Choose the correct option to complete the following sentence:
The wood cutter _______ the log of the wood to make a cot.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → sawed
Past tense of the verb "saw" (to cut):
- Saw as a verb means to cut with a saw. Its forms are saw – sawed – sawn (or sawed).
- The sentence describes one finished action in the past and has no helping verb, so it needs the simple past: sawed.
- Complete sentence: The wood cutter sawed the log of the wood to make a cot.
Example: The carpenter sawed the plank into two equal pieces.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 1: saw — Incorrect. Here "saw" is the base form of the verb meaning to cut, and the sentence needs the past tense. (Saw is also the past tense of "see", but the wood cutter did not "see the log to make a cot".)
Example: Carpenters saw the logs into planks.
Option 2: sew — Incorrect. Sew means to join cloth with a needle and thread; it only sounds like "saw". (Saw and sew sound alike: saw is "to cut with a saw", sew is "to stitch".)
Example: My grandmother taught me to sew buttons on a shirt.
Option 4: sawn — Incorrect. Sawn is the past participle; it needs a helping verb such as has, had or was ("had sawn", "was sawn").
Example: The logs had been sawn into planks before noon.
Contrast: "sawed" is the simple past and stands alone; "sawn" is the past participle and needs has, had or was.