I _ in the library for hours when I finally found the book.
Correct answer: A. Had been searching
- A. Had been searching
- B. Was searched
- C. Searched
- D. Was searching
Explanation
The correct answer is 'had been searching' because it uses the past perfect continuous tense, which is used to describe an action that was ongoing in the past and was completed before another past action ('when I finally found the book'). 'Was searched' is incorrect as it implies a passive action, 'searched' fails to convey the ongoing nature of the action, and 'was searching' does not establish that the searching was completed before finding the book.
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Tenses show when an action or state occurs and whether it is complete, continuing or repeated. The work covers present, past and future forms, including simple, continuous, perfect and perfect continuous constructions, as well as sequence of tenses and the difference between tense and aspect.
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