Question

Fill in the blank with suitable verb form
The letter _____ (post) a week ago and it ______ (arrive) yesterday.
a) is posted-is arrived
b) was posted-arrived
c) posted-arrived
d) posts-arrives

Answer 1

Hint: The first blank will be a past tense because the posting of the letter happened a week ago (in the past). The second blank will also be a past tense since it arrived yesterday (in the past). So both the blanks will have a simple past as their answer.

Complete answer:
Option a is wrong because the usage of “is” makes it present tense. The posting was done a week ago so we have to use a simple past. Similarly, “is arrived” is also wrong.
Option b is the correct answer since the letter “was posted” a week ago and it “arrived” yesterday. Both the choices are in the simple past and it fits perfectly in the sentence along with satisfying the suitable form of the verb.
Option c is wrong because the first choice does not have a helping verb (am, is, are, was, were) with the main verb (posted). Only “posted” is not correct even though it is a past tense of the word “post”.
Option d is absolutely wrong because the tenses are present and present respectively. Since the letter was posted in the past and the arrival also happened in the past, it cannot use a present tense since a present tense describes what’s happening in the present.

Note:
Always looks for the time period mentioned in the sentences to find out which form of the verb to use. If the thing happened in the past (last year, last week, yesterday), use past tense. If it’s happening right now (today, now), use the present tense and if it is about to happen (tomorrow, next week, next year), use future tense.