In the following question, out of the four alternatives, select the alternative which will improve the bracketed part of the sentence. In case no improvement is needed, select “no improvement”. His friends claimed that he (been depressed) for a few months.?

Option 2 : had been depressed

The correct answer is had been depressed.

The correct structure to be used: had been + verb in the past participle. This is used to indicate that the action began in the past and continued up to a given time in the past.

Let us see an example to understand:

• I had been worried about you. Where were you all these days?

In the given sentence, the depression began in the past and he continued to be depressed for a period of time. That explains the use of ‘had been + verb’ structure. Now, the verb should be in the past participle. So, depressed is the correct form.

His friends claimed that he had been depressed for a few months.

Therefore, the correct answer is option 2.