd have a different job now.

More lessons on this grammar: Third and mixed conditionals lessons and exercises

Try the mixed conditionals exercises

Try them yourself: these are the same exercises your students do in edio.

What's in the lesson

19 auto-checked exercises
5 games
1 article
1 grammar scheme
1 set of word cards
2 audio clips
2 pictures
2 transcripts

The main objectives of this lesson are to:

imagine a different past and its result now: If Sal Khan hadn't tutored his cousin, Khan Academy might not exist today.
use would be + -ing for a result in progress: If he had kept the videos private, strangers wouldn't be using them today.
tell a mixed conditional from the third conditional by the time of the result: would have caught the bus (then), would be here now
read 'd as had or would, and never write would of: If I'd studied coding, I'd have a different job now.
tell how one decision shaped your life today: If I hadn't joined the school band in sixth grade, I wouldn't have so many friends now.

Lesson 2 is the second lesson of Learning reimagined, unit 1 of English B2.2 · Culture and Society. It takes the third conditional of B2.1 lesson 5 and moves the result into the present. Lesson 3 turns to provided that, and lesson 4 adds the other mixed conditional. A free school that grew out of lessons for a few cousins invites the mixed conditional's question: where would we be now if it hadn't happened?

Students spin a wheel of questions about who taught them, then learn twelve words, from upload and rewind to problem set and embarrassed, with pictures and audio. They read Leona's explainer on lessons first recorded in a closet, then hear Isaiah tell Leona that an aunt's phone tutoring made him a data reporter, and Fay, 16, from Texas, say free videos took her from failing geometry to a B; both are AI-voiced. The grammar chapter has the scheme and five self-checking drills, among them a table that turns two facts into a what-if. In the speaking chapter, students answer Ezekiel's messages about a decision that changed his life and open boxes of what-if questions.

All ten homework tasks check themselves: a word match, an anagram, gaps with the lesson's words and a memory game, then forms to choose in new sentences, typed gaps, a quiz on correct sentences, endings to sort into then or now, Pauline's story of going back to school and Leona's answer to Fay with words to drag in.

Grammar:: mixed conditionals · past cause, present result · if + past perfect, would + base form · third conditional vs mixed conditional
Topic:: Khan Academy · Sal Khan · online learning · video lessons · the flipped classroom · learning reimagined · The Why Desk

Teaching tips

Draw two timelines: one for the third conditional, ending in the past, and one for the mixed type, ending today. Students place would have caught the bus and would be here now on the right line and say why.
Ask who helped students most with school before the reading: a teacher, a relative or a video? Then they read to find whom Khan helped, how, and why his cousins preferred him on YouTube.
Play the office dialogue twice: first to decide who thinks a video can replace a teacher, then to catch Isaiah's what-if about his aunt and the one about free help today.
Turn two facts into one sentence: Fay found the videos. She understands geometry now. → If Fay hadn't found the videos, she wouldn't understand geometry now. Then students try it with two facts from their own lives.

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The whole course: English B2.2 · Culture and Society

32 more lessons for adults at B2 in American English, with the same Why Desk team in Pittsburgh. Each lesson answers one question about how Americans learn, work, travel and remember, from the law behind the 40-hour week to the oral histories of StoryCorps. Learners link ideas in formal writing, report what is said and believed, and pack more into a sentence with participle and relative clauses. The practice exercises check themselves.See the course

Unit 1 Learning reimagined
adjective suffixes and negative prefixes, mixed conditionals, provided that and on condition that
1. Lesson 1College for farmers' kids?Adjective suffixes and negative prefixes
2. Lesson 2 · you're hereOne cousin, one video, millions of learnersMixed conditionals: a past cause, a result now
3. Lesson 3A college that says yesConditional linkers: provided that, on condition that, assuming, otherwise
4. Lesson 4School in the woodsMixed conditionals: a present state, a past result
Unit 2 Work-life balance
be required to and be entitled to, present and perfect participle clauses, participle clauses after conjunctions
Unit 3 Turning points
reduced relative clauses, preposition + which and whom, which for a whole clause, noun + preposition
Unit 4 News and truth
although, whereas and while, the impersonal passive, despite and however, is said to have
Unit 5 Travel that gives back
so as to, in order to and so that, modifying comparatives, linkers of reason and result, verb + object + preposition + -ing
Unit 6 Sport and society
verb + noun collocations, what phrasal verb particles mean, a for-and-against essay, nouns from phrasal verbs
Unit 7 Buildings and heritage
past participle clauses, quantifier + of which and of whom, report language, turn out and prove
Unit 8 Generations
adverb + adjective collocations, three-part phrasal verbs, negative and echo questions, prepositional phrases

Questions about this lesson

What are mixed conditionals?

Mixed conditionals join an if-clause and a result from two different times. One type imagines a different past and its result now: If Sal Khan hadn't tutored his cousin, Khan Academy might not exist today. The other pairs a present state with a past result: If I were from Oregon, I would have gone. The B2 lesson One cousin, one video, millions of learners on edio.ai teaches the first type through the story of Khan Academy.

How do you form a mixed conditional?

Put the cause in the past perfect and the result in would, might or could + base form: If I'd studied coding, I'd have a different job now. For an action going on now, use would be + -ing: If he had kept the videos private, strangers wouldn't be using them today. The scheme in One cousin, one video, millions of learners on edio.ai shows the form for every person.

What are some examples of mixed conditionals?

Four from One cousin, one video, millions of learners on edio.ai: If Isaiah's aunt hadn't helped him, he wouldn't be a data reporter now. If Fay hadn't found the videos, she'd still be failing geometry. If Khan hadn't uploaded those lessons, a lot of kids wouldn't have free help today. If you had quit, you wouldn't be in that program now. Every if-clause imagines the opposite of the real past, and every result is about now.

What's the difference between the third conditional and a mixed conditional?

The third conditional keeps both halves in the past; a mixed conditional brings the result into the present. Third: If you'd left earlier, you would have caught the bus. Mixed: If you'd left earlier, you would be here now. The if-clause is the same, so look at the result and its time word. The meaning quiz in One cousin, one video, millions of learners on edio.ai asks when each result happens.

Is it “If I would have known” or “If I had known”?

It's If I had known: a past cause takes had, not would have. Would belongs in the result: If I had practiced more, I'd be in the band now, not If I would have practiced more. In speech, If I'd practiced is the same thing, since this 'd stands for had. The chat in One cousin, one video, millions of learners on edio.ai uses If you would have quit as a wrong reply.

How did Khan Academy start?

In 2004, Sal Khan, then working in finance in Boston, began tutoring his cousin Nadia in math remotely; she lived in New Orleans. Other cousins joined, and he put short lessons on YouTube for them, recording the first ones in his closet; his channel dates from November 16, 2006. Strangers found the videos, and the project grew into a free nonprofit. Leona's explainer in One cousin, one video, millions of learners on edio.ai tells the story.

How do I teach mixed conditionals to B2 students?

Begin with a past fact and a present one: Isaiah's aunt helped him. He's a data reporter now. Students turn both around in one sentence, then compare it with a third conditional about the same past. One cousin, one video, millions of learners on edio.ai moves from Leona's explainer and the office argument to the scheme, a gap-fill, a table of what-ifs and a quiz on meaning.

What's a good game for practicing mixed conditionals?

Play the butterfly chain: one student names a past choice (I moved to Chicago), and the next takes it away and adds a result now: If you hadn't moved to Chicago, you wouldn't know me now. The chain goes on until someone slips on a form. For speaking, the boxes in One cousin, one video, millions of learners on edio.ai ask about a decision: If you hadn't made it, what would be different now?

What's good homework for mixed conditionals?

Good homework states the real past first, so only one form fits: I missed the last bus last night. If I ___ it, I wouldn't be so tired today. Add a sort of endings into a result then or now. All ten homework tasks in One cousin, one video, millions of learners on edio.ai check themselves, including Pauline's story of how free videos helped her become a nurse.

How do you practice mixed conditionals one-to-one?

Trade turning points: the student names a choice from years ago, and the teacher asks What would be different now if you hadn't made it? Then they switch roles. The chat in One cousin, one video, millions of learners on edio.ai works without a partner: Ezekiel almost quit his robotics club, and the student answers If you had quit, you wouldn't be in that program now.

Are there interactive exercises for mixed conditionals?

Yes. Without an account, this page plays three parts of One cousin, one video, millions of learners, a B2 lesson on edio.ai: Leona and Isaiah's argument about whether a video can replace a teacher, a gap-fill with the verbs in brackets and Ezekiel's chat about a decision that changed everything. The rest needs an account.

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About this lesson

What's inside

Vocabulary

Grammar: mixed conditionals: a past cause, a result now

Two halves, two times

One form for every person

Third conditional or mixed?

Third conditional or mixed?

'd means had or would

Common mistakes

At The Why Desk

Try the mixed conditionals exercises

What's in the lesson

The main objectives of this lesson are to:

Teaching tips

Teach the whole lesson in edio

Start a free trial

Open the lesson

Teach it live or as homework

The whole course: English B2.2 · Culture and Society

Unit 1 Learning reimagined

Unit 2 Work-life balance

Unit 3 Turning points

Unit 4 News and truth

Unit 5 Travel that gives back

Unit 6 Sport and society

Unit 7 Buildings and heritage

Unit 8 Generations

Questions about this lesson

Teach this lesson with your students