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Difficulty: MediumShifts in Construction

Read the sentence below. Fill in the blank with the correct form of the verb 'record' to maintain a consistent verb tense and parallel structure, avoiding a shift in construction.

Answer:During the archaeological dig, the researchers uncovered ancient pottery, cataloged the artifacts, and 【recorded】 their findings in a database.

Answer

recorded
The correct answer is 'recorded' because it maintains a consistent simple past tense and parallel verb structure with the other verbs in the series, 'uncovered' and 'cataloged'. This avoids a shift in construction.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the sentence to identify the parallel structure of actions performed by the researchers.
The sentence lists three actions: 'uncovered', 'cataloged', and the action represented by the verb 'record'.
Identifying the list helps determine if there is a pattern in verb tense and form that must be maintained.
2
Identify the tense and voice of the existing verbs in the list.
The verbs 'uncovered' and 'cataloged' are both in the simple past tense and active voice.
To avoid an illogical shift in construction and maintain parallel structure, all items in a list of actions must share the same grammatical form.
3
Conjugate the base verb 'record' to match the simple past tense of the other verbs.
The simple past tense of 'record' is 'recorded'.
Using 'recorded' avoids a tense shift and ensures the sentence is grammatically correct and consistent.

Key Concept

Avoiding shifts in construction by maintaining consistent verb tense and parallel structure in a series.
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Topics

Shifts in Construction

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