<p>The swim coach told (Kate and me) that we (stand a chance) of qualifying if we train consistently next year.</p>
<p>Are there any errors in the sentence or no?</p>
<p>i put no errors for this sentence on the PSAT</p>
<p>There’s no error</p>
<p>^ Many are saying that there is an error because the if cause, followed by the mention of future in “next year,” requires the future tense in the verb stand, changing the sentence to “told kate and me that we will stand.” I put NE as well though, but this reason makes a lot of sense.</p>
<p>Hello,</p>
<p>I’m pretty sure nobody has brought this up yet, but
can somebody tell me why the use of the word “consistently” is not incorrect? Shouldn’t it be “constantly”, as in “all the time”, instead of “consistently”, in the same manner?</p>
<p>Not necessarily. They have two different meanings and both would be correct. If they train consistently it could just mean that they train with the same intensity everytime which would be correct</p>
<p>The question can be recast as:</p>
<p>If we train consistently next year, we (stand a chance) of qualifying.</p>
<p>This is a simple case of the first conditional – i.e. what is said regarding an event that is based on the condition (the “if” clause) is possible. That event is evidently in the future. So the tense must be the future tense – i.e. “we will stand a chance of qualifying.”</p>
<p>For an event in the present, as for example “if we train consistently” (without “next year”) the original “stand a chance” is correct.</p>
<p>Another poster asked "why is “consistently” correct? Shouldn’t it be “constantly”? Both could be right. The PSAT/SAT rarely tests for fine gradations of meaning. Don’t overthink the questions.</p>
<p>There is no error.</p>
<p>Fogcity is right. Google first conditional and you’ll see why.</p>