The event would have been successful if you ____________ able to come. A. are B. had been C. have been D. would have been

GATE 2017 · General Aptitude · Tenses · medium

Answer: 'Had been' — the past perfect required by the third conditional if-clause. Answer: B.

1. Recognise the conditional type: 'Would have been' in the main clause identifies this as a third conditional (unreal past).
2. Determine the required if-clause verb form: The if-clause needs past perfect of 'to be': 'had been'. Check options: A 'are' = simple present; B 'had been' = past perfect; C 'have been' = present perfect; D 'would have been' = modal perfect (cannot appear in if-clause of third conditional).
3. Confirm the answer: Full sentence: 'The event would have been successful if you had been able to come.' Grammatically complete third conditional.