The teacher sympathized with the students who were forced to attend...

Question

The teacher sympathized with the students who were forced to attend classes on Sundays, stating that  if he was in charge, he would declare every Saturday and Sunday as holidays.

(A) if he was in charge, he would declare every Saturday and Sunday as holidays 
(B) if he were in charge, he would declare every Saturday and Sunday as holidays 
(C) he would declare every Saturday and Sunday as holidays if he was in charge 
(D) if he were in charge, he would declare every Saturday and Sunday holidays
(E) every Saturday and Sunday would be holidays if he was in charge

AkshdeepS · Answer

The situation is not real but hypothetical subjunctive, therefore we need to use "were" and not "was".

Eliminate A, C, and E.

From B and D, the meaning will be the key.

"B" says , "he would declare every Saturday and Sunday as holidays"

Meaning is absurd. Sat and Sun can't be declared as "Holidays", but Sat and Sun can be declared "Holidays".

"as" gives a sense of ambiguous comparison saying that

1. "The way we can declare holidays, we can also declare Sat and Sun".

2. Holiday is a type of day just as Sat and Sun.

. (A) if he was in charge, he would declare every Saturday and Sunday as holidays (B) if he were in charge, he would declare every Saturday and Sunday as holidays (C) he would declare every Saturday and Sunday as holidays if he was in charge (D) if he were in charge, he would declare every Saturday and Sunday holidays (E) every Saturday and Sunday would be holidays if he was in charge

xplosivefury · Answer

Regarding D, what part of speech is the word "holidays?"

he - subject
would declare - predicate
Saturday / Sunday - Direct object
holidays - ?

AkshdeepS · Answer

I believe anything other than the subject of a sentence is considered predicate.

For choice D query, I think "Holidays" is used as a "noun adjective" modifying nouns "Sat and Sun".

AjiteshArun · Answer

As  AkshdeepS  pointed out,  holiday  itself is a noun. To me it sounds as if it is part of an infinitive that has not been included (explicitly) in the sentence:

He declared Sunday (to be) a holiday.

auradediligodo · Answer

The teacher sympathized with the students who were forced to attend classes on Sundays, stating that  if he was in charge, he would declare every Saturday and Sunday as holidays.

(A) if he was in charge, he would declare every Saturday and Sunday as holidays 
(B) if he were in charge, he would declare every Saturday and Sunday as holidays 
(C) he would declare every Saturday and Sunday as holidays if he was in charge 
(D) if he were in charge, he would declare every Saturday and Sunday holidays
(E) every Saturday and Sunday would be holidays if he was in charge

Hi everyone,

Here is how I tackled this one:

Pre-thinking

At first it seems clear that we are tested on tenses. This if construction requires the usage of    were and would   . 
So   options A,C and E   are out.

Now the only split left is  as holidays  VS  Holidays .

Of course both of them sound plausible but we can use a couple of tactics to eliminate   Option B   and select   Option D  .

#1:  As + noun  means in the role of. So in the role of holidays is not very correct. 
#2: Try to force this construction in other cases:  declare X as Y ----> I declare Matt as a teacher. 
Now from this example we can see how this construction is wrong.

Option D

daagh · Answer

Declare as is not an idiomatic phrasal verb; the verb declare does not take the preposition 'as." As such, one may not find "declare as" in a dictionary. Hence B is out.

Bunuel · Answer

Official Explanation

Answer: D

(A) Since the sentence talks about a hypothetical situation, it requires the use of the subjunctive mood. The use of  if  should have given you a clue to the same. The subjunctive mood requires the use of  would  and  were . The use of  was  will be incorrect. Also  declare....as  is the incorrect idiom, the correct idiom is only  declare .

(B)  Declare....as  is the incorrect idiom, the correct idiom is only  declare .

(C) The use of  was  is incorrect; we require  were  instead.

(D) The correct answer.

(E) Same as C.

Abhishek009 · Answer

The sentence refers to a Hypothetical consntruction, thus, the usage must be : "if he were...." - Reject (A),(C) & (E)

Further declare x y is the correct idiomatic usage of declare, hence reject (B), Answer must be (D)

The teacher sympathized with the students who were forced to attend...

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The teacher sympathized with the students who were forced to attend...

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