Question

Fill in the blanks with the most appropriate option:
I usually ______ there by train but this weekend I ____ by bus.
a) go/am going
b) went/go
c) go/go
d) go/are going
e) go/was going

Answer 1

Hint: Look for pointers suggesting which tense to use. The action in the first part occurs daily and the second action will take place in the future in the given sentence. These pointers are indicators of certain tenses.

Complete answer:
 We can infer that the mentioned actions happen daily and one will happen in the future.
This means that the sentence requires some form of present tense. The first part requires a simple present tense, and the second part requires the present continuous tense.
The simple present (also called present simple or present indefinite) is a verb tense that is used to show repetition, habit, or generalization. Less commonly, the simple present can be used to talk about scheduled actions in the near future and, in some cases, actions happening now.
The present continuous (also called present progressive) is a verb tense which is used to
show that an ongoing action is happening now, either at the moment of speech or now in a
larger sense. The present continuous is formed using am/is/are + present participle. This is
the most appropriate tense for the given sentence.

Now, we know what we are looking for, let’s look at the available options-
a) go/am going - The first verb is in simple present tense and the second verb is in the present continuous tense. These are the verbs that are required. This is the required answer. So, this is the correct option.
b) went/go - The first verb is in the simple past tense and the second verb is in the simple present tense. These are not the required verbs. This is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.
c) /go - Both verbs are in the simple present tense. These are not the required verbs. This is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.
d) go/are going - The first verb is in the simple present tense and the second verb is in the present continuous tense, but it is grammatically incorrect. These are not the required verbs. This is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.
e) go/was going - The first verb is in the simple present tense and the second verb is in the past continuous tense. These are not the required verbs. This is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.

Note:
Choose the most appropriate option given the context of the sentence. Make sure all the forms of a verb are aligning with each other and work with each other.