...it could have taken my life

Kohyoongliat · April 3, 2019, 11:44am

If the needle had punctured my intestines, it could have taken my life.

If the clause in bold correct?

Thanks.

Torsten · April 3, 2019, 2:30pm

Yes, it’s a conditional III construction.

Anglophile · April 4, 2019, 3:21am

Torsten has said that your sentence is a Conditional III construction. He is right.

But then we may become curious about the other types.
If the needle punctures my intestines, it can take my life. (Conditional I)
If the needle punctured my intestines, it could take my life. (Conditional II)