Supply the correct form of the verb:

It ___ so hard that it seemed a grey sheet had curtained the world away.

Correct option is D

The correct option to fill in the blank is (d) was raining.

The sentence is describing a past continuous action — an ongoing condition in the past. The clue lies in the verb phrase “it seemed” and “had curtained”, both in past tense, indicating that the entire scene is set in the past.

So, we need a past continuous verb form to describe something that was happening at that time in the past.

Hence, “was raining” is the correct verb form.

Example:

• It was raining when we left the house.
• The sky was dark, and it was raining heavily.

Grammatical Rule Used: When describing an ongoing action in the past, we use the past continuous tense:

Subject + was/were + verb+ing

In Hindi:

भूतकाल में किसी कार्य के लगातार चलने को दर्शाने के लिए “was/were + verb + ing” का प्रयोग होता है।

जैसे: वह पढ़ रहा था – He was reading.

Meanings of the other options and why they are incorrect:

▪ (A) is raining

• English: Present continuous tense. Doesn’t match the past setting of the sentence.
• Hindi: वर्तमान काल में हो रही बारिश को दर्शाता है – जैसे: अभी बारिश हो रही है।

▪ (B) has rained

• English: Present perfect tense. Indicates a completed action with present relevance. Not suitable for a past narrative.
• Hindi: हाल ही में पूरी हुई क्रिया – जैसे: अभी-अभी बारिश हुई है।

▪ (C) have rained

• English: Incorrect subject-verb agreement. “It” is singular, but “have” is plural.
• Hindi: “It” के साथ “have” का प्रयोग गलत है। सही रूप “has” होता, लेकिन वह भी इस वाक्य के लिए उपयुक्त नहीं है।