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Question

Difficulty: HardVerbs, Tenses, and Aspect

Which option best completes the sentence to express an unreal or hypothetical situation correctly: 'The executive director presided over the meeting as though he ______ the entire conglomerate himself, despite owning no shares'?

  1. ownedAnswer
  2. B
    owns
  3. C
    has owned
  4. D
    would own

Answer

The simple past verb form 'owned' correctly completes the sentence by establishing the unreal past subjunctive mood required after the conjunction 'as though'.
The simple past tense verb form 'owned' is correct because the conjunction 'as though' requires an unreal past construction (subjunctive mood) to indicate that the situation is hypothetical or contrary to fact.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the clause structure and conjunction introduced in the stem.
The sentence uses the subordinating conjunction 'as though' following a main clause in the past tense.
Expressions such as 'as if' and 'as though' signal that the following clause describes a hypothetical or contrary-to-fact scenario.
2
Determine the correct mood and tense required for unreal/hypothetical comparisons.
The subjunctive mood expressed via the simple past tense 'owned' is necessary.
English grammar uses past tense verb forms to express hypothetical distance from reality in present or past reference frames.

Key Concept

Unreal Past and Subjunctive Mood following 'as if' / 'as though'
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Topics

Verbs, Tenses, and Aspect

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