Question

Complete the sentence with an auxiliary verb:
‘Is Colin here?’
‘He ________ five minutes ago but I think he’s gone home now.’
a) is
b) was
c) isn’t
d) wasn’t

Answer 1

Hint: Look for pointers suggesting which tense to use. The action has already occurred in the given sentence. These pointers are indicators of certain tenses.

Complete answer:
In grammar, tense is a category that expresses time reference. Tenses are usually manifested by the use of specific forms of verbs, particularly in their conjugation patterns.
The main tenses found in many languages include the past, present, and future. The second sentence needs to be in the past tense. So, we need to look at the past tenses.
The simple past tense, sometimes called the preterite, is used to talk about a completed
action in a time before now. The simple past is the basic form of past tense in English. This
is needed for the given blank.

Now we know what we are looking for. Let’s look at the given options-
a) is - The word ‘is’ is in the present tense. This word does not fit into the context of the given sentence. This is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.
b) was - The word ‘was’ is in the past tense. This word fits perfectly into the context of the given sentence. This is the required answer. So, this is the correct answer.
c) isn’t - The word ‘is’ is in the present tense, and this word is negative. This word does not fit into the context of the given sentence. This is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.
d) wasn’t - The word ‘was’ is in the past tense, however, it is negative. This word does not fit into the context of the given sentence. This is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.

Note:
Choose the most appropriate option given the context of the sentence. Make sure all the forms of a verb are aligning with each other and work with each other perfectly.