Question

Choose the suitable form of the verb in the brackets from the given options:
The economic situation is already very bad and it ______ (get) worse.

a)is getting
b)has getting
c)was getting
d)have got

Answer 1

Hint: The action of the economic situation is presently happening, i.e. it is a continuous action.

Complete answer:

The Present Continuous, also called the present progressive, is a verb form used in modern English that combines the present tense with the continuous aspect. It is used to show that an ongoing action is happening now, either at the moment of speech or now in a larger sense. It can also sometimes be used for an action happening in the near future.

It is constructed by taking the root verb and adding ‘-ing’ to it.
So, ‘modal auxiliary + root verb + ing’ is the correct construction.

In the given sentence, the economic situation worsening is an ongoing process, i.e. a continuous process. We can identify that we need the present tense because the first half of the sentence is also in the present tense.

Now, let’s look at our options:

a)is getting - This is the present continuous tense. It is grammatically correct, and it fits into the given sentence perfectly. So, this is the correct option.
b)has getting - This is not the present continuous tense and it is not grammatically correct, as it does not fit into the given sentence. So, this is an incorrect option.
c)was getting - This is not the present continuous tense and it is not grammatically correct, as it does not fit into the given sentence. So, this is an incorrect option.
d)have got - This is not the present continuous tense and it is not grammatically correct, as it does not fit into the given sentence. So, this is an incorrect option.

Note: Identify the difference between the meaning of each tense. Try to find the exact tense that is grammatically correct for the given sentence.