Question

Fill the appropriate form of the verb:
I had arranged to meet Tom in a restaurant. I arrived and waited for him. After 20 minutes I suddenly realised that I was in the wrong restaurant.
I _____ (wait) for 20 minutes when I ___(see) the name of the restaurant on the menu card.
a) was waiting; was seeing
b) had waited; saw
c) had been waiting; saw
d) waited ; had seen

Answer 1

Hint: The first sentence already tells us the one tense used. Look for pointers suggesting which tense to use. The actions are completed in the given sentence. These pointers are indicators of certain tenses.

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.
The past perfect continuous tense (also known as the past perfect progressive tense) shows that an action that started in the past continued up until another time in the past. The past perfect continuous tense is constructed using had been + the verb's present participle (root + -ing). This is needed for the first blank.
The simple past tense, sometimes called the preterite, is used to talk about a completed action in a time before now. The simple past is the basic form of past tense in English. This is needed for the second blank.

Now we know what we are looking for. Let’s look at the given options-
a) was waiting; was seeing - These verbs are both in the past continuous tense. These are not in the required tenses. This is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.
b) had waited; saw - The first verb is in the past perfect tense. This is not the required tense. This is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.
c) had been waiting; saw - Both of these verbs are correct. These are the required tenses. This is the required answer. So, this is the correct option.
d) waited ; had seen - The verbs are in the wrong tense. This is not the required tense. This is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.

Note:
Choose the most appropriate option given the context of the sentence. Make sure all the forms of the verb are aligning with each other and work with each other perfectly.