Question:
They _________ for such an outcome; it indeed ____________ them by surprise.
They _________ for such an outcome; it indeed ____________ them by surprise.
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Use the past perfect tense for an action that was not completed before another action in the past. The simple past tense is used for actions that happened after that.
Updated On: Jul 16, 2026
- had not bargained, took
- will not bargain, will take
- have not bargained, takes
had bargained, took
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The Correct Option is A
Approach Solution - 1
The sentence talks about a past event where the people did not prepare or expect the outcome. Thus, we use the past perfect tense ("had not bargained") to indicate something that did not happen before the expected event. The second part of the sentence describes the surprise which is in the simple past tense ("took"), indicating that the surprise happened after the lack of preparation.
Hence, the correct choice is option (a): had not bargained, took.
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Approach Solution -2
Placing the two events described in the sentence on a timeline clarifies which happened first and which happened second, since English requires the earlier of two past events to be marked with the past perfect tense while the later one takes the simple past.
- Option A: "had not bargained" places the lack of preparation earlier on the timeline, before the surprising outcome, correctly using the past perfect, while "took" marks the surprising event that followed in the simple past, matching the required sequence of tenses.
- Option B: "will not bargain, will take" shifts both verbs into the future tense, which contradicts the sentence's clear reference to something that has already happened.
- Option C: "have not bargained, takes" mixes a present perfect with a present simple tense, neither of which reflects two sequential past events.
- Option D: "had bargained, took" reverses the intended meaning by suggesting they did prepare for the outcome, contradicting the sense that the outcome came as a surprise.
Only option A correctly sequences an earlier past-perfect action of not preparing with a later simple-past reaction of surprise.
Hence, the correct answer is Option A.
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