Verb form and verb tense
9a. The ancient Egyptians built pyramids as burial sites for their leaders.
9b. The ancient Egyptians have built pyramids as burial sites for their leaders.
my answer is: 9b
Ooops. 9a. is correct because the action happened and is not ongoing.
You are correct! Sentence 9b "The ancient Egyptians have built pyramids as burial sites for their leaders" is in the present perfect tense, which indicates an action that started in the past but has a connection to the present.
To determine the verb form and tense in a sentence, you can follow these steps:
1. Identify the main verb in the sentence, which is "built" in both sentences 9a and 9b.
2. Determine the form of the verb, which can be either regular or irregular. In this case, "built" is the past participle form of the irregular verb "build."
3. Analyze the tense of the verb. In sentence 9a, "built" indicates a past tense because it is referring to an action completed in the past. In contrast, sentence 9b uses the present perfect tense by combining the auxiliary verb "have" with the past participle "built." This tense suggests that the action of building pyramids started in the past but is still relevant in the present.
Remember, recognizing the verb form and tense is important for understanding the timing and continuity of an action in a sentence.