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Question

Difficulty: HardVerbs, Tenses, and Aspect

Read the sentence below and identify the verb form required to complete it correctly.

If the environmental agency had enforced the waste disposal regulations five years ago, the river ________ clean enough for domestic use today.

Which of the following verb forms correctly completes the sentence?

  1. A
    would have been
  2. would beAnswer
  3. C
    will be
  4. D
    is

Answer

The verb form 'would be' correctly completes the sentence.
The sentence requires a mixed conditional construction because it pairs an unfulfilled condition in the past ('had enforced five years ago') with a hypothetical outcome in the present ('today'). The modal auxiliary 'would' combined with the base verb 'be' correctly expresses this present unreal result.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the dependent conditional clause
The clause 'If the environmental agency had enforced...' uses the past perfect tense, denoting a hypothetical or unfulfilled past condition.
Identifying the condition's time frame is essential for selecting the corresponding result tense.
2
Analyze the main clause's temporal marker
The word 'today' at the end of the sentence specifies that the hypothetical result belongs to the present time frame.
The temporal marker determines whether the main clause requires a past result (third conditional) or a present result (mixed conditional).
3
Select the appropriate mixed conditional verb form
Pairing a past condition with a present result requires 'would + base verb' ('would be').
Mixed conditional rules state that when a past past-perfect condition affects the present state, the main clause takes 'would' plus the infinitive form of the verb.

Key Concept

Mixed Conditional (Past Condition with Present Result)
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Topics

Verbs, Tenses, and Aspect

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