Dan predicted that he would discover the tiny particle when he conduct

Question

Dan predicted  that he would discovering the tiny particle on conducting his  next experiment.

A. that he would be discovering the tiny particle on conducting his

B. he would discover the tiny particle when he conducted his

C. that he would discover the tiny particle when he conducted his

D. that he will discover the tiny particle when he conducted his

E. that he would be discovering the tiny particle when he conducted his

Abhishek009 · Answer

Dan  predicted  that he  would  discover the tiny particle when he  conducted  his next experiment.

Correct Answer must be (C) for correct verb tense usage, errors in other options highlighted in Red.

kapstone1996 · Answer

I choose C:
1) That is needed after a demand type verb
2) Cannot use future tense "will" with past tense, the preferred is conditional, such as "Could"

Please correct me if reasoning is wrong

ishitadas1994 · Answer

Can you please provide me a proper explanation for option : c ?

ravigupta2912 · Answer

Can anyone elaborate on the usage of conditional here? Do we have to use a conditional with "predict"? A bit confused.

AndrewN · Answer

Hello,  ishitadas1994@gmail.com  and  ravigupta2912 . In short, no, you do not have to use the conditional  would  whenever you see a prediction pop up in a sentence. I think  kapstone1996  has done a fine job above outlining how to approach the verb tense within the prediction clause here. Here, because this prediction was made in the past, as indicated by  predict ed  , we cannot project into the future tense, so  would , the past tense of  will , is appropriate; however, if the verb were instead  predicts , then  will  would be fitting, as in,  Dan predicts that he will discover...  My take on each of the answer choices:

Do not let the typo, the omitted  be  between the original sentence and this choice, deter you from considering it. But the word after  would  needs to be the infinitive  discover  instead. There is no need to stack actions (be + discover). I am guessing that  on conducting  is meant to look like a parallel conjugation to partner  discovering , but as I have already touched on,  discovering  should not be here. It is a little antiquated to say  (up)on conducting , although the construct is not altogether incorrect (i.e. in some other sentence, it could work).

This one is close, but it just misses out. Notice that it is  identical  to (C), only without the  that  clause marker. Because we have a clause instead of a phrase after  predicted , a clause marker is appropriate. Note the difference in the following:

1) John predicted that  Trump would win the 2016 election .
The  blue  part is a clause.

2) John predicted  the results of the 2016 election .
The  purple  part is a phrase.

Because we have a clause that follows  predicted , we need to look for the clause marker.

This option fixes the omission in the previous answer choice, and the verb tense in  would discover  fits the past action,  predicted . There is nothing to argue against, either grammatically or in terms of meaning.

The verb tense is off here. If the shell of the sentence were written in the present tense,  Dan predicts... , then  will  would work, but it just falls flat here. (Or, to the grammarian, it sounds like nails dragging across an old-fashioned chalkboard.) Even if you miss the first error, though, another one crops up later with  conducted . Under no circumstances would you pair  he will discover  with  when he conducted  in this manner.  Conducted  is signaling that we need to use  would  instead.

This preserves the same error that (A) had incorporated, although it does fix the tail-end. Better is not best, though, and wrong is still wrong.

I hope that helps. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. Good luck with your studies.

- Andrew

ravigupta2912 · Answer

Thanks  MentorTutoring . I get that the use of conditional is contingent on the tense form of main verb. Makes sense.

Posted from my mobile device

AndrewN · Answer

That is good to hear,  ravigupta2912 . I am in the business of helping people make sense of things, inasmuch as I am able to do so. If you have any other related questions, just tag me.

- Andrew

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Dan predicted that he would discover the tiny particle when he conduct

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Dan predicted that he would discover the tiny particle when he conduct

Prep Toolkit

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