GMAT Club World Cup 2022 (DAY 10): If the year-end net profit had been

Question

If the year-end net profit  had been below 5%, the board of directors would have recommended that all further investments must  be kept on hold.

A. had been below 5%, the board of directors would have recommended that all further investments must

B. was below 5%, the board of directors would have recommended that all further investments should

C. was below 5%, the board of directors would recommend that all further investments

D. were below 5%, the board of directors would recommend that all further investments

E. would have been below 5%, the board of directors would have recommended that all further investments would

Thank you  sayantanc2k  for the question!!!

V36-02

Bunuel · Answer

GMAT CLUB Official Explanation:

A. Command subjunctive is required with the verb “recommend”. Therefore, the correct form is “be kept..”, not “must be kept…”.

B. The hypothetical subjunctive of the verb “to be” is “were”, not “was”, even though the subject is singular. Therefore the correct usage is “If the year-end net profit were…”. Moreover in an “if… then... “ construction, if the “if” part consists of a hypothetical subjunctive, then the “then” part must have the conditional tense “would”, not the conditional perfect “would have”.

Command subjunctive is required with the verb “recommend”. Therefore, the correct form is “be kept…”, not “should be kept…”.

C. The hypothetical subjunctive of the verb “to be” is “were”, not “was”, even though the subject is singular. Therefore the correct usage is “If the year-end net profit were…”.

D. Correct.  In the “if…then…” construction, the combination “if (hypothetical subjunctive: were), then (conditional: would recommend)” is correctly used.

Moreover the command subjunctive “be” is correctly used: “...recommended that ..investments be kept…”.

E. The combination “if (conditional perfect), then (conditional perfect)” is wrong. The correct combination is “if (past perfect: had been), then (conditional perfect: would have recommended)”.

Command subjunctive is required with the verb “recommend”. Therefore, the correct form is “be kept…”, not “would be kept…”.

NextGenNerd · Answer

Correct answer : Choice D

A. had been below 5%, the board of directors would have recommended that all further investments must : Wrong : usage of had been is not required

B. was below 5%, the board of directors would have recommended that all further investments should : Wrong - If statement needs "were", not "was". also should is incorrect

C. was below 5%, the board of directors would recommend that all further investments : Wrong - If statement needs "were", not "was".

D. were below 5%, the board of directors would recommend that all further investments : Correct

E. would have been below 5%, the board of directors would have recommended that all further investments would : Wrong : would have been is not correct here

Iotaa · Answer

A. had been below 5%, the board of directors would have recommended that all further investments must: had been suggests it is already completed in past.  Reject

B. was below 5%, the board of directors would have recommended that all further investments should: was below suggests it's a past.  Reject

C. was below 5%, the board of directors would recommend that all further investments: was below suggests it's a past.  Reject

D. were below 5%, the board of directors would recommend that all further investments: Were is plural, which is error of tense.  Reject

E. would have been below 5%, the board of directors would have recommended that all further investments would: Correct.

Option E is the right answer

LeopardLiu · Answer

Answer is D  
A. had been below 5%, the board of directors would have recommended that all further investments must
 had been is wrong  
B. was below 5%, the board of directors would have recommended that all further investments should
 was is wrong should be were 
C. was below 5%, the board of directors would recommend that all further investments
 should be were 
D. were below 5%, the board of directors would recommend that all further investments
 correct 
E. would have been below 5%, the board of directors would have recommended that all further investments would
 awkward...

$!vakumar.m · Answer

If the year-end net profit had been below 5%, the board of directors would have recommended that all further investments must be kept on hold.

A. had been below 5%, the board of directors would have recommended that all further investments must been. Correct

B.  was below 5% , the board of directors would have recommended that all further investments should. Incorrect

C.  was below 5% , the board of directors would recommend that all further investments. Incorrect

D.  were below 5% , the board of directors would recommend that all further investments..Incorrect

E.  would have been below 5% , the board of directors would have recommended that all further investments would.. Incorrect
Answer A

VelvetThunder · Answer

ANSWER D

This is a subjective mood question.

.....recommended that investments be kept on hold  is the correct form. A, B and E are out.

Between C and D : option C is incorrect because it uses "was" instead of "were". We want to use "were" because it's wishful thinking

Archit3110 · Answer

its an hypothetical if condition 
also subjunctive so should usage is wrong option B can be eliminated

A. had been below 5%, the board of directors would have recommended that all further investments must  wrong

C. was below 5%, the board of directors would recommend that all further investments  was usage is incorrect

D. were below 5%, the board of directors would recommend that all further investments  correct ; hypothetical 'were' is correct also recommend that ... is correct

E. would have been below 5%, the board of directors would have recommended that all further investments would

OPTION D is correct

sampathgelam · Answer

Jainam24 · Answer

OA:C 
 Recommend is a part of grammar that mandatorily takes a subjunctive verb. 
Errors: 
A) use of must is incorrect as subjunctive verb consists of the form: recommended that + subject + plural verb(he verb is always plural irrespective of whether the subject is singular or plural) which is broken by must 
B) Use of should like must in A makes it incorrect 
C) No errors 
D) Singular subject profit doesn't agree with plural verb were so incorrect 
E) Use of would like must in A makes it incorrect

mainbhiankit · Answer

A classic example of the subjunctive mood and If-Then usage.

As we are aware, if the "if" clause uses past tense, the "then" clause should use past tense or 'would'. 
and if the "if" clause uses past perfect, the "then" clause should use "would have".

For subjunctive, if a hypothetical is referred, such as the stated case, the verb will be plural.
Similarly, if a "command verb + that" is given, the verb will be plural or in the base form.

With that in mind, let's analyse the options:

The usage of 'must' violates the rules of the subjunctive mood. Incorrect.

If 'was', then 'would have' = Incorrect.

The verb 'was' should be 'were' as per subjunctive mood. Incorrect.

This option fixes the error in option C. Let's hold on to this.

This option has all the errors that we talked about. Incorrect.

The answer is option D.

Lalykys · Answer

Answer D  for me.

A. had been below 5%, the board of directors would have recommended that all further investments must
 INCORRECT  recommend + must is not okay. Furthermore, the use of past perfect is not justified here.
 
B. was below 5%, the board of directors would have recommended that all further investments should
 INCORRECT  recommend + should is not okay. 
Furthermore with the speculative nature of the sentence with If at the beginning we should have were rather than was.

C. was below 5%, the board of directors would recommend that all further investments
 INCORRECT  the speculative nature of the sentence with If at the beginning we should have were rather than was.

D. were below 5%, the board of directors would recommend that all further investments
 CORRECT  structure, perfect tenses, we are good here.

E. would have been below 5%, the board of directors would have recommended that all further investments would
 INCORRECT  recommend + would is not okay. 
Furthermore If + would have been is very weird.

Posted from my mobile device

soudipsengupta · Answer

A. had been below 5%, the board of directors would have recommended that all further investments must
  INCORRECT  . The context of the sentence requires a conditional mood. So 'were' or 'had' is needed. Also the subjunctive construction "..recommended that all further investments .." must be followed directly by 'be'

B. was below 5%, the board of directors would have recommended that all further investments should
  INCORRECT  . The context of the sentence requires a conditional mood. So 'were' or 'had' is needed. Also the subjunctive construction "..recommended that all further investments .." must be followed directly by 'be'

C. was below 5%, the board of directors would recommend that all further investments
  INCORRECT  . The context of the sentence requires a conditional mood. So 'were' or 'had' is needed. Also the subjunctive construction "..recommended that all further investments .." must be followed directly by 'be'

D. were below 5%, the board of directors would recommend that all further investments
  CORRECT  . Correct verb tense in conditional mood. Correct subjunctive use.

E. would have been below 5%, the board of directors would have recommended that all further investments would
  INCORRECT  . The context of the sentence requires a conditional mood. So 'were' or 'had' is needed. Also the subjunctive construction "..recommended that all further investments .." must be followed directly by 'be'

houston1980 · Answer

Option A sounds better to my hearing.

Dwiti88 · Answer

If the year-end net profit  had been below 5%, the board of directors would have recommended that all further investments must  be kept on hold.

A. had been below 5%, the board of directors would have recommended that all further investments must
- This is incorrect. use of had been and would have for condition clause is incorrect .The verb should be used in subjunctive form  
B. was below 5%, the board of directors would have recommended that all further investments should
- This is incorrect. use of was and would have for condition clause is incorrect .The verb should be used in subjunctive form  
C. was below 5%, the board of directors would recommend that all further investments
 This is incorrect. Though the use of would recommend for the second part of the clause is correct but the use of was for conditional clause in subjunctive form is incorrect  
D. were below 5%, the board of directors would recommend that all further investments
 This is correct. In case of conditional statement and past subjunctive form were should be used instead of was  
E. would have been below 5%, the board of directors would have recommended that all further investments would
- This is incorrect. use of would have been and would have recommended for condition clause is incorrect .The verb should be used in subjunctive form

sunitapandey · Answer

IMO D

A. had been below 5%, the board of directors would have recommended that all further investments must - we don't need a past perfect to show sequncing.

B. was below 5%, the board of directors would have recommended that all further investments should - its a subjunctive so should cannot be used

C. was below 5%, the board of directors would recommend that all further investments - its hypothetical so if clause should have 'were'

D. were below 5%, the board of directors would recommend that all further investments - correct if has 'were' then clause has 'would'

E. would have been below 5%, the board of directors would have recommended that all further investments would - would have been is wrong in If clause.

acf840 · Answer

Is the answer B?

A: Had been can not be used here. There is no other past event which happened after the results. This is a sentence with If-Then clause.

B: Looks like a correct use of tenses

C: If + Past Tense, then + Would have + Participle is the correct structure - Incorrect

D: Same as C. Although I was confused about were here. Usually plural form is used for a hypothetical scenarios, but here it is a more definite scenario. If the result was less, then there will be a consequence.

E: If would have is an incorrect form

S1905 · Answer

A.  had been below 5%, the board of directors would have recommended that all further investments must  - CORRECT

B.  was  below 5%, the board of directors would have recommended that all further investments  should  - INCORRECT
-'Should' is  not  allowed with subjunctive verb {source: @eGMAT}
- If...then clause: "would have" comes in the 'then' clause only if the 'if' clause is in past perfect tense

C. was below 5%, the board of directors  would recommend  that all further investments - Tense change causing meaning change- INCORRECT

D. were below 5%, the board of directors  would recommend  that all further investments - Tense change causing meaning change - INCORRECT

E.  would have been  below 5%, the board of directors would have recommended that all further investments would - Wrong If..then condition - INCORRECT

Kinshook · Answer

If the year-end net profit  had been below 5%, 
the board of directors would have recommended 
that all further investments must  be kept on hold.

The sentence is concise and correct and conveyes the meaning pefectly.

Use of simple past  was  is incorrect
Incorrect

Use of simple past  was  is incorrect
Use of  would recommend  is also incorrect
Incorrect

Use of simple past  were  is incorrect
Use of  would recommend  is also incorrect
Incorrect

Use of  would  is incorrect.  Must  was used to convey the original meaning.
Option A is more concise and correct and conveys the original meaning.
Incorrect

IMO A

akash2703 · Answer

Imo D

A. had been below 5%, the board of directors would have recommended that all further investments  must 
 Recommend introduces subjunctive mood so eliminate all the options having must, should, and would in the end.
 B. was below 5%, the board of directors would have recommended that all further investments should
 Recommend introduces subjunctive mood so eliminate all the options having must, should, and would in the end.
 C. was below 5%, the board of directors would recommend that all further investments
 Should be in this form If X were, Y would.... 
D. were below 5%, the board of directors would recommend that all further investments
 Correct. 
E. would have been below 5%, the board of directors would have recommended that all further investments would
 Recommend introduces subjunctive mood so eliminate all the options having must, should, and would in the end.

GMAT Club World Cup 2022 (DAY 10): If the year-end net profit had been

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