If a latter-day Robinson Crusoe was marooned on an island with an ecle

Question

If a latter-day Robinson Crusoe was marooned on an island with an eclectic mix of palms, he could eat dates and coconut meat, relax in a palm recliner in his palm-post bungalow under a palm-thatch roof, buff his palm-plank surfboard with carnauba palm wax and watch a palm-fringed sunset.

can OPTION d be correct??
parallelism is still maintained he could eat,relaxing (modifier),buff and watch.

(A) If a latter-day Robinson Crusoe was marooned on an island with an eclectic mix of palms, he could eat dates and coconut meat, relax in a palm recliner in his palm-post bungalow under a palm-thatch roof,

(B) If a latter-day Robinson Crusoe was marooned on an island with an eclectic mix of palms, he could eat dates and coconut meat, relaxing in a palm recliner in his palm-post bungalow under a palm-thatch roof,

(C) If a latter-day Robinson Crusoe were marooned on an island with an eclectic mix of palms, he could eat dates and coconut meat, relax in a palm recliner in his palm-post bungalow under a palm-thatch roof,

(D) If a latter-day Robinson Crusoe were marooned on an island with an eclectic mix of palms, he could eat dates and coconut meat, relaxing in a palm recliner in his palm-post bungalow under a palm-thatch roof,

(E) If a latter-day Robinson Crusoe was marooned on an island with an eclectic mix of palms, he could eat dates and coconut meat, to relax in a palm recliner in his palm-post bungalow under a palm-thatch roof,

abhishekpasricha · Accepted Answer

These are verbs typically followed by clauses that take the subjunctive:

ask, demand, determine, insist, move, order, pray, prefer, recommend, regret, request, require, suggest, and wish.
In English there is no difference between the subjunctive and normal, or indicative, form of the verb except for the present tense third person singular and for the verb to be.

The subjunctive for the present tense third person singular drops the -s or -es so that it looks and sounds like the present tense for everything else.

The subjunctive mood of the verb to be is be in the present tense and were in the past tense, regardless of what the subject is.

Incorrect: If I was you, I would run.
Correct: If I were you, I would run. 
(The verb follows if and expresses a non-factual condition.)

Incorrect: I wish he was able to type faster.

Correct: I wish he were able to type faster. 
(The second verb is in a clause following a verb expressing a wish. It also suggests a non-factual or doubtful condition.)

Incorrect: His requirement is that everyone is computer literate.

Correct: His requirement is that everyone be computer literate. 
(Subordinate clause follows main clause with a demand.)

Incorrect: He recommended that each driver reports his tips.

Correct: He recommended that each driver report his tips.

Sometimes we may use the conditional auxiliary verbs of could, should, or would to express the same sense.

Subjunctive:I wish he were kinder to me.
Conditional: I wish he would be kinder to me.

amit2k9 · Answer

if were.... relax...buff and watch parallel.

C is clean here.

Could/ Would

I could have owned a Ferrari, if I were rich.
I would have owned a Ferrari,if I were rich.

Could - essentially shows just an ability.
Would - shows more of an intention than the ability.

Intentions may or may not be met.Hence would is used in subjunctive cases which are impossible or never happened in the past.

'Could' here shows Robinson's ability here more than his intention thus a better usage.

nitya34 · Answer

C it is
If Were CONSTRUCTION
Parallelism

adarsh12345 · Answer

CAN ANY ONE PLEASE EXPLAIN ME THE "IF ... WERE CONSTRUCTION"

neeshpal · Answer

heres an explanation. https://englishplus.com/grammar/00000031.htm

Jayanth2689 · Answer

Pretty straightforward! C! hypothetical subjunctive mood in this sentence..IF Robinson Crusoe WAS is incorrect. For IF..Then type sentences with a conditional structure..WERE should always be used..C is perfect with parallelism ..eat relax buff

garimavyas · Answer

oh, this has been discussed before , but my doubt still remains, i want to know the difference between the usage of would and could. doesn't would sound better here with the right option ?

looking at the future from the past , that's the rule for the usage of would .

rajivchandak · Answer

Can anybody explain why "and" is not needed before "relax"?

vinayrsm · Answer

because relax is not the last word in the parallel construction. the sentence continues after the underlined portion with "watch" and the last parallel work. look at sesamemochi's post.

coolredwine · Answer

All the bold words refer to the "latter-day Robinson Crusoe" itself. And all of them are in the same form and parallel to each other. However, in Option D, the words "eat" and "relaxing" are not parallel, and change the structure of the sentence. Hence D is incorrect.

Hope that helps.

shekyonline · Answer

If a latter-day Robinson Crusoe was marooned on an island with an eclectic mix of palms, he could eat dates and coconut meat, relax in a palm recliner in his palm-post bungalow under a palm-thatch roof, buff his palm-plank surfboard with carnauba palm wax and watch a palm-fringed sunset.

can OPTION d be correct??
parallelism is still maintained he could eat,relaxing (modifier),buff and watch.

It is assumption that is not possible in reality or has not happened in reality.
Ex-
 I could fly if I  were  a bird.

So, remove 'Was' containing options.
 A, B, E out.

(A) If a latter-day Robinson Crusoe  was  marooned on an island with an eclectic mix of palms, he could eat dates and coconut meat, relax in a palm recliner in his palm-post bungalow under a palm-thatch roof,
(B) If a latter-day Robinson Crusoe  was  marooned on an island with an eclectic mix of palms, he could eat dates and coconut meat, relaxing in a palm recliner in his palm-post bungalow under a palm-thatch roof,
(C) If a latter-day Robinson Crusoe  were  marooned on an island with an eclectic mix of palms, he could eat dates and coconut meat, relax in a palm recliner in his palm-post bungalow under a palm-thatch roof,
 Correct. precise. 
(D) If a latter-day Robinson Crusoe  were  marooned on an island with an eclectic mix of palms, he could eat dates and coconut meat,  relaxing  in a palm recliner in his palm-post bungalow under a palm-thatch roof,
  Comparison issue in the sentence.  
(E) If a latter-day Robinson Crusoe  was  marooned on an island with an eclectic mix of palms, he could eat dates and coconut meat, to relax in a palm recliner in his palm-post bungalow under a palm-thatch roof,

Arpitkumar · Answer

Had Messed up a similar question last time , but not this time.

If ( wish ) comes with with a verb "were " - hence between close options A and C , I went with C.

* Kudos pls if you understood the logic*

Doer01 · Answer

Hi Folks,
 Whenever an hypothetical situation is presented, were (subjunctive) must be used even if the subject is singular. 
e.g. If I were to be asked, I would say jump!

Parallelism is correct: HE could: 1. eat....., 2. relax...., 3. and buff his.....

(A) If a latter-day Robinson Crusoe   was   marooned on an island with an eclectic mix of palms, he could eat dates and coconut meat, relax in a palm recliner in his palm-post bungalow under a palm-thatch roof,

(B) If a latter-day Robinson Crusoe was marooned on an island with an eclectic mix of palms, he could eat dates and coconut meat,  relaxing  in a palm recliner in his palm-post bungalow under a palm-thatch roof,: Incorrect. Distorts the parallelism. Now, relaxing... is a modifier and is the end result of what he could do, which is not the intent.

(C) If a latter-day Robinson Crusoe  were  marooned on an island with an eclectic mix of palms, he could eat dates and coconut meat, relax in a palm recliner in his palm-post bungalow under a palm-thatch roof, Correct.

(D) If a latter-day Robinson Crusoe were marooned on an island with an eclectic mix of palms, he could eat dates and coconut meat,  relaxing  in a palm recliner in his palm-post bungalow under a palm-thatch roof, Incorrect. same as B

(E) If a latter-day Robinson Crusoe was marooned on an island with an eclectic mix of palms, he could eat dates and coconut meat,  to  relax in a palm recliner in his palm-post bungalow under a palm-thatch roof, Incorrect. making relax an infinitive changes the intent.

Bunuel · Answer

Official Explanation

Correct Answer: C

The best answer is C. The sentence starts with the word if setting up a conditional situation. The correct form of to be with a conditional is were.

smmc29 · Answer

Straightforward you can eliminate options with the construction If X was ...

We are left with options C and D.

Option D violates parallelism.

Answer is C.

rohit8865 · Answer

Bunuel

i think there should be a "," comma before " and watch a palm-fringed sunset."
the last entity of non underlined portion ..

thx

vishalkumar05ster · Answer

If a latter-day Robinson Crusoe was marooned on an island with an eclectic mix of palms, he could eat dates and coconut meat, relax in a palm recliner in his palm-post bungalow under a palm-thatch roof, buff his palm-plank surfboard with carnauba palm wax and watch a palm-fringed sunset.

can OPTION d be correct??
parallelism is still maintained he could eat,relaxing (modifier),buff and watch.

can OPTION d be correct?? 
parallelism is still maintained he could eat,relaxing (modifier),buff and watch.

If a latter-day Robinson Crusoe was marooned on an island with an ecle

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If a latter-day Robinson Crusoe was marooned on an island with an ecle

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