Choose the option that best completes the sentence. But for the timely intervention of the police, the thief ______ by the angry mob.

Assessment: JAMB UTME - Use of English - 2024 Subject: English Language

Question 1 Report

Choose the option that best completes the sentence.

But for the timely intervention of the police, the thief ______ by the angry mob. 

Answer Details

To correctly complete the sentence, we must understand the structure and the context. The phrase "But for" indicates a situation where something was prevented. It sets up a conditional statement of something that did not happen because of an intervention.


Here, the intervention of the police prevented a potential action by the mob. Thus, we use a conditional perfect tense to express this unreal past condition.


The correct option to complete the sentence is: would have been lynched. This phrase, "would have been lynched," is in the past perfect conditional tense. It describes an action that could have happened in the past but did not occur due to an intervening factor, in this case, the timely intervention of the police.

Download The App On Google Playstore

Everything you need to excel in your exams

Green Bridge CBT Mobile App
Personalized AI Learning Chat Assistant
200,000+ Exam Questions Across IGCSE, JAMB, WAEC & NECO
Over 3,900 Lesson Notes
Offline Support - Learn Anytime, Anywhere
Green Bridge Timetable
Literature Summaries & Potential Questions
Track Your Performance & Progress
In-depth Explanations for Comprehensive Learning