Choose the most appropriate option to fill in the blank in the given sentence:
I _______ my work yet when he arrived.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → had not completed
Past perfect tense:
- When two actions are in the past, the earlier one (or a state that lasted up to the later one) takes the past perfect: had + past participle. The later one takes the simple past.
- Clue words: "when he arrived" (a past action) and "yet" (up to that moment).
- This sentence: up to the moment he arrived, the work was still unfinished, so the negative past perfect "had not completed" is needed.
- Complete sentence: I had not completed my work yet when he arrived.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 1: will not complete — Incorrect. It is the simple future. It cannot go with the past action "when he arrived".
Option 2: will have completed — Incorrect. It is the future perfect, for an action finished before a future time, not before a past one.
Option 4: completed — Incorrect. The simple past in the positive does not show the earlier, still-unfinished state, and "yet" here needs a negative.
Contrast: of two past actions, the earlier one takes had + past participle and the later one the simple past.