Choose the option to replace the highlighted sentence: He is sleeping when I called him.
Choose the most suitable option to replace the highlighted part of the sentence:
He is sleeping when I called him.
Detailed Solution & Logic
was sleeping when I called
Explanation:
📌 Problem in given sentence:
“He is sleeping when I called him.” ❌
👉 Error:
- “is sleeping” → Present Continuous
- “called” → Past Simple
➡️ Tense mismatch (present + past together ❌)
✔️ Correct Rule:
When one action is in progress in the past and another action interrupts it:
👉 Use:
- Past Continuous (ongoing action)
- Simple Past (interrupting action)
🧠 Structure:
Subject + was/were + V-ing + when + subject + V2
✔️ Applied:
- was sleeping → ongoing action ✔️
- called → interrupting action ✔️
❌ Why other options are wrong?
- has been sleeping ❌ → Present Perfect Continuous (not suitable with past “called”)
- is slept ❌ → grammatically incorrect
- has slept ❌ → Present Perfect (doesn’t fit with past “called”)
💡 Extra Examples:
- I was studying when she arrived.
- They were playing when it started raining.
⚡ Quick Tip:
👉 “when” + past action
➡️ Use Past Continuous + Simple Past
✅ Correct answer:
👉 was sleeping when I called
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