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Difficulty: HardVerbs, Tenses, and Aspect

During the Senate hearing on the municipal budget crisis, the lead auditor expressed grave concern about the delayed revenue reports and remarked, 'I would rather the finance committee __________ the supplementary ledger to the panel yesterday before the session adjourned.' Which of the following verb forms correctly completes the sentence?

  1. had submittedAnswer
  2. B
    submitted
  3. C
    have submitted
  4. D
    would submit

Answer

The correct form is 'had submitted'.
When 'would rather' is followed by a subject and refers to an event in past time (indicated by 'yesterday'), English grammar requires the past perfect form ('had submitted') to indicate past unrealized expectation.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the syntactic structure of the sentence.
The clause begins with 'I would rather' followed by a distinct subject ('the finance committee').
When 'would rather' is followed by a clause with a different subject, an unreal past (subjunctive) construction is required.
2
Identify the temporal reference in the sentence.
The adverb 'yesterday' establishes that the action belongs strictly to past time.
Time indicators dictate whether simple past or past perfect subjunctive is appropriate.
3
Apply the rule for unreal past with past time reference.
The past perfect tense ('had submitted') must be selected.
'Would rather + subject + past tense' expresses present/future unreal preference, whereas 'would rather + subject + past perfect' expresses past unreal preference or regret.

Key Concept

Unreal Past Tense with 'Would Rather' (Past Time Reference)
Estimated Time:1m 15s
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Topics

Verbs, Tenses, and Aspect

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