If he would have revised his first draft he would

Question

Project SC Butler: Sentence Correction (SC2) 
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If he  would have revised  his first draft, he would have received a better grade.

A) would have revised

B) had revised

C) could of revised

D) were to revise

E) would revise

generis · Accepted Answer

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

Project SC Butler: Sentence Correction (SC2)

• This question presents a Type 3 conditional
→ IF past perfect, THEN perfect conditional
Result (THEN clause): he  would have received  a better grade
The condition clause (the IF clause) must be:  he had revised

→ in the results clause in the nonunderlined portion, the verb is  would have received 
That tense is called "perfect conditional." 
WOULD + HAVE + past participle (verbed)
Don't memorize the jargon.
Remember  would have Xed  or  would have verbED .

→  would have received  in the results clause requires IF + PAST PERFECT
→ that is, we need HAD+ PAST PARTICIPLE (verbED)
→ in this context, we need HAD + REVISED

• Type 3 conditional
→ In a type 3 conditional, the sentence describes an unreal past condition and its likely result in the past
→ these sentences typically express missed opportunity or regret

→ A Type 3 conditional is truly hypothetical: now it is too late for either the condition or the result to occur. Type 3 conditionals describe the opposite of what actually happened.
 If he had revised his first draft, he would have received a better grade.  (But he didn't revise his first grade, and he didn't get a better grade.)

• Split #1: 4-1 Split -- conditional verb

We need IF past perfect (IF + HAD + past participle)
In particular, we need  if he   had revised   his first draft

Options A, C, D, and E do not use  had revised .
A)  would have revised:   not past perfect. The word  would   never  appears in an IF clause. Verb tense is identical to the results clause, but that situation occurs  only  in zero conditionals. (See **footnote.)
C)  could of revised:  not past perfect. Could OF is not a thing. Could HAVE is the correct way to say this phrase, but the phrase itself is not correct in this context.
D)  were to revise:  not past perfect. That construction is used for a hypothetical Type 2 conditional. See footnote.
E)  would revise:  not past perfect. The word  would   never  appears in an IF clause. 
ELIMINATE A, C, D, and E

The answer is B.
If he   had revised   his first draft, he would have received a better grade.
The verb phrase  had received  is in the past perfect tense.

COMMENTS

Good to see everyone.
This question is a hard one to "explain" because conditionals follow fairly lockstep rules, but you all did an excellent job.

If you explain a decent bit, you get kudos.

**Conditionals 
• Condensed overview (make a flashcard!)
Zero conditional: IF simple present, THEN simple present
Type 1: IF simple present, THEN simple future
Type 2: IF simple past, THEN present conditional
Type 3: IF past perfect, THEN perfect conditional

These things? You just have to memorize them.

• Conditionals, explained a little

Zero conditional: general truths, scientific facts
IF simple present, THEN simple present
If X happens, then Y happens.
 If you freeze water, it expands.

Type 1 conditional: possible condition and its probable result
IF simple present, THEN simple future
If X happens, then Y will happen.
 If you do not slow down, you will get a speeding ticket.

Type 2 conditional: Hypothetical condition and its probable result
IF simple past, THEN present conditional
If X were to happen, then Y would happen.
 If I were you, I would get the vaccine.  
OR
If X happened, then Y would happen.
 If I remembered his name, I would go over there and talk to him.

Type 3 conditional: Unreal past condition and its probable result in the past (but neither thing happened)
IF past perfect, THEN perfect conditional.
If X had happened, THEN Y would have happened.
 If he had slept more than two hours, he would have performed better on the test.

dinesh2392 · Answer

In simple words "If he had done this, that would have happened" is the right form

A) would have revised  (Two would in sentence = redundant)

B) had revised  (Seems perfect)

C)  could of  revised  (modal verb + of = Wrong)

D)  were to  revise  (Wrong)

E) would revise  (Two would in sentence = redundant)

IMO B is correct

beeblebrox · Answer

I think the answer is B.

If he   would have   revised his first draft, he   would have   received a better grade.

A) would have revised

B)  had revised

C) could of revised

D) were to revise

E) would revise

Meaning of the question stem is if X had done something is past the outcome would have been better. Only B is a forthcoming option in that sense. Rest of the options really make no sense.

zhanbo · Answer

My answer is (B) . It took me 14 seconds. The past unreal / subjunctive conditional (also called conditional 3) is used to talk about imaginary situations in the past. (Read more at https://www.englishpage.com/conditional ... ional.html) Only (B) is grammatically sound.

TarunKumar1234 · Answer

If he would have revised his first draft, he would have received a better grade.

A) would have revised
Use of would is incorrect in the first clause.

B) had revised
Correct form for conditional format. had + verb+ed -> would + have

C) could of revised
could is incorrect in the first clause.

D) were to revise
This is incorrect since this would change the sentence to a subjunctive, and the non underlined does not represent subjunctive.

E) would revise
would is incorrect in the first clause

DinoPen · Answer

If he  would have revised  his first draft, he would have received a better grade.

A) would have revised
 Use of would is incorrect in the first clause.

B) had revised
 Correct form for conditional format. had + verb+ed -> would + have

C) could of revised
 could is incorrect in the first clause.

D) were to revise 
This is incorrect since this would change the sentence to a subjunctive, and the non underlined does not represent subjunctive.

E) would revise 
would is incorrect in the first clause

ravigupta2912 · Answer

the then clause here is in conditional past, the if clause should natural precede it and be in past perfect. Only B does that.

A) would have revised — “would have” is the incorrect verb tense. We don’t need a future tense in the “if” clause esp when the “then” clause is in past (received)

B) had revised — correct

C) could of revised — “could of” is wrong. Apart from bad prose, “of” preposition must be followed by a noun and not a verb (revised)

D) were to revise — future tense not needed in the conditional. Eliminate.

E) would revise — same as D.

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ramlala · Answer

A)  would have  revised

B)  had  revised

C)  could of  revised

D)  were to revise
 
E)  would revise

IMO B

generis · Answer

The official explanation is  here .

VerbalBot · Answer

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If he would have revised his first draft he would

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GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

If he would have revised his first draft he would

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