In the following question, some part of the sentence may have errors. Find out which part of the sentence has an error and select the appropriate option. If a sentence is free from error, select 'No Error'. In 2018, if President Donald Trump (A)/had not started the trade war(B)/, China had not cancelled it’s soybean imports from America. (C)/ No error (D)?

Option 2 : C

Part (C) has an error in it. Hence, Option 2 is the correct answer

• It is a conditional sentence where ‘If’ clause is used to reflect a cause-effect relationship. Thus. B is the right answer.
• This is a closed condition. ‘If the US had not started the trade war’ signifies that the US did start a trade war. Thus, it is an impossible situation and could not be averted.
• When the past perfect is used in the ‘If-clause.’ then would, could, or might + the past participle are used in the main clause.
• Thus, the correct form that must be used here is, ‘would not have cancelled’.

Examples

• If I had not taken the medicine on time, I would have been dead. (I am not dead)
• If Sachin had hit a sixer, India would have won the match. (India did not win the match)

Correct Sentence: In 2018, if President Donald Trump had not started the trade war, China would not have cancelled it’s soybean imports from America.