From the alternative provided in the question below select the one which is most appropriately completes the sentence:

If the armed robbers ... caught, they would have been lynched.

  • A would be
  • B have been
  • C are
  • D were
  • E had been
jamb 1984english-language

The correct answer is E. had been

"If the armed robbers had been caught, they would have been lynched."

The sentence is in the past unreal conditional form, indicating a hypothetical situation in the past that did not happen.

The correct structure for this type of condition is "if + past perfect (had been) + past perfect (would have been)."

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