Directions: The following sentence has been split into four segments. Identify the segment that contains a grammatical error.

Had you / not reached in time, / we will have / lost our lives.

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SSC CGL 2020 Tier-I Official Paper 1 (Held On : 13 Aug 2021 Shift 1)
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  1. Had you
  2. lost our lives
  3. not reached in time
  4. we will have

Answer (Detailed Solution Below)

Option 4 : we will have
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PYST 1:SSC CGL 2023 - Quantitative Aptitude(Held On:14 Jul 2023 Shift 1)
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Detailed Solution

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The correct answer is 'we will have' i.e. this part of the sentence has an error.

Key Points

  • In the given sentence, the use of the simple future tense ''will have'' is incorrect.
  • The given sentence is the third conditional sentence explaining that present circumstances would be different if something different had happened in the past.
  • The third conditional sentence format: past perfect, modal auxiliary (would, could, should, etc.)​ + have + past participle.
  • When using the third conditional, we use the past perfect (i.e., had + past participle) in the if-clause and the modal auxiliary (would, could, should, etc.) + have + past participle in the main clause.
  • Therefore, the past form of the verb 'would' should be used in place of the simple future form of the verb 'will'.
     

Hence, the correct answer is option 4.

Correct sentence: Had you not reached in time, we would have lost our lives.

Hinglish

  • दिए गए वाक्य में simple future tense ''will have'' का प्रयोग गलत है।
  • दिया गया वाक्य third conditional sentence है जो यह बताता है कि यदि अतीत में कुछ अलग हुआ होता तो वर्तमान परिस्थितियाँ भिन्न होतीं।
  • Third conditional sentence प्रारूप: past perfect, modal auxiliary (would, could, should, etc.)​ + have + past participle.
  • Third conditional का उपयोग करते समय, हम if-क्लॉज में past perfect (i.e., had + past participle) का उपयोग करते हैं और modal auxiliary (would, could, should, etc.) + have + past participle, main clause में।
  • अतः verb 'will' के simple future form के स्थान पर past form of the verb 'would' का प्रयोग किया जाना चाहिए।
     

अतः सही उत्तर option 4 है।

सही वाक्य: Had you not reached in time, we would have lost our lives.

Latest SSC CGL Updates

Last updated on Jun 9, 2025

-> The SSC CGL Notification 2025 will be released on 9th June 2025 at ssc.gov.in.

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-> The SSC CGL Tier 1 Exam 2025 Dates have been revised. The SSC CGL Exam will be conducted from 13 August to 30 August, 2025.

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