Question

Fill in the blank with the most appropriate word.
“What ______?”
“My name’s Ben.”
A) was your name
B) were your name
C) is your name
D) is his name

Answer 1

Hint: Tense means the time at which the action of the verb takes place. Present, Past and Future are the three different main tenses. In English, the three principle tenses can take four primary angles: simple, perfect, continuous (also known as progressive), and perfect continuous.

Complete answer:
The question is from a present situation or an ongoing conversation. Thus, the question should be in the Present Tense and in the second person singular number. The formula for simple present tense for First Person Singular is ‘I’ + verb (base form) + object (optional). The formula for simple present tense when a Second Person is involved is ‘You’ + verb (base form) + object (optional). The formula for simple present tense for Third Person Singular is He/ She/ Common Nouns/ Proper Nouns + verb (base form) with s/es at the end + object (optional).

Option A) was your name: As the question’s atmosphere is a present conversation, the question format should be in the present tense. The given option is in the Past Tense format. Thus, Option A is an incorrect answer.

Option B) were your name: As the question’s atmosphere is a present conversation, the question format should be in the present tense. The given option is in the Past Tense format and in the plural number. Thus, Option B is an incorrect answer.

Option C) is your name: As the question’s atmosphere is a present conversation, the question format should be in the present tense. And the question is asked to only one person present, Option C is the correct answer.

Option D) is his name: As the question’s atmosphere is a present conversation, the question format should be in the present tense. The given option is not in the second person singular number which is inappropriate according to the situation. Thus, Option A is an incorrect answer.

Thus the correct answer is option ‘C’.


Note: Simple Present Tense is used:
- To talk about an action that is happening at the time of speaking.
- To express habitual actions or occurrences.
- To express some general or universal truth.
- To represent a future action when its futurity is clear from the context.
When a narrative begins in the Past Tense and suddenly switches over to the Present to make the action more vivid and exciting, the Simple Present Tense is used. It is then called Historic Present.