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ICSE Question Bank
2025Q5(iii)(2)Grammar
MCQHard1 mark
5(iii)

Choose the correct option to make one complete sentence without using and, but or so.

The debating teams were very happy. They were declared joint champions.

Topic: Synthesis — sequence of tenses

Previous-year question practice database

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Pick an option and check your answer. The full worked answer is below either way.

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Answer

Exam answer

(c) The debating teams were very happy as they had been declared joint champions..

Explanation

This question is about the SEQUENCE OF TENSES. The main clause is in the simple past ("were very happy"), and the declaring happened BEFORE the happiness — so the subordinate clause must go one step further back, into the past perfect: "had been declared".

The rule to carry away: when the main verb is past, a subordinate verb describing an EARLIER event takes the past perfect.

Why the others fail: (a) mixes past with present perfect — "were... have been" does not agree. (b) shifts the whole sentence into the present, changing the meaning. (d) shifts it into the future, changing the meaning again.

In words

The debating teams were very happy as they had been declared joint champions..

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