Question

Fill in the blank with the most appropriate word.
This problem __________ at the last meeting.
A. was discussed
B. has been discussed
C. discussed
D. will be discussed

Answer 1

Hint: Tense is a category that expresses time reference The main tenses are past,present and future.
Past Tense - The past tense is a grammatical tense, the purpose of which is to position a past event or circumstance.
Present Tense - The present tense is a grammatical tense, the main feature of which is to find a circumstance or case now.
Future Tense - A future tense is a verb form in grammar that usually characterises the occurrence defined by the verb as not yet occurring, but is predicted in the future.


Complete answer:
Simple Past Tense - The key use of the past is for acts completed in the past.
Past Continuous Tense - A regular usage of the past continues to demonstrate that a longer action has been stopped (usually by a shorter action in the past simple). We usually use the time expression “when”.
Past Perfect Tense - We use it when an action takes place before any action in the past.
Past Perfect Continuous Tense - We use it to illuminate that an event that began in the past lasted until another stage in the past.

The sentence is given as “This problem __________ at the last meeting.”
Here the word “last meeting” is used to describe an event (meeting) that has already been done. Therefore, we need to fill an option that fits the past tense rules.

Let us analyse the options:
Option A) was discussed: The past tense of discuss is discussed. Therefore, this is the correct option.

Option B) has been discussed: "Has been" and "have been" are both used in the present perfect tense." Has been" is usually utilized in the third-person singular. Therefore, this option is incorrect.

Option C) discussed: The past tense of discuss is discussed, but there is no auxiliary verb used. Therefore, this option is incorrect.

Option D) will be discussed: Here it is considered as a simple future tense. Therefore, this option is incorrect.

Thus the correct answer is option ‘A’.

Note: Few rules that need to be remembered:
Simple past - for regular verbs -ed.
Past continuous - was/were + verb + ing.
Past perfect - had + past participle.
Past perfect continuous - had + been + verb + ing.