Question

Fill in the blank with the most appropriate word.
I ______ hello to the children, but they didn’t say anything because they ___________ television.
a. Say / watched
b. Said / were watching
c. Was / saying
d. Said / watching

Answer 1

Hint: Consider the duration for which the actions have been going on in the past.

Complete step-by-step answer:

 The Past Tense denotes those actions that have already taken place in the past. To frame verbs in the past tense, you must add the suffix ‘ed’ to the conjugated form of the infinitive of the verb. ‘Infinitive’ refers to the ‘to form’ of a verb. E.g. - to meet.
There are four types of past tenses:
The Simple Past Tense is used when the action was indefinite in the past. It doesn’t make use of any auxiliary verb.
The Past Continuous Tense is used when the action was continuous in the past. The infinitive form of such verbs is preceded by the auxiliary was.
The Past Perfect Tense is used when the action has been completed in the past itself. The infinitive form of such verbs is preceded by the auxiliary had.
The Past Perfect Continuous Tense is used when an action is expected to continue up until a point in the past. The infinitive form of such verbs is preceded by the auxiliary had been.
In the above question, the first action is indefinite. Therefore, it is in the Simple Past Tense. Besides this, the second action is continuous in the past. Therefore, it is in the Past Continuous Tense. Following the rules of conjugation, the correct answer is option ‘b’ said/were watching.

Note: To avoid making errors, consider when the two actions started and ended in the past.