Question

Mary: Why didn’t you call me?
Jane: Well, _____ all this week.
Fill in the blank with the most appropriate option.
A) I was trying to call you
B) Trying to call you
C) I’ve been trying to call you
D) I tried to call you

Answer 1

Hint: This question requires knowledge of the past tense and the differences between the different types of past tenses. The perfect tense tells us about an action in the past that lasted for some time before completing.

Complete answer:
The first statement is asking about an action in the past. Therefore, the reply in the second statement should also refer to an action that was done in the past. We must also consider the clause ‘all this week’, which indicates a time period for the action.

Let us analyze the given options:
Option A) I was trying to call you – this statement is correct in itself but is used for situations where we want to describe a periodic or a habitual action. It would be correct if this statement was followed by a clause for e.g. “I was trying to call you even though I had no time.” Hence, the option is wrong.
Option B) Trying to call you – this statement is incomplete. It should have a pronoun and a helping verb in the beginning for e.g. ‘I was trying to call you’ or ‘he is trying to call you’. Therefore, this option is wrong.
Option C) I’ve been trying to call you – this statement is in the past perfect continuous tense. Verbs in the past perfect continuous tense are used to describe actions that continued for a certain period of time without being completed. In the given question, the blank is followed by ‘all this week’ which refers to that certain amount of time. Therefore, this option fills the blank correctly.
Option D) I tried to call you – this option is in the simple past tense and refers to action that has been completed in the past. It does not indicate any time period for which the action might have lasted. It is a correct sentence but not suitable for the blank. It would be correct in a sentence like, “I tried to call you on Monday.” Therefore, this option is wrong.

Thus, the correct answer is Option (C) Well, I’ve been trying to call you all this week.

Note: Since the perfect, continuous and perfect continuous tenses are often confusing, here are some examples;
- I ate bread. This sentence is an example in the past tense.
- I had eaten bread. The given sentence is framed in the past perfect tense.
- I had been eating bread. This is a sentence in the past perfect continuous tense.