NDA (II) 2016 GAT Q48: If I were a millionaire, I would have helped the

Q: What is the answer to NDA (II) 2016 GAT Q48?

C. Correct — C, would help. 'If I were a millionaire' imagines a present state that is not the case, and the half of the sentence that answers it must stay on the same time plane, which means 'would' plus the plain verb — 'If I were a millionaire, I would help the poor.'

NDA (II) 2016 General Ability Test · Question 48 of 150

Question text verified against the official NDA question paper.

If I were a millionaire, I would have helped the poor.

(a)am capable of helping
(b)could have helped
(c)would help
(d)NO IMPROVEMENT

Answer

Why

Correct — C, would help. 'If I were a millionaire' imagines a present state that is not the case, and the half of the sentence that answers it must stay on the same time plane, which means 'would' plus the plain verb — 'If I were a millionaire, I would help the poor.'

Why the others are wrong

(a)am capable of helping — It is a plain statement about the present, which cannot answer an imagined situation; the 'if' half has already stepped out of fact and the other half has to follow.
(b)could have helped — A perfect form after 'could' points back to an opportunity in the past that was missed, which does not match an imagined present state.
(d)NO IMPROVEMENT — 'Would have helped' belongs with 'If I had been a millionaire'; joined to 'If I were' it puts the two halves of the sentence in different times.

Concept

An imagined present situation and its result have to be expressed on the same time plane.

The 'if' half is not underlined, which means it is fixed and is doing the work of setting the time. 'Were' after 'I' is the unreal present form, so the result must be 'would' plus the plain verb. Had the sentence begun 'If I had been a millionaire', the printed 'would have helped' would have been right — the item is testing whether a candidate can tell these two patterns apart rather than whether either is known in isolation.

Key facts

An imagined present pairs 'if' plus a past form with 'would' plus the plain verb.
An imagined past pairs 'if' plus had plus the past participle with 'would have' plus the past participle.
'Were' is used for all persons in this pattern, which is why 'If I were' is preferred to 'If I was'.

Study next

Imagined present and imagined past situations and the forms each takes'Were' used for every person in unreal statementsMixed sentences where the supposition and the result sit in different times

Common traps

Reaching for a perfect form because the sentence feels hypothetical, without checking which time the 'if' half has set.
Answering an imagined situation with a plain statement of present fact.

Asked as a sentence-improvement item in which the unchangeable half of the sentence dictates the form of the underlined half.

Related PYQs

NDA_GAT_2017_I_Q242017Open & attempt →

He ought not to tell me your secret, but he did.

(a) telling
(b) have told
(c) having told
(d) No improvement

Answer(b) have told

Both items ask the candidate to match the verb form to the time the rest of the sentence has already fixed. There 'but he did' shows the act is over and forces a perfect form; here 'If I were' keeps everything in an imagined present and forbids one.

Practice

practice — not a real PYQ
Which option best improves the underlined part — If I had known about the strike, I would leave earlier.
- (a)would have left
- (b)will leave
- (c)would be leaving
- (d)No improvement
Answer(a) would have left — the 'if' half is set in an imagined past, so the result must be too.
practice — not a real PYQ
Which option best improves the underlined part — If she were here, she will have solved the problem in a minute.
- (a)would solve
- (b)had solved
- (c)will solve
- (d)No improvement
Answer(a) would solve — 'If she were' imagines the present, so the result takes 'would' plus the plain verb.