Question

Fill in the blank with the most appropriate word.
I am not used to _____ strong coffee.
a. drink
b. drinking
c. drank
d. drunk

Answer 1

Hint: Try to look for certain pointer words such as ‘am’. They will help you understand which option you are looking for as they help to narrow down the exact tense required. Then, go through the given options, and choose the most appropriate option accordingly.

Complete answer:
 We can identify the kind of verb needed when we look at the subject of the sentence. In order to do that, we need to deconstruct the given sentence:
The subject is ‘I’ which refers to the subject in the sentence. This indicates that the subject is singular. This means that only verbs that are singular can go with the given subject. The verbs that we need to look for should match the singular subject.
For this particular sentence, since we need continuity, we will use the present continuous tense. This means that the verb ‘drink’ will be conjugated along with the required suffix.

Now we know what we are looking for from the given answers. Let’s look at the given options-
a. drink - This verb is simply a bare infinitive and so this is not a conjugated verb. This is not the required answer as it does not fit into the sentence at all. So, this is an incorrect option.
b. drinking - This verb is in the present continuous tense. This verb fits perfectly into the given sentence. This is in the required tense. This is the required answer. So, this is the correct option.
c. drank - This verb phrase is in the simple past tense. This is not the required tense, and so this does not fit into the sentence at all. This is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.
d. drunk - This verb phrase is also in the simple past tense. This is not the required tense, and so this does not fit into the sentence at all. This is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.

Note:
The sentence has the verb ‘am’ and the action is still taking place, it is a fact. Based on this information, we can safely assume that the action is happening in the present, as it is a situation that is taking place. The subject is singular. This will help you determine the answer.