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A supervillain is explaining their intricate (but inevitably flawed) master plan to a captured hero. Select ALL the sentences that correctly complete the villain's dramatic monologue.
Select ALL that apply:
The correct answers are Were the laser to malfunction, I would simply unleash the piranhas and Were it not for your meddling sidekick, my plan would be flawless.
To invert a second conditional (unreal present/future), we use the subjunctive Were followed by the subject.
If a verb follows, it must be a full infinitive with to (Were the laser to malfunction). Therefore, "Were the laser malfunction" is missing the word to.
When using the phrase meaning "if it wasn't for," formal inverted English requires the subjunctive mood, making Were it not for... correct, while Was it not for... is considered grammatically incorrect in this advanced structure.