Conditionals, tenses and verb forms in blanks

The terms:

• First conditional (a real future possibility): If + present, will + base verb. If it rains, we will stay in.
• Second conditional (an imagined present or future): If + past, would / could + base verb. If I had wings, I would fly.
• Third conditional (an imagined past): If + had + past participle, would / could have + past participle. If he had run, he would have won.
• Subjunctive were: in an imagined condition, use were for every subject: If I were you.
• Inversion: drop if and put had first: Had he run = If he had run.

The method:

• Find the printed half and identify its form (will? would? would have?).
• Give the blank the matching form from the list above.
• Never put will or would in the if-half.

Items tested this way:

• If Mohan had started at 5 a.m., he would not have missed the train (2017 II)
• If I were you, I would love to accept the offer (2018 II)
• Had I been informed beforehand, I could have made it to the celebrations (2021 I)
• Had he told me the news beforehand, I would have been careful (2022 II)
• If a Time Machine could take you anywhere, where would you go? (2022 II)
• I shall not be going to the theatre if it snows (2024 I)

The rules:

• since / for + an action still going on → present perfect (continuous): He has been waiting since morning.
• lately, recently, ever, yet → present perfect: Have you seen him lately?
• yesterday, last year, in 2010 → simple past: I saw him yesterday.
• Scarcely / Hardly at the start → had + subject + past participle ... when: Scarcely had he left when it rained. (No sooner had ... than.)
• Reported speech: after a past reporting verb (told, said, asked), move the tense back: will → would, am → was or were.
• Agreement: a singular subject takes a singular verb (He has), a plural subject a plural verb (They behaved, They have).
• Plural sense: a quantity like twelve dozen takes a plural verb (twelve dozen cost); politics meaning political affairs or opinions takes are.
• Time clauses match the main clause: When she met her friend, her throat choked (both past).

Items tested this way:

• Scarcely had the teacher entered the class when he heard the noise (2018 I)
• When she met her friend after two decades (2021 I); She told me that she would have completed her degree by 2023 (2021 I)
• My sister asked me if I were willing (2018 II); He has been waiting for you since morning (2022 II)
• Have you seen Mohan lately? (2023 I); twelve dozen cost one hundred rupees (2022 I)
• The country's politics are complex (2024 II); They behaved as responsible people do (2023 II)

The terms:

• Modal: can, could, should, must, may, need. It is followed by the base verb (should leave).
• Gerund: the -ing form used as a noun (enjoy swimming, dislike having to wait).
• Past participle: the third form (written, affected, expected).
• Passive: be + past participle, when the subject receives the action (The report is written by him).

The method:

• After a modal → base verb.
• After enjoy, dislike, avoid, mind, finish, try (meaning test out) → -ing.
• After is / are / was / were, if the subject does not do the action → past participle.
• needn't = it is not necessary; mustn't = it is not allowed.

Items tested this way:

• your brother needn't go just yet (2018 I); Davis is not sure whether he should leave (2023 II)
• Honesty is written on his face (2021 II); Reading ability is affected by speech disorders (2024 I); The damage is expected to be extensive (2024 II)
• Have you ever tried climbing a coconut tree? (2021 II); He dislikes having to punish his friends (2021 II)

The terms:

• Relative pronoun: who (people, as subject), whom (people, as object or after a preposition), whose (belonging), which (things).
• Comparative: the -er or more form (better, greater, more than). It is followed by than.

The rules:

• whose + noun shows belonging: the person whose daughter married your cousin.
• After a preposition use whom or which: four of whom were armed.
• too + adjective + to + verb = more than enough to stop the action: too good to be true. (so ... that is the other frame.)
• than any other + singular noun when one item is compared with the rest of its own group.
• one of the + plural noun: one of the well-known journalists.

Items tested this way:

• the person whose daughter married your cousin (2021 I); a group of men, four of whom were armed (2024 II)
• The news is too good to be true (2022 I); There is nothing better than a busy life (2022 I)
• The portrait conveys more than it appears (2021 I); greater than any other city in India (2022 II)
• one of the well-known journalists in the country (2022 II)