Question

Fill in the blank with the most appropriate word:
I _____ a book about astrology these days.
a) am reading
b) read
c) am reads
d) reading

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 includes the answer in present continuous tense, as this is the tense that describes an ongoing action in the present (the action of reading a book these days).
Let us thus analyze the options given to us in this question -
Option (a.), 'am reading', refers to ‘present continuous tense’.
Therefore, option (a.) is correct as we need the answer in present continuous tense, as this is the tense that describes an ongoing action in the present (the action of reading a book these days).
Option (b.), ‘read', refers to ‘simple present tense’. Therefore, option (b.) is incorrect as we need the answer in the present continuous tense.
Option (c.), ‘am reads', refers to a grammatically incorrect verb form, as ‘reads’ cannot be used with ‘am’. Therefore, option (c.) is incorrect as it is grammatically incorrect.
Option (d.), ‘reading', refers to ‘present continuous tense’. Therefore, option (d.) is incorrect as it is grammatically incorrect since the first person pronoun ‘I’ requires the ‘am’ verb form of ‘be’ in the present continuous tense.

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