Complete the 12 sentences below. Choose the best answer for each one. Some sentences have two correct answers. Choose both.
1If the board ............... the warning signs, we would not be facing this lawsuit now.
Wrong!
Use "had heeded" for an unreal past condition with a present result.
2It is high time the company ............... pretending the outage was a one-off and published the audit.
Wrong!
Use "stopped" after "It is high time" to criticise a present situation.
3Suppose you ............... the merger talks, what would you do differently this time?
Wrong!
Use "were leading" after "Suppose" for a hypothetical present situation.
4If only I ............... my mouth shut in the meeting, none of this would be on record.
Wrong!
Use "had kept" after "If only" to express regret about a past action.
5She talks as if she ............... the whole project single-handedly from the start, but she only joined last month.
Wrong!
Use "had run" after "as if" to show an unreal claim about an earlier time.
6Were it not for the emergency patch, the servers ............... down right now.
Wrong!
Use "would be" for the present result of this unreal condition.
7Had we ............... the contract more carefully, we would not be renegotiating under pressure today.
Wrong!
Use "read" after inverted "Had we" to form the past perfect condition.
8I would rather you ............... the client directly tomorrow, given how sensitive the complaint is.
Wrong!
Use "did not contact" after "would rather you" for a preferred action now or in the future.
9But for his intervention, the negotiations ............... by now.
Wrong!
Use "would have collapsed" for the unreal past result after "But for his intervention".
10If she ............... to the press, she would have been fired on the spot.
Wrong!
Use "had spoken" for the unreal past action in this conditional sentence.
11He behaves as though he ............... the CEO, which is awkward in front of the actual CEO.
Wrong!
Use "were" after "as though" to show an unreal present situation.
12If I ............... you, I would not sign anything until legal has reviewed the clause.
Wrong!
Use "were" in the fixed hypothetical expression "If I were you".
Exercise complete
0 out of 12
correct answers
Answers
- If the board had heeded the warning signs, we would not be facing this lawsuit now.
- It is high time the company stopped pretending the outage was a one-off and published the audit.
- Suppose you were leading the merger talks, what would you do differently this time?
- If only I had kept my mouth shut in the meeting, none of this would be on record.
- She talks as if she had run the whole project single-handedly from the start, but she only joined last month.
- Were it not for the emergency patch, the servers would be down right now.
- Had we read the contract more carefully, we would not be renegotiating under pressure today.
- I would rather you did not contact the client directly tomorrow, given how sensitive the complaint is.
- But for his intervention, the negotiations would have collapsed by now.
- If she had spoken to the press, she would have been fired on the spot.
- He behaves as though he were the CEO, which is awkward in front of the actual CEO.
- If I were you, I would not sign anything until legal has reviewed the clause.