Fill in the blank with the most appropriate option.

Aunt Petunia was ______ a box of after-dinner mints.

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SSC MTS (2022) Official Paper (Held On: 16 Jun, 2023 Shift 2)
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  1. passing round
  2. passed around
  3. passing around
  4. passed away

Answer (Detailed Solution Below)

Option 3 : passing around
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SSC MTS 2024 Official Paper (Held On: 01 Oct, 2024 Shift 1)
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Detailed Solution

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The correct answer is "passing around".

Key Points

  • The sentence is in the past continuous tense, indicating an ongoing action in the past.
  • "Passing around" is the correct form of the phrasal verb "pass around" in the present continuous tense, which is used to describe ongoing actions.
  • The -ing form of the verb "pass" is needed because it is being used as a gerund, which acts as a noun in the sentence.
    • Also, the correct adverb in the given sentence is "around" which means "in different places."(आस-पास)
      • Example: I know she is around somewhere here.
  • Aunt Petunia was actively engaged in the action of passing around the mints.

Hence, the correct answer is option 3.

Additional Information

  • Option 1, "passing round", is grammatically incorrect because it combines the present participle "passing" with the past tense "round".
  • Option 2, "passed around", is in the past tense, which does not match the ongoing nature of the action described in the sentence.
  • Option 4, "passed away", is a completely different phrasal verb that means "to die".(दम टूटना)
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