A sentence is provided in indirect speech. From the four given options, choose the one that most accurately conveys the sentence in its corresponding direct speech. The analyst said that were the policies amended earlier, the crisis could have been avoided.
- (a)“If the policies were amended earlier, the crisis could have been avoided,” said the analyst.
- (b)“Had the policies been amended earlier, the crisis could have been avoided,” said the analyst.
- (c)“If only the policies would be amended, the crisis was avoided,” he said.
- (d)“Had we amended the policies, we avoided the crisis,” the analyst said.
Answer
Why
Correct — B. Two phrases fix the time: earlier and the result could have been avoided. Both point to an unreal condition in the past, a third conditional.
Its passive if-clause is had been + past participle: if the policies had been amended. Inverted, without if: Had the policies been amended earlier.
The result clause stays unchanged, and the analyst's words go inside quotation marks → option (b).
Why the others are wrong
- (a)“If the policies were amended earlier, the crisis could have been avoided,” said the analyst. — Copies were amended from the reported sentence, but were + past participle is the form for a present or future unreal condition. With earlier and could have been avoided, the condition is past and needs had been amended.
- (c)“If only the policies would be amended, the crisis was avoided,” he said. — would be amended and was avoided turn the unreal past condition into a wish and a plain past fact. The crisis could have been avoided becomes a crisis that was avoided.
- (d)“Had we amended the policies, we avoided the crisis,” the analyst said. — 'Had we amended' adds a speaker the reported sentence does not have, and we avoided the crisis states a real past event where the analyst said it could have been avoided.
Concept
A third conditional imagines a different past: if + had + past participle, then would/could/might have + past participle. In the passive, the if-clause is had been + past participle.
Formal English can drop if and invert: 'If the policies had been amended' becomes 'Had the policies been amended'.
Inversion with were ('Were the policies amended') belongs to the second conditional, which imagines the present or future.
The reported sentence itself prints were the policies amended earlier, so option (a) is its word-for-word copy. The key reads the time words, earlier and could have been avoided, and gives the form standard English uses for a past unreal condition: had been amended.
Key facts
- Third conditional, passive: If the policies had been amended, the crisis could have been avoided.
- Inverted third conditional: Had + subject + past participle, with if dropped: Had the policies been amended.
- Inversion with were is second conditional: Were the policies amended = If the policies were amended.
- Could have + past participle does not change between direct and indirect speech.
Study next
Common traps
- Choosing (a) because it copies were amended from the reported sentence — earlier and could have been avoided make the condition past, so it needs had been amended.
- Picking (d) because it starts with Had — we amended adds a speaker, and we avoided states a real event.
The same inverted third conditional is keyed at 17 Sep 2025, 16:00, English Q.23 ('had he known earlier' → 'Had I known earlier') and at 18 Sep 2025, 12:30, English Q.23 ('had the evidence not been tampered with'). In both, the reported sentence already has had; here it prints were, and the key supplies had been.
Related PYQs
No directly related past PYQ was found.