Examkin

Question

Difficulty: MediumVerbs, Tenses, and Aspect

Complete the sentence below by providing the grammatically correct form of the verb 'travel' in the blank.

Answer:After living in the densely populated metropolis for a decade, the journalist was used to 【travelling】 by public transit during peak hours.

Answer

travelling (or traveling)
The expression 'was used to' in this context signifies 'was accustomed to'. In English grammar, when 'be used to' denotes familiarity or habituation, 'to' acts as a preposition rather than part of an infinitive marker. Consequently, it must be followed by a gerund (-ing form of the verb). Therefore, the correct entry is 'travelling' (or 'traveling').

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the syntactic structure and meaning of the expression preceding the blank.
The clause contains 'was used to', which functions here as an adjectival phrase meaning 'was accustomed to'.
Identifying whether 'used to' indicates a discontinued past habit or habituation determines the required verb form.
2
Apply the grammatical rule for aspectual habituation ('be used to').
The particle 'to' functions as a preposition, requiring a gerund (-ing form) rather than a bare infinitive.
When 'be used to' expresses familiarity or ongoing habituation, it must be followed by a noun phrase or gerund.
3
Form the correct gerund of 'travel'.
The correct verb form is 'travelling' (British English standard) or 'traveling' (American English standard).
Appending the -ing suffix to the base verb produces the gerund required by the prepositional phrase.

Key Concept

Distinction between past habitual 'used to + bare infinitive' and aspectual habituation 'be used to + gerund'
Estimated Time:1m 0s
Rate this question

Topics

Verbs, Tenses, and Aspect

More questions from this topic