Question

Fill in the blank with the most appropriate word.
I _________ for my things when I _____ someone call my name.
a) paid/was hearing
b) pay / heard
c) was paying/hear
d) was paying/heard

Answer 1

Hint: A verb is a content word that denotes an action, occurrence, or state of existence. A verb is the word class that serves as the predicate of a sentence.

Complete answer:
In the given question, we have to find out which of the options given to us includes-
A verb in the past continuous tense for the first blank as it denotes the action of paying continued in the past period of time.
A verb in the simple past tense for the second blank as it denoted the actions of hearing in the past.
Let us thus analyze the options given to us in this question-
Option (a.), 'paid/was hearing', refers to ‘paid’ which is in the simple present tense, and ‘was hearing’ which is in the past continuous tense. Therefore, option (a.) is incorrect.
Option (b.), ‘pay/heard', refers to ‘pay’ which is simple present tense, and ‘heard’ which is in the simple past tense. Therefore, option (b.) is incorrect.
Option (c.), ‘was paying/hear', refers to ‘hear’ which is in the simple present tense. Therefore, option (c.) is incorrect.
Option (d.), ‘was paying/heard', refers to ‘was paying’ which is in the past continuous tense, and ‘heard’ which is in the simple past tense. Therefore, option (d.) is correct.

Note:
In this question, it will be helpful for the student to recall the concept of tense. Tense is a grammatical category of verbs used to express distinctions of time. There are three tenses- past, present, and future.