Examkin

Question

Difficulty: HardVerbs, Tenses, and Aspect

During the judicial commission of inquiry, the lead counsel asserted that had the chief auditor ________ the original financial statements prior to the release of the report, the discrepancy would have been detected immediately. Which verb form correctly completes the sentence?

  1. reviewedAnswer
  2. B
    review
  3. C
    had reviewed
  4. D
    reviews

Answer

The verb form 'reviewed' correctly completes the sentence as the past participle required in an inverted third conditional clause.
The sentence constructs an inverted third conditional expressing an unreal action in the past ('had the chief auditor reviewed... the discrepancy would have been detected'). In standard English grammar, when an 'if' clause in the past perfect is inverted, the auxiliary verb 'had' moves before the subject, leaving the main verb in its past participle form ('reviewed').

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the clause structure and conditional type
The sentence uses an inverted third conditional clause ('had the chief auditor ________') paired with the result clause containing 'would have been detected'.
Recognizing conditional sentence patterns determines the tense and aspect requirements for both clauses.
2
Analyze the inverted past perfect requirement
Inverted third conditionals omit 'if' and front the auxiliary verb 'had' before the subject ('had + subject + past participle').
The fronted auxiliary 'had' requires a non-finite past participle main verb to complete the verb phrase.
3
Select the verb form matching the past participle inflection
The past participle of 'review' is 'reviewed', completing the clause 'had the chief auditor reviewed'.
Using any other form (bare infinitive, present tense, or repeated auxiliary) results in grammatical error or redundancy.

Key Concept

Inverted Third Conditional and Past Perfect Aspect
Rate this question

Topics

Verbs, Tenses, and Aspect

More questions from this topic