4. Had he not been killed in a glider accident, English aviator Percy Sinclair Pilcher may, before the Wright brothers, plausibly been becoming the first person to achieve powered, heavier-than-air flight.
- may, before the Wright brothers, plausibly been becoming the first person to achieve powered, heavier-than-air flight.
- plausibly could have become the first person, even before the Wright brothers, to achieve powered, heavier-than-air flight.
- may, before the Wright brothers, been the first person to achieve powered, heavier-than-air flight.
- plausibly would be the first person to achieve powered, heavier-than-air flight, before the Wright brothers.
- could have plausibly became the first person to achieve powered, heavier-than-air flight.
Had he not been killed in a glider accident, English aviator Percy Sinclair Pilcher may, before the Wright brothers, plausibly been becoming the first person to achieve powered, heavier-than-air flight.
Grammar issue presented: verb tense
The sentence describes a hypothetical situation in the past. The sequence of events tells us that Pilcher was working in aviation, then he was killed, and then the Wright brothers invented what Pilcher himself might have been able to do earlier than them. Therefore, there are four events being described and the correct sentence must indicate their order using proper tense.
Using elements of the sentence the events are reconstructed in time order:
FIRST: English aviator Percy Sinclair Pilcher (working on planes)
NEXT: killed in a glider accident
NEXT (HYPOTHETICALLY): the first person to achieve powered, heavier-than-air flight (if not killed).
LAST: the Wright brothers (achieved powered, heavier-than-air flight).
- may, before the Wright brothers, plausibly been becoming the first person to achieve powered, heavier-than-air flight.
Tense: Unclear – been becoming shows no definitive point of achievement
- plausibly could have become the first person, even before the Wright brothers, to achieve powered, heavier-than-air flight.
Tense: Clear – uses past perfect: could have become to show that Pilcher's flight would have come earlier than that of the Wright brothers.
- may, before the Wright brothers, been the first person to achieve powered, heavier-than-air flight.
Tense: Incorrect– may been 'is improper grammar – (should be may have been)
- plausibly would be the first person to achieve powered, heavier-than-air flight, before the Wright brothers.
Tense: Improper – would be is future tense. This sentence is explaining a hypothetical past event.
- could have plausibly became the first person to achieve powered, heavier-than-air flight.
Tense: Incorrect – could have became is improper grammar – (should be could have become).
(B) uses the proper tenses to convey the correct timeline, and is thus the best choice.
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