Question

Fill in the blank with the most appropriate word.
I wish ___ what to do in an emergency like this.
A) I knew
B) I know
C) knowing
D) to know

Answer 1

Hint: In a sentence, a verb is the action or state of being. Depending on when the action is performed, verbs can be stated in different tenses. Jennifer, for example, walked to the store. The verb walked is used to show activity in this sentence.

Complete answer:
We can deduce from the statement that the emergency has already occurred and the speaker is making a comment about it. As a result, the sentence's tense is past tense.
Let us look at the given options:
A) I knew: This is the correct option. The sentence requires a past form of verb because the emergency has already happened. So, this option is appropriate and ‘I knew’ is in past tense.
B) I know: This option is incorrect because the person in the sentence is talking about an emergency that has already happened. So, the verb should be in the past tense but ‘I know’ is the present form of the verb.
C) knowing: This option is incorrect because ‘knowing’ is the present continuous tense of the verb whereas in this sentence we have to use past tense.
D) to know: This option is incorrect because ‘To know’ would make the sentence grammatically incorrect, also know is in the present tense whereas we have to use a verb in its past form.

Thus, the correct answer is Option (A) i.e, I knew.

Note: Some different forms of verbs are:
- Action verbs describe what the sentence's subject does.
- A linking verb adds information about the sentence's subject. Instead of presenting activity, it establishes a connection between them.
- Auxiliary verbs help to convey time, tense, and potential by extending the main verb.