Which one is the most effective?
(a) I went with what sounds right, even though if someone had asked me why I "chose" it, I wouldn't have been able to elaborated it.

(b) I went with what sounds right, even though if someone had asked me why I "had chose" it, I wouldn't have been able to elaborated it.

(c) I went with what sounds right, even though if someone had asked me why I "chose what I thought it was the answer", I wouldn't have been able to elaborated it.

Hi, (a), (b) and (c) are basically the same idea, I wrote (a) first, and then I started to wonder if it's better to write like (b) or (c).
Can you tell me if those sentences make sense and which sounds the most effective/natural among the three?

Or...do those sentences require a complete rewrite?
If so, can you tell me how to put it preserving the same meaning?
Thank you so much.
(C) "chose what I thought * was the answer" ---- Oops, no "IT" Duh - elaborate*

Question

Which one is the most effective?
(a) I went with what sounds right, even though if someone had asked me why I "chose" it, I wouldn't have been able to elaborated it.

(b) I went with what sounds right, even though if someone had asked me why I "had chose" it, I wouldn't have been able to elaborated it.

(c)  I went with what sounds right, even though if someone had asked me why I "chose what I thought it was the answer", I wouldn't have been able to elaborated it. 
 
Hi, (a), (b) and (c) are basically the same idea, I wrote (a) first, and then I started to wonder if it's better to write like (b) or (c).
Can you tell me if those sentences make sense and which sounds the most effective/natural among the three?

Or...do those sentences require a complete rewrite?
If so, can you tell me how to put it preserving the same meaning?
Thank you so much. 
(C) "chose what I thought * was the answer" ---- Oops, no "IT" Duh - elaborate*

Answer

a) and b) are both OK. The rules about reported speech are not always followed in real life, so an answer like a) would be very common and sounds quite natural. Answer b) is more correct but of course you need to say "had chosen" (not "had chose").

Also, in your answers "elaborate" has an intransitive meaning -- that means it doesn't take an object. So you should change it to say "elaborate ON it."

Answer

I went with what sounds right, even though if someone had asked me why I "chose" it, I wouldn't have been able to elaborated it.

I think it sounds ok for conversational english. It would be "elaborate" though and not elaborated.
Or if you are trying to sound more professional you could say:

I chose the answer that sounded correct, but if asked I wouldn't have been able to elaborate on why I chose it.

Answers · 4

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