Question

Fill in the blanks with the most appropriate option:
You _______ very thoughtful. What ____ you _______ about?
A) looked/was/thinking
B) look/are/ thinking
C) look/are/think
D) looking/are/thinking
E) have looked/had/thought

Answer 1

Hint: The tense category expresses the passage of time. The usage of specific forms of verbs, particularly in their conjugation patterns, is usually how tenses are expressed. The past, present, and future are the three primary tenses found in many languages.

Complete answer:
In the above sentence, the person is complimenting someone at the moment, so the sentence is in the present tense. To find the correct option we have to make sure that all the blanks should be filled with the present tense.

Let us look at the given options:
A) looked/was/thinking: This option is incorrect because the tenses are past, past and present continuous respectively whereas in the above sentence we have to use present tense for all the blanks.
B) look/are/ thinking: This option is incorrect because although the first two blanks are in the present tense the last blank is in the present continuous tense. All the blanks must be in the simple present tense because the sentence is in the simple present tense.
C) look/are/think: This is the correct option. The person in the sentence is complimenting someone in the present, therefore, all the words should be in the present tense only. In this option look/are/think are all in the present tense.
D) looking/are/thinking: This option is incorrect because the first and the last options are in present continuous tense whereas the tense in the sentence is of the present form, so all the blanks should be filled with the present tense.
E) have looked/had/thought: This sentence is incorrect because the tenses are in the past tense. The sentence is in the present tense therefore all the blanks should be filled with the present tense.

Thus, the correct answer is Option (C) i.e, look/are/think.

Note: The present tense is a verb tense that describes a now occurring activity or state of being. However, the present tense can also be employed to represent past and future activities, which is somewhat unique. For instance, every Saturday, I go swimming at the sea.