Postsecondary Education Readiness Test (PERT) 2025 – 400 Free Practice Questions to Pass the Exam

The sentence stating that Dave won't be able to eat lunch unless he finishes the project before noon correctly uses the future tense "won't be able" in conjunction with the present tense "finishes." This structure effectively communicates a condition that is future-oriented — it establishes that his ability to have lunch is dependent on an action (finishing the project) that needs to occur in the present or ongoing moment.

Using "won't be able" indicates that this is a future scenario, while "finishes" maintains a sense of immediacy, suggesting that in order for him to have lunch later, he must complete the project at the current time. This creates a clear and logical relationship between the two actions, highlighting the conditional nature of the sentence.

The other sentences use verb tenses that disrupt the clarity of the condition. For example, options using the past tense incorrectly create confusion about the timeframe of the actions involved. Understanding the proper use of future and present tenses is essential for constructing coherent conditional statements in English.