ShmoopTube

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And here's another shmoop du jour...

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Fill in the blank:

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She _________ her cup down on the table.

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And here are the potential answers:

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This question revolves around our understanding of what verbs we should use with a direct object.

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A direct object is something that is being... acted upon. So while the table is just sorta chillin'...

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...the cup is being... sit, set, sat or had, depending on what we decide to go with.

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If we read these out loud, there are a few freebies we can just knock off.

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"She SIT her cup down on the table" just sounds... hillbilly. People sit. Cups... unless

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they are Beauty and the Beast extras... don't.

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How about "Set?" Set is a definite possibility because you have to set... SOMETHING. So it's

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always going to be followed by a direct object.

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We know C is wrong because sat is just sit in old clothes -- it's the same word but

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just in the past tense. So no, cups don't set, nor have they sat.

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D is had. She "had her cup"... maybe she had her cup and ate it, too?

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A little odd. It's just not really an action verb... you can't visualize someone actively

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"having" a cup.

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So the correct answer is "set"... B.

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As in, "Bad taste in your mouth."

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