If he ____ the car immediately, the accident wouldn’t have happened. a. Stoped b. Would stop c. Had stopped d. Would have stopped

Answer 1

Chloe's answer is correct and is one way of looking at it. Another is that the sentence is an unreal situation with an "if' clause. The correct verb tense to use in the "if" clause is the simple past or the past perfect (had + past participle." In the case of the "be" verb, the simple past form in the "if" clause is "were," never "was."

Looking at the possible answers, we see:

a. "Stoped" is an incorrect spelling, so it can be eliminated. It is also simple past, and as Chloe point out, the past perfect is used in the second part of the sentence.

b. "Would stop" is not correct, as the "if clause" in an unreal situation, will never use the modal "would."

c. "Had stopped" as we've said is the correct answer.

d. "Would have stopped" again uses the modal verb "would" so it is incorrect.

Just a note: Native speakers do not always use the correct verb form in the "if" clause. It is not unusual to hear them use "would" or "was" in the "if" clause.

Answer 2

Compare the latter part of the statement, "wouldn't have happened" and expand it to "would not have happened", which would be the same tense (past perfect continuous tense) as "had stopped"

You want to keep the type of tense consistent in a sentence.