Select the most appropriate verb to fill in the blank. Had she ___ the report…
2026
Select the most appropriate verb to fill in the blank. Had she ___ the report earlier, she would have been able to submit it on time.
Answer: A. finished — CONCEPTA past unreal (third conditional) condition uses the past perfect: had + past participle (V3). When if is omitted, had moves before the subject, but…
- A.
finished
- B.
have finished
- C.
finish
- D.
finishes
Attempted by 1 students.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A
CONCEPT
A past unreal (third conditional) condition uses the past perfect: had + past participle (V3). When if is omitted, had moves before the subject, but the verb form remains V3.
APPLICATION
The clause begins with Had before the subject she, so it is an inverted past-perfect condition.
The blank must therefore take the past participle of finish.
The past participle of finish is finished.
CONTRAST
have finished already contains the auxiliary have, so had have finished is not the required past-perfect structure.
finish is the base form, not the past participle required after had.
finishes is the third-person singular simple-present form, not a past participle.
RESULT
The completed clause is: Had she finished the report earlier, she would have been able to submit it on time.