In the question below choose the word(s) or phrase(s) which best fill(s) the gap:
If it had rained, we would have had to postpone the concert. It didn't rain, so ....
The correct answer is D. we didn't have to
The best answer to fill the gap is D. We didn’t have to.
This is because the sentence is a type of conditional sentence called the third conditional.
The third conditional is used to talk about hypothetical or unreal situations in the past and their consequences. The structure of the third conditional is:
- If + past perfect, would have + past participle
- Would have + past participle, if + past perfect
The first part of the sentence (If it had rained) is the if-clause, which describes the condition that did not happen in the past.
The second part of the sentence (we would have had to postpone the concert) is the main clause, which describes the consequence that would have happened if the condition had been true.
The gap is in the main clause of a new sentence that describes the opposite consequence of the original sentence.
Therefore, the verb in the gap should be in the past simple tense, which shows that the action did not happen in the past.
The correct verb is did not have to, which means that there was no obligation or necessity to do something.
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