Question

The police officer ______ when the woman started cussing at him.

Answer 1

Answer:

The police officer came when the woman started cussing at him.

• 'Came' in the blank space complete the meaning of the sentence. Here point of time has been formed by a clause .

• 'Came' is main verb here and also it is the past form of the base form 'come', that's why it is an example of Past Indefinite Tense.

• For simple past tense, 'point of time can be indicated by a clsuse' : I called her when I saw her. Or, when I opened the window a cat jumped out

Answer 2

The police officer had just arrived, when the woman started cussing at him.

Explanation:

• This is an example of a complex sentence.
• A complex sentence comprises two clauses, independent and a dependent clause.
• The dependent clause can not stand on its own while the independent clause can stand all alone.
• Both clauses are joined by a conjunction such as when, where, and while.