Question

Fill in the blank with a suitable modal denoting a past possibility:

We came to live in Manchester a few years ago. We ____________ in Nottingham.

• A. used to live
• B. has to live
• C. had to live
• D. have to live

Answer 1

Answer: (A)

used to live

Option A: 'Used to live' is a past habit or a state or situation that is no longer true. It relates to the given sentence: 'We' used to live in Nottingham first, then 'we' shifted to Manchester a few years ago.

Hence option A is correct.

Option B: 'Has to live' refers to an obligation. Moreover, 'has' is a single verb whereas 'we' is plural. The subject 'we' and verb 'has' must agree with one another in number.

Option C: 'Had to live' also refers to an obligation or compulsion in the past. It does not form a complete meaningful sentence.

Option D: 'Have to live' refers to a compulsion in the present tense. But the action has already happened in the past, before "we came to live in Manchester a few years ago".

Hence options B, C and D are wrong.