In this episode Reza and Craig are joined by Mel from the UK and Victoria from Spain.

Mel was born in London. She also lived in Kent, Manchester, Nottingham and Nicaragua. Now she lives in Galicia, Spain. (In a nutshell = en resumen)
Victoria was born in Ourense and studied in Santiago. She has also lived in Barcelona and Valencia. She mainly worked in bars for 14 years. Now she lives in a small hamlet (hamlet = aldea) in Galicia.
Most people work the land in the hamlet. There are no shops or businesses. People there grow grapes. It’s a very quiet, peaceful life. The grapes are sold to large ‘bodegas’.
Many people in the area have a pension from Switzerland from the days of Franco.
Mel works as an English teacher in Ourense.
She once went to Nicaragua. She fell in love with a Nicaraguan and went there in 1989. She stayed for a year and a half. It was just after the Sandinistas had lost the election.

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Gramática: 3rd conditional

“If you listen to these podcasts, your level will improve.” (First conditional) You can revise the conditional sentences in Episode 11.
“Albert Einstein said, ‘If bees disappeared, the human race would die out also.'” (Second conditional)
“If Craig had not come to Spain, he thinks he would have gone to New Zealand.” (Third Conditional)
“If you HAD DECIDED to emigrate to a different country, where WOULD YOU HAVE GONE?” (Third Conditional)
If + past perfect / would + have + past participle.
the third conditional is used to speculate about the past.
You can use ‘might’ and ‘could’ for UNCERTAINTY in the past: “Craig might have gone to New Zealand, or he might have gone to Australia.”

“Reza’s parents would have called him Victoria if he had been born a girl.”

Remember the contractions: Would have = would’ve / I had = I’d / they would = they’d etc.

“If Argentina hadn’t beaten Holland in the semi-final, Holland might have (might’ve) won the World Cup.”
“If I had studied more, I would have got a better job.”

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Gramática: wish, if only, mixed conditional

If Reza hadn’t drunk so much last night, he wouldn’t have a headache now.
hadn’t drunk (past perfect) / would (not) + have (la forma base del verbo)
Craig nearly got married when he was 25 years old. – If he had got married, he would probably have children now. (but he didn’t get married, and he doesn’t have children)
The third conditional imagines a different past with a PAST result. The mixed conditional imagines a different past with a PRESENT result.
Reza would feel fine now if he had drunk less last night.
Contractions: I would feel.. = I’d feel… / I had not drunk… = I hadn’t drunk…
If Reza were a girl, he wouldn’t have gone to a boys school. (present condition – past result)
Reza wouldn’t have drunk so much yesterday if he were a sensible person. (but he isn’t sensible and he did drink a lot yesterday!)
mixed conditional: Yesterday Craig took some ribs (costillas de cerdo) out of the freezer last night. If Craig hadn’t taken the ribs out of the freezer, they wouldn’t be ready to eat now.
To RECAP (resumir):
A mixed conditional can be a (1) past condition with a present result, or a (2) present condition with a past result.
I wish / If only I hadn’t drunk so much yesterday. (expressing regret = lamentarse) (Ojalá….)
If only I had more money. If only I hadn’t drunk so much last night.
I wish I were a rich man! = Ojalá yo fuera un hombre rico!
If only I hadn’t drunk so much last night = Ojalá no hubiera bebido tanto anoche.
If only I’d known…..
Craig wishes he hadn’t hurt people who were close to him. (in the past)
Craig wishes he had an extra room in his flat for guests. (to put up = dar alojamiento a alguien / hospedar a alguien)
Estudiar más sobre los ‘mixed conditionals’ con La Mansión del Inglés.


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Gramática: Although, even though, though, despite, in spite of

Although Reza is just a poor English teacher, he’s happy.
Although = Aunque
‘though’ is the same but a bit more informal. let your hair down
Even though Reza is just a poor English teacher, he’s happy.
‘Even though’ is similar, but a bit more emphatic.
You can begin a sentence with ‘although, though, or even though’, or you can put them in the middle:
I’m happy, although I’m just a poor English teacher.
I’m just a poor English teacher. I’m happy, though.

‘although’ and ‘even though’ cannot be the last words in the sentence.

Craig has never been to Disneyland. He hopes to go one day, though. (‘though’ used in this way is more informal and more common in spoken English.)

You must use a clause (a subject and a verb) with ‘though’, ‘although’ and ‘even though’

With ‘Despite’ and ‘In spite of’ you don’t need to use a clause: In spite of/Despite + noun “In spite of the bad weather….” / “Despite the rain……”
In spite of being a poor English teacher, Reza is happy.
Despite being a poor English teacher, Reza is happy. (Despite / Inspite of + gerund – “In spite of being / Despite being….”)
Despite having bad weather, they went to the beach.
I’m happy, in spite of/despite being a poor English teacher.
Though it was raining, we went for a walk – Despite the rain, we went for a walk.
It was raining. Despite this, we went for a walk.
It was raining. In spite of this, we went for a walk.
It was raining. Despite that fact, we went for a walk.
Despite that fact that it was raining, we went for a walk.
In spite of the fact that it was bad weather, we had a picnic.
Despite the fact that Reza is poor, he’s happy.
It was raining. Despite this, we went for a walk.
In spite of / despite = A pesar de

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