Question

Fill in the blank with a suitable option.
Your umbrella is wet. It _____________ raining.
a) Must be
b) was
c) Can’t
d) might

Answer 1

Hint: A verb is a content word that denotes an action, occurrence, or state of existence. The verb is the word class that serves as the predicate of a sentence.

Complete answer:
In the given question, we have to find out which of the options given to us allow the second sentence to seem like a conclusion, as it is followed by observation, such that the sentence is grammatically correct.
Let us thus analyze the options given to us in this question-
Option (a.), 'must be', refers to ‘must’ which means ‘a necessary or essential thing.’
Therefore, option (a.) is correct as it perfectly describes how since the umbrella was wet, the speaker assumes that it was essential that it was raining.
Option (b.), ‘was', is incorrect as using this in the second sentence makes it seem like both are independent declarative statements, which they are not, as they are related to a sequential context.
Option (c.), ‘can’t', is incorrect as ‘It can’t raining’ is grammatically incorrect due to a lack of helping verb.
Option (d.), ‘might', is incorrect as ‘It might raining’ is grammatically incorrect due to a lack of helping verb.

Note:
In this question, it will be helpful for the student to recall the concept of auxiliary (helping) verbs. An auxiliary verb is a verb that combines with another verb in a verb phrase to help form tense, mood, voice, or condition of the verb it combines with.