Question

Replace they underlined tense with the correct option, if necessary-
We lived in these apartments since 1995.
a) Had lived
b) Living
c) Have been living
d) No change

Answer 1

Hint: From the given sentence, we can make out that the action started in ‘1995’(past) and is continued till the present.

Complete answer:
 The tense of this sentence is called present perfect continuous. In the given sentence, ‘lived' is in the simple past form. We will replace it with the present perfect continuous tense of ‘live'.
Now, let us examine all the given options to find out the correct answer :
Option ‘a’ is Had lived. It is in the past perfect tense which is not needed in the given sentence. So this is an incorrect option.
Option ‘b’ is Living. It is in the present continuous tense. But in the given question we need a present perfect continuous tense. So we will eliminate this option as well.
Option ‘c’ is Have been living. It is in the present perfect continuous tense. It refers to an action that began sometime in the past and continues during the present.
Option ‘d’ is No change. This option will be used when all the given three options are incorrect or the given sentence is already correct.
As we have analyzed all the given options, we can easily figure out the correct option. Here, we need a present perfect continuous tense for the underlined word – have been living. The complete sentence would be – We have been living in these apartments since 1995. So, the correct answer is “Option c”.

Note:
 All the other options are plausible distractions. Don’t confuse between ‘living’ and ‘have been living'. ‘Living’ doesn’t signify that the action was started in the past, unlike ‘have been living'.