Question

Put the verb into the most suitable form:
John and I went for a walk. I had difficulty keeping up with him because he _____ (walk) so fast.
(a)walked
(b)has walked
(c)was walking
(d)has been walking

Answer 1

Hint: The given sentence contains the word ‘went’. This is an indication that this particular situation has happened before, or it looks like it has. This leads us to a particular tense.

Complete answer: 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, as the given sentences need this particular tense.
The past continuous (also called past progressive) is a verb tense which is used to show that an ongoing past action was happening at a specific moment. The past continuous is formed using was/were + present participle.

Now we know what we are looking for. Let’s look at the given options:
(a)walked - The word ‘walked’ is in the simple present tense. This is not in the required tense. It does not fit into the context of the given sentence. This is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.
(b)has walked - The phrase ‘has walked’ is in the present perfect tense. This is not in the required tense. It does not fit into the context of the given sentence. This is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.
(c)was walking - The phrase ‘was walking’ is in the past continuous tense. This is in the required tense. It fits into the context of the given sentence. This is the required answer. So, this is the correct option.
(d)has been walking - The phrase ‘had been walking’ is in the present perfect continuous tense. This is not in the required tense. It does not fit into the context of the given sentence. This is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.

Note: Try to understand the meaning of the sentence. This will help you gauge which
tense to use. Discover the words that point to a certain tense. Then, go through the given
options and choose the correct answer accordingly.