Question

Choose the correct form of the verb to fill in the blanks:
I ______(read) the book you lent me but I _____(not/finish) it yet.

a) have been reading; haven’t finished
b) have read; haven’t finished
c) am reading; am not finishing
d) am reading; have not been finishing

Answer 1

Hint:The use of the words ‘not’ and ‘finish’ indicates that the action is still ongoing. There is a specific tense used in this situation.

Complete answer:
The given sentence indicates that the action which the subject is doing, is still incomplete. We can guess this because of the words ‘not’ and ‘finish’ used together.
Let us consider the first verb - read. We can accurately infer from the second part of the sentence that the subject has been doing this for a while and is still continuing to do it. So, this means that we have to use the Present Perfect Continuous tense for the first verb.
The second part of the sentence will likely say the part of the verb that has not been done i.e. the completed action. However, there is no helping verb. So, it will become Present Perfect tense.

Now, let’s look at the given options:
>have been reading; haven’t finished - This is the correct form of both tenses that are required. The first part is in Present Perfect Continuous Tense, and the second part is in Present Perfect Tense. So, this is the correct option.
>have read; haven’t finished - These are not the tenses that are required. So, this is an incorrect option.
>am reading; am not finishing - These are also the wrong verbs, as they are in the wrong tense. So, this is an incorrect option.
>am reading; have not been finishing - These verbs do not fit into the given sentence. They are not in the correct tense. So, this is an incorrect option.

Hence the correct answer is option ‘b’.

Note:Figure out the context of the given sentence in order to understand which tense to put the verb in. The meaning of the sentence will help you to choose the correct form of the verb.