Question

Fill in the blank with the most appropriate word.
I ___________ a bicycle when I was young.
A. Have
B. Am having
C. Had
D. Have got

Answer 1

Hint: A verb, derived from the Latin verbum, which means "word," is a word that conveys an event, an occurrence, or a state of being in syntax and a verb is used to express an occurrence, state or an action.

Complete answer:
A verb expresses an event, action, or state. In a sentence, it is the grammatical centre of the predicate.
Option A) Have – is an incorrect answer because have indicates possession in the present tense and the given sentence in the question is in past tense. Thus, the use of have in the blank will make the sentence grammatically incorrect. Thus, this is an incorrect answer.
Option B) Am having – Is an incorrect answer because ‘having’ acts as an object in the sentence or acts as the subject in the sentence. However, the use of ‘am having’ in the blank is an inappropriate choice and makes the sentence grammatically incorrect. Thus, this is an incorrect answer.
Option C) Had – is the correct answer because ‘had’ indicates the possession in the past tense. The sentence given in the question ‘I ___________ a bicycle when I was young’ indicates the action that had happened in the past when he was young. Thus, this is the correct answer as it makes the sentence grammatically correct.
Option D) Have got – is an incorrect answer because ‘have’ is used in the present tense and the given sentence is in the past form. Thus, using this option in the blank makes the sentence grammatically incorrect. Thus, this is an incorrect answer.

Therefore the correct answer is option ‘C’.

Note: For answering such questions auxiliary verbs play an important role. Auxiliary verbs are the verbs that add functional or grammatical sense to the clause in which they appear, such as tense, aspect, modality, expression, focus, and so on. Auxiliary verbs are commonly used in conjunction with an infinitive verb or a participle, which provide the key semantic content of the clause.