Question

Fill in the blank with the most appropriate option:
He asked the children who ______ the book.
a) tearing
b) tear
c) tears
d) had torn
e) will tear

Answer 1

Hint: Look for pointers suggesting which tense to use. The action has already occurred in the given sentence. These pointers are indicators of certain tenses.

Complete answer:
In the given sentence, the writer makes use of reported speech. We can infer that the mentioned action has already happened in the case of the reported speech.
This means that the sentence requires some form of past tense. Any form of the past tense can technically fit into the blank, as all past tenses signify the action being completed. The tenses of present and future cannot fit into this sentence, as we need only the past tense.

Now, we know what we are looking for. Let’s look at the given options-
a) tearing - The word ‘tearing’ is in the present continuous tense. This means that the action has been happening and is still going on. This does not fit into the given sentence. This is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.
b) tear - The word ‘tear’ is one half of the infinitive ‘to tear’. This means that the action is vague. This does not fit into the given sentence. This is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.
c) tears - The word ‘tears’ is in the simple present tense. This means that the sentence becomes a fact and not a one time occurrence. This does not fit into the given sentence. This is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.
d) had torn - The phrase ‘had torn’ is the past perfect tense. This means that the action in the sentence has been completed. This fits perfectly into the given sentence. This is the required answer. So, this is the correct option.
e) will tear - The phrase ‘will tear’ is in the simple future tense. This means that the action has not happened yet. This does not fit into the given sentence. This is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.

Note:Choose the most appropriate option given the context of the sentence. Make sure
all the forms of a verb are aligning with each other and work with each other perfectly.