Question

Fill in the blank with an appropriate verb form-
It’s strange that she _ _ _ _ _ _(be) late today. She’s usually on time.
a) Is
b) Had been
c) Has been
d) Will be

Answer 1

Hint: The tense of the verb usually gives readers a sense of time. In other words, verb tense explains if the action in the sentence took place previously (in the past), now (present), or in near future(future).

Complete answer:
Tense also indicates continual or recurring action (progressive), an action that has completely taken place as of a certain time (perfect), and an action that began in the past and continues or recurs through the present time (perfect progressive). We have to choose the correct form of the verb for the given blank.
Now, let us examine all the given option to find out the correct answer :
Option ‘a’ is Is. It is the first person singular form of ‘be’. The given sentence is also in first person singular form. So, this seems to be the correct answer.
Option ‘b’ is Had been. It means something began in the past, lasted for some time, then ended. This is entirely in the past. For example, He had been in prison from 1990 to 2000.
Option ‘c’ is Has been. This is in the present perfect tense and used in the third person singular. The sentence is not in the same form so this option is incorrect.
Option ‘d’ is Will be. ‘Will' is a helping verb, which is indicating the intention of ‘be’. It is the future tense of the verb ‘to be'.
As we have analyzed all the given options, we can easily figure out the correct answer. Herr, the correct form of the verb to fill in the blank is – is. The complete sentence would be – It’s strange that she is late today. She's usually on time. Hence, the option ‘a’ is the correct option.

Note:
‘Is' is the only work form of ‘be’ which is singular in nature. The given sentence is also related to a single girl which means it is singular in nature as well.