Question

Fill in the blank with an appropriate modal:
No one knew whether he ______ come or not.

• A. may
• B. will
• C. can
• D. would

Answer 1

Answer: (D)

would

'Knew' is the past form of the word 'know' thus it represents that the sentence is in the past tense.

Option B is therefore incorrect as 'will' is not in the past form.

Option C 'can' is used to express ability but is not used in the past form. Therefore it is incorrect.

Option A is incorrect because 'may' is used to express permission usually, or also to express probability.

Option D is the correct answer because 'would' is the pasttense form of 'will', so it is used to talk about the past, or to talk about hypothetical situations – things that are imagined rather than true and also for politeness.