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hello,

" If you had worked much, you would have acquired the skill . (Type 3 if clause: it means you did not acquire) "


"However, the life of a sniper in the Civil War and who could become a sniper was radically different than before.

2 ) Prior to this conflict, sharpshooters would have acquired the skills necessary to become a sniper years before joining the army."

In the second sentence, can we use -would have V3- for events that really happened in the past?

I have seen in a video →
https://youglish.com/pronounce/would%20 ... ls/english?

A very good question, to which the answer is 'yes', but with the proviso that this 'would' is a form NOT of the conditional mood (which would indeed refer only to counterfactual events) but of the indicative.

In this case, 'would have Ved' is the past-tense equivalent of 'will have Ved', indicating an action probably completed by the time in question, e.g.

By the time you read this letter, I'll have left for Paris.

or even the actual present, as in

You'll no doubt already have sent in your application.

Thus, 'would have acquired' in your sentence simply indicates the probability of their having acquired the skill at some point prior to the time of reference.

I trust that answers your query!