Improve the sentence by selecting the appropriate tense of the underlined word.
At this time yesterday, we had flew over the mountains.
- AOption (a)
have flown
- BOption (b)
are flying
- COption (c)
will be flying
- DOption (d)
were flying
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Correct answer
were flying
Why this answer is correct
The correct answer is Option 4.
Key Points
- The sentence describes an action that was in progress at a specific point in time in the past ("At this time yesterday").
- To express an ongoing action at a specific moment in the past, the Past Continuous Tense must be used.
- The structure of the Past Continuous tense is: Subject + was/were + verb-ing.
- Since the subject "we" is plural, it takes the auxiliary verb "were" followed by the present participle "flying."
Therefore, the correct answer is were flying.
Correct Sentence: "At this time yesterday, we were flying over the mountains."
Additional Information
- Option 1: "have flown" – This is the Present Perfect tense, used for actions completed at an unspecified time or actions that have a connection to the present.
- Option 2: "are flying" – This is the Present Continuous tense, used for actions happening right now at the moment of speaking.
- Option 3: "will be flying" – This is the Future Continuous tense, used for actions that will be in progress at a certain time in the future.
- The original phrase "had flew" is grammatically incorrect because the Past Perfect tense (had) requires the past participle "flown," not the past simple "flew." Even "had flown" would be contextually incorrect here as the sentence specifies a continuous action at a specific time.