Texas Court Reporter Practice Exam

Which verb form correctly completes the sentence: Les has sorted his clothes and (given, gave) many things away?

1. gave

2. given

3. gives

4. giving

The correct answer is: given

The correct completion of the sentence is "Les has sorted his clothes and given many things away." The verb "has" indicates that the sentence is in the present perfect tense. In this tense, the past participle form of a verb is used to convey an action that has been completed at some indefinite point in the past and still has relevance to the present. In this instance, "given" is the past participle of the verb "give." The structure "has given" conveys that Les completed the action of giving away items at some point before now, which aligns with the context of sorting and giving away clothes. The other verb forms, like "gave," which is the simple past tense, would not fit grammatically in this structure since it does not pair with "has" to suggest an ongoing relevance or result stemming from a past action. The forms "gives" and "giving" are not suitable either, as they do not represent the completed action in the context of the present perfect tense. Thus, "given" is the correct choice as it accurately completes the sentence while adhering to the rules of English grammar regarding verb tense.