Choose the option that will replace the error highlighted in bold.
The spokesperson said the company launches its new product two months ago.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: C
Explanation
Correct Answer
Launched
Explanation
Meaning: The sentence reports a past announcement regarding a commercial event that was fully completed at a specific, designated time in the past. To solve this quickly for an exam, look for the definitive time marker "two months ago". In English grammar, the word "ago" explicitly indicates a completed past action tied to a specific historical point in time. This time indicator strictly mandates the use of the Simple Past Tense. The original word "launches" is in the simple present tense, which is incorrect for a past event. Evaluating the incorrect options: 'Has launched' is present perfect (used for unspecified times), 'Had launched' is past perfect (used to show an action happening before another past action), and 'Is launching' is present continuous. Therefore, the simple past form 'Launched' (Option 3) is the correct choice.
Key Points
Definition: Correcting tense errors requires identifying explicit past time indicators like "ago" that establish a specific, finished timeline and necessitate the simple past tense.
Grammatical Role: Selecting a simple past tense verb to properly align a completed action with its designated historical time marker.