I _______ made arrangements had I _______ informed earlier.
Options:
(A) could have, been
(B) would have. being
(C) had. have
(D) had been, been
Official Answer Key:
A
Step-by-Step Solution & Explanation
### **Official Solution & Step-by-Step Derivation (GATE BT 2017 Q.57)**
**1. Governing Concept & Question Classification**:
- **Section**: General Aptitude (GA)
- **Question Type**: **MCQ** (1 Mark)
- **Topic**: English Grammar (Third Conditional / Inverted Counterfactual Clauses)
**2. Detailed Step-by-Step Analysis**:
- The sentence is an inverted third-conditional (counterfactual past) structure:
$\text{“I _______ made arrangements had I _______ informed earlier.”}$
- The conditional subordinate clause uses standard subject-auxiliary inversion in the past perfect passive:
$\text{“had I [been] informed earlier”} \equiv \text{“if I had been informed earlier”}$
Here, the passive form **been informed** is required because the subject *I* receives the information from someone else.
- The main clause expresses past counterfactual capability or intention using a modal perfect construction:
$\text{“I [could have] made arrangements”}$
- Combining both clauses: *“I **could have** made arrangements had I **been** informed earlier.”*
- **Option-by-Option Evaluation**:
- **Option (A) [CORRECT]**: *"could have, been"* creates a grammatically flawless counterfactual conditional sentence.
- **Option (B) [INCORRECT]**: *"being"* is a present participle and is ungrammatical after the auxiliary *had*.
- **Option (C) [INCORRECT]**: *"had, have"* violates third conditional sequence of tenses.
- **Option (D) [INCORRECT]**: *"had been, been"* is structurally ungrammatical in the main clause.
**3. Final Answer / Verification Summary**:
- **Official GATE Answer Key**: **A**
- **Scoring Criteria**: +1.0 Mark (Negative marking: -0.33 marks).
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