Question

If he _______ (go over) his lessons yesterday, he would have passed the exam with flying colours.
a) Had gone over
b) Would have gone over
c) Went over
d) None of these

Answer 1

Hint: Read the given phrase/sentence carefully. Try to make out the meaning of it and find the subject or the predicate or the main object of the sentence.

Complete answer:
The given sentence clearly says that if he revised his lesson the last day, he would have passed his examination with good marks. We are provided with the word ‘go over', with this, we have to find out the correct verb form to fill in the given blank.
The given sentence expresses a situation that would have happened (he would have passed the exam with flying colours) if a certain action had happened in the past (If he had gone over his lessons). This type of sentence is called a type 3 conditional sentence. It refers to a condition that was likely but did not actually happen in the past. In such conditional clauses (‘starting with ‘If’), the verb is used in the past perfect tense (‘had’+past participle). The past participle form of ‘go over’ is ‘had gone over’.
Option ‘a’: This is the correct option as it has the same format as given above.
Option ‘b': The phrase, ‘would have gone over’ is not used along with the conditional ‘If’ clause. This is an incorrect option so we will eliminate this option.
Option ‘c': The phrasal verb, ‘went over’ is in the simple past tense. It is not in the past perfect tense and cannot be used in a conditional clause starting with ‘If’. So, we eliminate this option as well.
Option ‘d': We will choose this option only if the other three options are not correct, or if the given sentence is already correct. Hence, the option ‘a’ is the correct option.

Note:
All the other options are plausible distractions. Follow the given format to find the answers to the tense format questions.