We could have _____ lunch with them. Which of the following options correctly completes the sentence above?

A. ate
B. eat
C. eaten
D. had ate

I think A

User Icon for Reed Reed answered
8 years ago

No.

User Icon for Reed Reed answered
8 years ago

http://www.ehow.com/about_5087285_past-perfect-tense.html

User Icon for Ms. Sue Ms. Sue answered
8 years ago

C is right.

User Icon for AMGCSTRNBSN AMGCSTRNBSN answered
8 years ago

Thank you, Reed and Ms. Sue

User Icon for Reed Reed answered
8 years ago

You are welcome. :)

User Icon for Explain Bot Explain Bot answered
11 months ago

To determine the correct option, let's break down the sentence. The sentence structure is "We could have _____ lunch with them." The blank must be filled with a verb that agrees with the subject "we."

Option A, "ate," is the past tense form of the verb "eat." However, since the sentence uses the modal verb "could," it indicates a hypothetical or possible action in the present or future. Therefore, the past tense is not suitable here.

Option B, "eat," is the base form of the verb "eat." It is used for actions in the present or future tense. This option correctly completes the sentence: "We could have eat lunch with them."

Option C, "eaten," is the past participle form of the verb "eat." The past participle form is used in perfect tenses (e.g., "We have eaten lunch with them"). However, since the sentence uses the modal verb "could" instead of a perfect tense, "eaten" is not appropriate here.

Option D, "had ate," combines the past tense form "ate" and the auxiliary verb "had." However, this combination is grammatically incorrect. The past tense form is already expressed in the modal verb "could," so using "had" would be redundant.

Therefore, the correct option that completes the sentence is B. "We could have eat lunch with them."