Question

The Prime Minister has said that India would not have spent so much on defence

• A. if some of the neighbouring countries
• B. adopted the policy of restricting defence expenditure
• C. No error

Hint:

Type III conditional: If + past perfect, would have + past participle.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is B

The question requires us to identify the part of the sentence with an error. We need to break down the given sentence structure to evaluate the options given and determine which part correctly identifies the error.

Original Sentence: "The Prime Minister has said that India would not have spent so much on defence."

Options:

1. if some of the neighbouring countries
2. adopted the policy of restricting defence expenditure
3. No error

Analysis:

1. Option 1: "if some of the neighbouring countries" seems incomplete because it does not provide a consequential or conditional clause to support the claim about defence expenditure.
2. Option 2: "adopted the policy of restricting defence expenditure" correctly specifies the potential condition that could lead to India spending less on defence. This clause gives a clear and logical criterion that ties back to the primary clause.
3. Option 3: "No error" cannot be selected because option 2 identifies the necessary correction to lend clarity and completion to the sentence.

Conclusion: The correct form of the sentence should be, "The Prime Minister has said that India would not have spent so much on defence if some of the neighbouring countries adopted the policy of restricting defence expenditure." Therefore, the error is in option 1, and option 2 is the necessary part to complete the conditional clause accurately.

Correct Answer: adopted the policy of restricting defence expenditure