Can you identify the grammatically incorrect sentence from each set?

Question

Option 1: I would have helped you if you had asked.

Option 2: She acts as if she were royalty.

Option 3: He demanded that she leaves immediately.

Option 4: By the time we got there, they had already gone.

AfterBoards · Accepted Answer

**Option 3** is the grammatically incorrect sentence. Let's see why. When we use demanding words like *"demand," "insist,"* or *"suggest,"* the verb that follows must be in its **base form** (called the subjunctive mood) — no *-s, -ed,* or *-ing.* So *"leaves"* should be *"leave."* ✅ *"He demanded that she **leave** immediately."* Just like: *"I suggest that he **study** harder"* (not *"studies"*). Now let's quickly confirm the other options are correct: **Option 1** → Uses the past unreal conditional (third conditional) correctly. *"Had asked"* and *"would have helped"* pair up perfectly to talk about something that didn't happen in the past. ✅ **Option 2** → After *"as if,"* we use *"were"* (not *"was"*) for unreal or imaginary situations. Since she isn't actually royalty, *"were"* is the right choice. ✅ **Option 4** → Correctly uses the past perfect tense (*"had gone"*) to show that one past event (their leaving) happened before another past event (our arriving). ✅

BMSAT Kozhikode (VA) PYQs

Keyboard Shortcuts