Answer:
If they _____ John, they would have given him a sound whipping, but he out of their reach – this sentence from the excerpt from “The Boy Who Cried Wolf Traditional Fable,” can be completed when the phrase “could have caught” is added in the blank given. So, the right answer is Option D.
Explanation:
Why is this the right answer? This is because of the usage of a root verb in the present tense. If the subject is a plural noun or any of these pronouns – I, you, we and they are present in a sentence, then the root verb “have” is used.
Only when the subject is a singular noun or pronoun, then “has” is put to use. In this sentence, the presence of pronoun “they” in the beginning of the sentence which is in present tense points towards Option D as the right answer .
