Choose the most appropriate option to fill in the blanks: I’m going out now. If anybody ________ (phone) while I _______ (be)out, can you take a message?

The correct answer is: A. will phone …. will be

The sentence is about a future event, so we need to use the future tense. The verb “phone” is conjugated as “will phone” because the subject is “anybody,” which is an indefinite pronoun. The verb “be” is conjugated as “will be” because the subject is “I,” which is a first-person singular pronoun.

Here is a breakdown of each option:

• Option A: “will phone …. will be” is the correct answer because it uses the future tense for both verbs.
• Option B: “phoned … was” is incorrect because it uses the past tense for both verbs.
• Option C: “is phoning … am” is incorrect because it uses the present tense for both verbs.
• Option D: “phones … am” is incorrect because it uses the simple present tense for both verbs.

I hope this explanation is helpful! Let me know if you have any other questions.