Fill in the blank with the most appropriate option from the given ones:-
I ________ (swim) ever since I was a child.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → have been swimming
Present perfect continuous tense:
- It is used for an action that began in the past and is still going on.
- Form: has/have + been + verb-ing, usually with since (a starting point) or for (a length of time).
- Clue word: "ever since". "Ever since I was a child" gives the starting point, and the swimming goes on to the present.
- Complete sentence: I have been swimming ever since I was a child.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 1: swam — Incorrect. The simple past describes a finished action. It cannot link a past starting point with the present, as "ever since" does.
Example: I swam in the river yesterday.
Option 2: am swimming — Incorrect. The present continuous describes an action going on at this moment. It is not used with a "since" period stretching from the past.
Example: I am swimming in the pool right now.
Option 4: was swimming — Incorrect. The past continuous describes an action in progress at a past moment. It does not reach up to the present.
Example: I was swimming when it began to rain.
Contrast: "ever since" joins a past starting point to the present, so it takes have been swimming. The simple past "swam" describes a finished action.