If Bruno was less persistent in his pursuit of truth, he

Question

4.  If Bruno was less persistent in his pursuit of truth, he would survive his conflict with the Holy Inquisition 

A: If Bruno was less persistent in his pursuit of truth, he would survive his conflict with the Holy Inquisition
B: If Bruno would have been less persistent in his pursuit of truth, he would have survived his conflict with the Holy Inquisition
C: If Bruno had been less persistent in his pursuit of truth, he would survive his conflict with the Holy Inquisition
D: Were Bruno less persistent in his pursuit of truth, he would have survived his conflict with the Holy Inquisition
E: Had Bruno been less persistent in his pursuit of truth, he would have survived his conflict with the Holy Inquisition

forumsmba · Answer

ritesh or ranga, 

could you please explain why C is wrong? 

thanks

gmat2me2 · Answer

In C the sentence starts with a past perfect and ends with a "would" in future...I do not know how to frame that structure but it is clearly a NO

qpoo · Answer

E for me

in subjunctive mood, if you use 'if xxx had done' to express an unreal
condition in the past, then you would need to use 'someone would have done' structure. You cannot just use 'someone would do something' structure.

forumsmba · Answer

gmat2me2,

thanks for the explanation. I missed that second part of the sentence didn't have "would have". Could you tell me if the following would be correct:

-If Bruno had been less persistent in his pursuit of truth, he would have survived his conflict with the Holy Inquisition

thanks.

gandy_achar · Answer

A - No - wrong verb usage
B - keep
C - No - wong verb usage
D - "Were" is the wrong usage
E - Keep

B/w B and E, E is more concise

msb.mba · Answer

B and E were my picks too, just like Gandy...

I like B for the if/then statement, but I am not sure that "if Bruno would have been" in answer B is better than E's response...

So I choose E finally.

HIMALAYA · Answer

E is good and fixes the tenses in conditional sentence.

gmataquaguy · Answer

What is wrong with A and D.

A has no tense issues.

It follows the following rule:

If <past tense> Then <would/could> + base verb.

D shows the "hypothetical" condition. E.g: If i were you.....Albeit, starting with "were" is wierd.

I was torn between A, D and E. And all three choices follow the grammar rules. I'd like to see why "A" and "D" are wrong.

Folaa3 · Answer

Another one for E. Eveyrone pretty much covered why it's E.

If Bruno was less persistent in his pursuit of truth, he

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards