Question

Fill in the blank with the appropriate past continuous tense:
I ___________ when the lights went out. (read)
a. was read
b. had read
c. had been reading
d. was reading

Answer 1

Hint: Past continuous tense conveys an action that is not over or progressing in the past. It uses the construction ‘was’ + the present participle form of the verb. For example, Sara was lying all this while.

Complete answer:
From the hint given to us, we understand the meaning of the past continuous tense. Let us now analyse the given options one by one to find the correct answer.
a. ‘Was read’ is the simple past form of the verb, read. Simple past conveys an activity performed in the past. For example, This book was not read by me. Since it does not indicate past continuous tense, we can say that option ‘a’ is not the correct answer.
b. ‘Had read’ is the past perfect form of the verb, read. The past perfect tense conveys past to past. For example, I had read this book before I read Nancy Drew. Since it does not indicate past continuous tense, we can say that option ‘b’ is not the correct answer.
c. ‘Had been reading’ is the past perfect continuous form of the verb, read. Past perfect continuous tense conveys an activity that began at some indefinite period in past and continues up till another time in the past. For example, Sara had been reading that book a long time back. Since it does not indicate past continuous tense, we can say that option ‘c’ is not the correct answer.
d. ‘Was reading’ is the past continuous form of the verb, read. For example, I was reading this book yesterday. We observe that it fits the context of the given sentence. Hence, option ‘d’ is the correct answer.
Thus, the correct answer is option ‘d’ - ‘was reading’.

Note: A sentence follows one tense. However, two independent clauses can have different tenses. One is required to have a thorough knowledge of the tenses to be able to solve such questions correctly.