While choosing among projects, financial executives often pay

Question

While choosing among projects, financial executives often pay attention to opportunity cost of each project - financial benefits that would   be produced if the investment would have been   made in another project

A. be produced if the investment would have been
B. be produced if the investment was
C. be produced if the investment were
D. be produced if the investment had been
E. have been produced if the investment had been

Source : Experts Global

kumarparitosh123 · Answer

C for me . Rest all don't use WERE .

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Meechampolee · Answer

Well its E for me sha. Waiting for the OA today

Bombsante · Answer

Answer has to be C since it is a case of subjunctive mood.
All other options can be eliminated for not using "were" with "If"...

pushpitkc · Answer

Well identified  JackMasterNone  &  kumarparitosh123 ! 
C is indeed the correct answer

Video explanation by   Experts Global

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhJSNvLRlUY

MvArrow · Answer

Why is the subjunctive used in this case? I can't see any "trigger" verb such as mandate, order ecc..

Maxximus · Answer

Hello,

If...were is another subjunctive case.

Here is a detailed 20 mins video for a deep insight into subjunctive. Hope this helps.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xK19l5JfrBQ

All the best!
Experts'Global team

swim2109 · Answer

Why cant it be E? IS would be a simple future tense

loh · Answer

Not clear why option E isn’t right .can someone explain ?

Would+past perfect can also signify hypothetical situations which is the case here .

krndatta · Answer

Maxximus   ExpertsGlobal5 ,

How do we decide between subjunctive and conditional statements?

I solved the question thinking of conditional statements.

VishakhaBharti · Answer

Is investment plural, I am not clear why are we using were?

MartyTargetTestPrep · Answer

That part of the sentence is about a hypothetical situation in which the investment is made in another project.

In a clause about a hypothetical situation, we use the subjunctive "were" with a singular noun, rather than the indicative "was."

ExpertsGlobal5 · Answer

Hello  krndatta ,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, conditional statements are a kind of subjunctive statement, since they refer to hypothetical situations; “wishful trigger (if) + plural form of verb” is a correct, subjunctive usage; example: "If I were an athlete, I would be super fit.". In an imaginative context, subjunctive mood is a preferred usage for conveying the intended meaning effectively.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team

ExpertsGlobal5 · Answer

Hello  VishakhaBharti ,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, since this sentence refers to a hypothetical or imaginative action, it uses the subjunctive mood; specifically, it uses the “wishful trigger (if) + plural form of verb” subjunctive mood construction.

To understand the concept of "Subjunctive Mood" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~20 minutes):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xK19l5JfrBQ

All the best!
Experts' Global Team

udaypratapsingh99 · Answer

Below are two points that explain the solution:
1) A general process is mentioned so a simple tense is required rather than a perfect tense. Therefore, the use of "had been" or "have been" is not required. A, D, and E can be eliminated.
2) Simple conditional cases require the use of "were" with "if". Thus option  C is correct.

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While choosing among projects, financial executives often pay

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While choosing among projects, financial executives often pay

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