Question

She was a good swimmer so she ________ swim to the river bank when the boat sank.

Answer 1

Answer:

She was a good swimmer so she CAN swim to the river bank when the boat sank.

Explanation:

Answer 2

Answer:

She was a good swimmer so she could swim to the river bank when the boat sank.

• Could is appropriate for the blank space.

• Could is a modal auxiliary verb. Could is past form of 'can'. The given sentence is written in Simple Past Tense, that's why could has been used in the blank space.

• Modal auxiliary verb depends on mood or manner of the subject in the sentence. And here it is 'she was able to swim to the river bank when the boat sank.' Could is used in a sentence to express 'past ability'.

• After modal auxiliary verb the main verb is always used in present form and here it is : 'swim'.