Fill in the blanks with the most appropriate option:
When we ____ the station the train _____ already ____.
a) reach/has/left
b) reached/had/left
c) reach/was/leaving
d) shall reach/-/left
e) were reaching/were/leaving
VerifiedHint: The sentence already tells us the tense that is required. Look for pointers suggesting which tense to use. The actions are completed in the given sentence. These pointers are indicators of certain tenses.
Complete solution:
In grammar, tense is a category that expresses time reference. Tenses are usually manifested by the use of specific forms of verbs, particularly in their conjugation patterns.
The main tenses found in many languages include the past, present, and future. The first sentence is in the past tense. So, we need to look at the past tenses.
The simple past tense, sometimes called the preterite, is used to talk about a completed action in a time before now. The simple past is the basic form of past tense in English. This
is needed for both the blanks.
Now we know what we are looking for. Let’s look at the given options-
a) reach/has/left - Two of these words are in the present tense. This is not the tense that is needed. This is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.
b) reached/had/left - All of these words are in the simple past tense. This is the tense that is needed. This is the required answer. So, this is the correct option.
c) reach/was/leaving - These words do not match each other at all. These are not the tenses that are needed. This is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.
d) shall reach/-/left - These words do not match each other at all. These are not the tenses that are needed. This is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.
e) were reaching/were/leaving - These words do not match each other at all. These are not the tenses that are needed. This is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.
Hence, the correct answer is option ‘b’.
Note: Choose the most appropriate option given the context of the sentence. Make sure all the forms of the verb are aligning with each other and work with each other perfectly.
