were establishing/will be living
have been establishing/lived
established/had been living
had established/will have lived E. have established/had lived
Answer is Right!
Answer is Wrong!
The correct answer is: C. established/had been living
The sentence is about the past, so we need to use past tense verbs. The first part of the sentence says that Englishmen established thirteen colonies along the east coast of North America. This happened between 1607 and 1733, so we need to use the past perfect tense for this part of the sentence. The second part of the sentence says that by 1750, nearly two million men, women and children were living in these colonies. This happened after the colonies were established, so we need to use the past participle form of the verb “live” (which is “lived”) in this part of the sentence.
Here is a more detailed explanation of each option:
- A. were establishing/will be living: This option is incorrect because it uses the future tense in the second part of the sentence. The second part of the sentence is about the past, so we need to use a past tense verb.
- B. have been establishing/lived: This option is incorrect because it uses the present perfect tense in the second part of the sentence. The second part of the sentence is about the past, so we need to use a past tense verb.
- C. established/had been living: This option is correct because it uses the past perfect tense in the first part of the sentence and the past participle form of the verb “live” (which is “lived”) in the second part of the sentence.
- D. had established/will have lived: This option is incorrect because it uses the future perfect tense in the second part of the sentence. The second part of the sentence is about the past, so we need to use a past tense verb.
- E. have established/had lived: This option is incorrect because it uses the present perfect tense in the first part of the sentence and the past participle form of the verb “live” (which is “lived”) in the second part of the sentence. The present perfect tense is used to talk about things that have happened up to the present moment, and the past participle form of the verb “live” is used to talk about things that happened in the past.