the bus would not have had to take the
A
long detour instead of the main
B
highway if the bridge did not become
C
treacherous in the aftermath of an ice
D
storm.
why is C wrong?
thanks so much !
C. did not become
would not had to take if the bridge had not become
verb tense
You can read and study verb tenses, specifically the sequence of tenses here:
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/verbs.htm#sequence
To determine why option C is incorrect in the given sentence, let's analyze the sentence and understand its structure.
The sentence states: "the bus would not have had to take a long detour instead of the main highway if the bridge did not become treacherous in the aftermath of an ice storm."
In this sentence, option C suggests that the bridge became treacherous "in the aftermath of an ice storm." However, the bridge becoming treacherous is not dependent on the aftermath of the ice storm; rather, it is the direct consequence of the ice storm.
To understand this, let's break down the sentence:
- "the bus would not have had to take a long detour instead of the main highway"
This part of the sentence suggests that the bus ended up taking a detour instead of the main highway. The condition "would not have had to" implies that the detour was not necessary or would have been avoided if something else didn't happen.
- "if the bridge did not become treacherous in the aftermath of an ice storm"
This part introduces the condition that caused the need for the detour. It states that the bridge became treacherous because of the ice storm, not due to the aftermath of it as option C suggests.
Therefore, option C is not an accurate representation of the cause-and-effect relationship in the sentence. The correct condition is that the bridge became treacherous due to the ice storm itself, not its aftermath.