Question

Complete using the most appropriate option:
I was feeling sick yesterday. I ______ anything.
a) Can’t eat
b) Shouldn’t eat
c) Couldn’t eat
d) Shan’t eat

Answer 1

Hint: Tenses are the easiest questions to solve because a hint of the tense to be used is already given in the sentence. I was feeling sick "yesterday". Therefore, the tense used in the first part of the sentence is in the past tense. Thus, the second part is also going to be in the past tense.

Complete answer:
 The correct answer is option c. "I couldn't eat anything" is the correct answer. "Couldn't eat anything" implies that earlier I couldn't and today I can (or cannot) but the option to be able to eat today is still a possibility.
Option a is wrong because it implies that the author cannot eat today as well. It is in the present tense. I can’t eat today because I am on a fast.
Option b is wrong because "shouldn't eat" means that the author is forcibly not going to eat anything. The word "should" has an element of force in it. I should be completing my homework implies that you are supposed to complete your homework.
Option d is wrong because "shan't eat" is short for "shall not eat". Like option b, it has an element of force and something you are supposed to not do. I shall not lie to my mother and commit a sin.

Note:
 Always check the sentence for hints of what tenses have already been used. All tenses in a sentence are consistently used so two types of tenses in a sentence are rare.