Difficulty: Easy
Correct Answer: was feeling
Explanation:
Introduction / Context:
This question tests your understanding of tense, subject verb agreement, and common reporting structures in English. The sentence describes a doctor who has just removed an eye patch and then asks the patient about his condition. The bracketed phrase were feeling is grammatically incorrect for the subject he in this context. Choosing the correct form is important for producing natural and accurate English, especially in reported speech related to questions.
Given Data / Assumptions:
Concept / Approach:
The construction asked him how he was feeling is an example of an indirect question in reported speech. In such structures, we use a normal statement word order and choose a verb form that agrees with the subject and fits the time sense. The past continuous tense was feeling fits well here because the doctor is inquiring about the patient's ongoing state at that moment in the past. The auxiliary verb were is used with plural subjects or with you, not with he. Therefore, we must replace were feeling with was feeling to correct the grammar.
Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Identify the subject of the embedded clause, which is he.Step 2: Note that he is singular and third person, so it requires was rather than were in the past tense.Step 3: Understand that the doctor was asking about a temporary state at that time, so a continuous form like was feeling is natural.Step 4: Evaluate was felt. This is a passive form and does not fit the pattern how he was felt, which is incorrect for describing personal sensations.Step 5: Evaluate has feeling. This combines present perfect auxiliary has with a noun feeling and does not make sense in the structure how he has feeling.Step 6: Conclude that was feeling is the only grammatically and contextually correct replacement.
Verification / Alternative check:
Read the improved sentence aloud: The doctor removed the eye patch and asked him how he was feeling. It sounds natural and matches real life conversation between doctor and patient. If we try the original form were feeling, it clashes with the singular subject he. If we try was felt, the meaning becomes unclear and unnatural. Thus, both usage and grammar confirm was feeling as the correct choice.
Why Other Options Are Wrong:
was felt wrongly uses the passive voice, which is not suitable for expressing how a person experiences a physical or emotional state. has feeling mixes tenses and structures and does not fit after how he. no improvement would retain were feeling, which breaks the rule that he takes was in the simple past and also does not suit standard reported speech patterns.
Common Pitfalls:
Learners sometimes confuse was and were when they think of polite or hypothetical expressions like if I were you, but that is a different subjunctive construction. Here we are dealing with a simple past time statement about a real situation, so normal subject verb agreement rules apply. Another pitfall is choosing no improvement out of haste without carefully checking agreement and tense. Always match the subject with the correct auxiliary and consider whether a continuous form is suitable for describing an ongoing state.
Final Answer:
The correct improvement is was feeling.
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