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Question

Difficulty: MediumVerbs, Tenses, and Aspect

Complete the sentence below by supplying the correct tense and aspect form of the verb in brackets.

Answer:The board chairman declared that he would rather the executive committee 【reviewed】 the financial statements before submitting them to the auditors.

Answer

reviewed
The expression 'would rather' followed by a subject requires the past simple tense form ('reviewed') to express unreal past or subjunctive preference regarding present or future actions.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the syntactic environment preceding the blank.
The clause uses the structure 'would rather' followed by a explicit subject ('the executive committee').
In English grammar, when 'would rather' is followed by a subject (a personal clause), it requires the past simple tense form to express past subjunctive or unreal past preference.
2
Select the verb form that satisfies the past subjunctive requirement.
The past simple form 'reviewed' correctly completes the clause.
Even though the action refers to a present or future event, the unreal past construction mandates a past tense verb form.

Key Concept

Unreal Past and Subjunctive Mood after 'would rather'
Estimated Time:1m 0s
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Topics

Verbs, Tenses, and Aspect

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