Choose the most appropriate option to fill in the given blank. If she ___…
2026
Choose the most appropriate option to fill in the given blank.
If she ___ harder, she would have passed the exam.
Answer: C. had studied — Concept: A third-conditional sentence describes a past situation that did not actually happen, together with the imagined result of that unreal past. Its…
- A.
study
- B.
is studying
- C.
had studied
- D.
studies
Attempted by 7 students.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: C
Concept: A third-conditional sentence describes a past situation that did not actually happen, together with the imagined result of that unreal past. Its frame is fixed in both halves: If + subject + had + past participle (V3), … subject + would have + past participle (V3). The two halves are locked to each other, so fixing one half fixes the other.
Application: Here the main clause is already given as "she would have passed the exam", which is the would have + V3 half of the frame. The if-clause must therefore supply the had + V3 half, producing: "If she had studied harder, she would have passed the exam." The completed sentence reports an unreal past — she did not study hard enough, and so she did not pass.
Cross-check: Setting the three conditional frames side by side shows which verb form each main clause demands:
Conditional type | If-clause verb form | Main-clause verb form | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
Type 1 (open / likely) | present simple | will + V1 | If she studies harder, she will pass. |
Type 2 (unreal present) | past simple | would + V1 | If she studied harder, she would pass. |
Type 3 (unreal past) | past perfect: had + V3 | would have + V3 | If she had studied harder, she would have passed. |
Contrast: Testing each candidate verb form against the given main clause:
"studies" is the present simple form, which belongs with a will + V1 main clause and yields "If she studies harder, she will pass."
"study" is the base form, which cannot act as the finite verb of an if-clause whose subject is the third-person singular "she".
"is studying" is the present continuous form, which reports an action in progress at the moment of speaking and cannot combine with a would have + V3 result.
"had studied" supplies the had + V3 half that "would have passed" demands.
Result: the blank is filled by "had studied" — If she had studied harder, she would have passed the exam.