Question: Which is the correct answer for the sentence: “While my grandparents - - - - to the radio, I fell asleep.”?
Answer:
Let’s analyze the sentence step by step:
Sentence:
“While my grandparents - - - - to the radio, I fell asleep.”
Step 1: Understanding the sentence structure and tense clues
- The word “While” is often used to indicate that two actions are happening at the same time.
- The second part of the sentence is “I fell asleep” — this is in the simple past tense.
- Therefore, the first blank should be filled with a verb in a tense that matches an ongoing or simultaneous action at that past time.
Step 2: Analyze the options
| Option | Explanation | Correct? |
|---|---|---|
| A) listen | Present tense. It does not match “I fell asleep” which is past. | No |
| B) will listen | Future tense. “While” does not fit future here because “I fell asleep” is past. | No |
| C) have listened | Present perfect tense. This describes actions completed recently or relevant to present, does not fit “while” + “I fell asleep.” | No |
| D) were listening | Past continuous tense, meaning an ongoing action in the past parallel to another past action (I fell asleep). | Yes, correct |
Step 3: Why “were listening” is correct
- The phrase “While my grandparents were listening to the radio, I fell asleep.” means their listening was ongoing at the same time I fell asleep.
- “While” is usually used with past continuous to describe two simultaneous past actions.
Correct answer is: D) were listening
Summary Table
| Option | Tense | Fits the sentence? | Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|
| A) listen | Present simple | No | Tense mismatch; main clause is past tense |
| B) will listen | Future simple | No | Tense inappropriate for past context |
| C) have listened | Present perfect | No | Present perfect conflicts with “while” in past |
| D) were listening | Past continuous | Yes | Correct tense for simultaneous ongoing action past |
Final sentence:
“While my grandparents were listening to the radio, I fell asleep.”