OFFICIAL EXPLANATIONProject SC Butler: Sentence Correction (SC2)
THE PROMPTQuote:
If Texas were a country, it would have had the highest incarceration rate in the world.
• Issues: conditional statements
Zero conditional: IF simple present, THEN simple present
Type 1: IF simple present, THEN simple future
Type 2: IF simple past, THEN present conditional (would + bare infinitive)
Type 3: IF past perfect, then perfect conditional (would + have + past participle verbED)
THE OPTIONSQuote:
A) If Texas were a country, it would have had
• the condition (if) clause and the main/result (then) clause are not consistent
→
If . . .were requires
would verbBecause the verb in the IF clause is in simple past, the result clause must be in present conditional (would + verb)
The result clause in this option sounds like a fait accompli. Finis.
The result clause is not rendered, as Type 2 conditionals require, in the
would + base verb. That result clause mimics what we would see in a Type 3 conditional.
We cannot mix a Type 2 and Type 3 construction.
ELIMINATE A
Quote:
B) If Texas had been a country, it would have
• Improperly mixes Type 3 and Type 2 conditionals
→
If had been = (if past perfect) = Type 3
→
[then] would have = (then present conditional) = Type 2
Careful. The result clause,
would have, looks very similar to what Type 3 requires, namely,
would have had (would have verbED).
The two result clause constructions are not the same.
Another complicating factor is that
have,the correct verb, is
not a helping verb but rather a main verb meaning "possessed."
We cannot mix Type 3 and 2 conditionals.
ELIMINATE B
Quote:
C) If Texas were a country, it would have
• Good - we have consistency
→ IF simple past, THEN present conditional= Type 2
→ IF X were . . . THEN Y would have [have = main verb]
• This statement is a classic hypothetical
→ Its facts are possible but not very likely
→ Its time is now or any time
→ We are reading about a theoretical possibility (Type 2), not a lost opportunity (Type 3)
KEEP C
Quote:
D) Had Texas been a country, it would have
• improper mixing of Type 3 and Type 2
→ we can use "had" in Type 3 conditionals as a shortened form of an IF clause without the IF
had X been = IF X had beenHad he been quiet = IF he had been quiet
→
Had Texas been = past perfect = Type 3, BUT
→
would have = present conditional = Type 2
(as in option B, recall that Type 3 must be
would have had)
Starting conditionals or hypotheticals with
had or
were (and should, though I do not recall having seen "should" in official questions) is a sophisticated way to phrase a sentence.
Improperly mixing conditional structures, though, is not sophisticated. Doing so is incorrect.
ELIMINATE D
Quote:
E) If Texas was a country, it would have
• WAS should be WERE
→ Wrong:
If I was you→ Correct:
If I were you→ In the case of a hypothetical Type 2 conditional (something imagined, supposed, hypothesized), we change a
to be verb to
were for everything and everyone, singular or plural.
Wrong:
If he was honorable, he would not lie.Correct:
If he were honorable, he would not lie.We signal that we are talking about a hypothetical by using
were.We infuse this type of conditional with a subjunctive mood by always using
were rather than
was.
The usage of
were only sounds strange when we involve the pronouns,
I, he, she, and
it.We would never say "you was."
Similarly, in this situation, we must always use
wereELIMINATE E
The answer is C..
COMMENTSThese comments will be nearly identical to those in my other OE for today.
The Thanksgiving holiday just ended in the U.S.
The Lincoln Project created the most memorable Thanksgiving video I have ever seen.
The Lincoln Project Gives Thanks is the epitome of simple eloquence—in under two minutes.
You know, the effect of tryptophan really is a thing.
I wasn't too sure. I'm sure.
These answers are satisfactory.
Assertion is not explanation.
In keeping with a proven POE strategy in which we eliminate the worst four answers: Why are the four incorrect answers incorrect?
After reading a post, will a future aspirant who does not know this fairly difficult material understand
why the wrong answers are wrong?
Be safe, everyone.