Select the sentence that correctly revises the inappropriate verb tense shift that is present in the following sentence.
Liam has been playing basketball, and Lily cheered for him.
a. Liam had been playing basketball, and Lily has been cheering for him.
b. Liam has been playing basketball, and Lily had been cheering for him.
c. Liam played basketball, and Lily cheers for him.
d. Liam has been playing basketball, and Lily has been cheering for him.
The correct answer and explanation is :
The correct answer is:
d. Liam has been playing basketball, and Lily has been cheering for him.
Explanation:
In the original sentence, “Liam has been playing basketball, and Lily cheered for him,” there is a shift in verb tenses that makes the sentence grammatically inconsistent. The first part, “Liam has been playing,” is in the present perfect progressive tense, which indicates that an action started in the past and is continuing up until the present. However, the second part, “Lily cheered,” is in the simple past tense, which implies that her action occurred and was completed in the past, without a connection to the present.
To make the sentence consistent, both parts should reflect a similar time frame. Therefore, we need to choose a tense that matches the ongoing nature of Liam’s action. The correct revision would involve using the present perfect progressive tense for both subjects to indicate that both actions are ongoing from the past and continue into the present.
Now, let’s look at the options:
- a. Liam had been playing basketball, and Lily has been cheering for him.
- The verb tense “had been playing” is past perfect progressive, which is used to describe an action that was ongoing in the past before another past action. This is incorrect because it creates an unnecessary shift in tense between the two actions.
- b. Liam has been playing basketball, and Lily had been cheering for him.
- This option uses “had been cheering,” which is past perfect progressive. Again, this creates a mismatch because “Liam has been playing” (present perfect progressive) is referring to an ongoing action in the present, but Lily’s cheering is referred to as an ongoing past action, which doesn’t match the timeline.
- c. Liam played basketball, and Lily cheers for him.
- This option uses simple past (“Liam played”) and simple present (“Lily cheers”). It introduces a tense shift that does not reflect the ongoing nature of the actions.
- d. Liam has been playing basketball, and Lily has been cheering for him.
- This is the correct choice. It maintains the present perfect progressive tense for both actions, which indicates that both Liam’s and Lily’s actions began in the past and continue into the present.
Image Explanation:
Here is a visual representation that illustrates the use of the present perfect progressive tense for both Liam and Lily’s actions. This diagram shows how both actions started in the past and are still continuing into the present, reflecting the correct tense usage in the sentence.