Question

Fill in the blank with the most appropriate word.
Have you seen my ball-point pen anywhere? I ________ for it for ten minutes.
A) looked
B) was looking
C) am looking
D) have been looking

Answer 1

Hint: Tense is a grammatical concept that describes the passage of time. The employment of distinct forms of verbs, especially in their conjugation patterns, is a common way of expressing tenses. Past, present, and future tenses are the most common tenses found in many languages.

Complete answer:
The present perfect continuous tense is identical to the present perfect simple tense in that it is used in the same way. It's used to describe anything that started in the past and is still going on in the present, with a focus on the ongoing action and/or the length of time it's taking. We can also use it to refer to something that is just temporary, has occurred recently, or was completed recently.

Let us analyze the given options:
Option A) looked: The verb “looked” is in the simple past tense, indicating that you are discussing something that has already occurred. We add -ed to the root form of regular verbs to make them regular (or just -d if the root form already ends in an e). As a result, this alternative is inappropriate for the supplied sentence.

Option B) was looking: “Was looking” in the past continuous tense. The past continuous tense is made up of the present participle verbs ending in -ing and the past tense of the verb to be(was/were). As the given sentence is in the present continuous tense, the verb used in it cannot be in the past continuous tense.

Option C) am looking: The verb is in the present progressive tense. The present progressive tense denotes a continuous action taking place at the moment the statement is written. This tense is created by combining the verb forms am/is/are and -ing. Thus, this option is incorrect.

Option D) have been looking: The verb is in the present perfect continuous tense. After the present-tense form of the auxiliary connecting verb "be," we use the present participle (-ing form) of the "main" verb to generate the present continuous tense. The present participle is what gives verbs their continuous forms, hence the term "present continuous." Thus, it is the correct answer.

Theerfore the correct answer is option ‘C’ i.e, Have you seen my ball-point pen anywhere? I have been looking for it for ten minutes.

Note: Things to note while working with present perfect continuous tense:
- In the Present Simple, the first auxiliary (have) is conjugated: have, has
- We use “not” after the first auxiliary verb in negative statements.
- We swap the subject and first auxiliary verb in question sentences.