He _____ late. He was in time.

The task is to choose the right answer to complete the sentence.

The sentence describes a past event. The word 'late' indicates that someone arrived after the expected time. 'In time' means before or at the latest expected moment.

Possible options:

• didn't come: 'He didn't come late. He was in time.' This suggests he arrived on time or early, contradicting the idea of being late.
• was: 'He was late. He was in time.' This is a contradiction.
• came: 'He came late. He was in time.' This is also a contradiction.

Considering the options, the most logical completion to make sense of the sentence, assuming there might be a slight nuance or a specific context implied, would be to choose an option that doesn't create a direct contradiction if possible. However, given the phrasing, and without specific options provided in the image, it is difficult to definitively select one.

If we interpret 'late' as a state and 'in time' as a contrasting state, the sentence implies a correction or a clarification. A common way to express this would be to state the situation and then negate it or offer a corrected version. Without the dropdown options, we must infer the intended meaning.

Let's assume the blank is for a verb phrase that fits the context of arriving late and then being in time (which is contradictory as stated). However, if we are to choose a single word, and given the prompt to 'Choose the right answer', we must assume there is a correct grammatical and logical fit.

If the intention is to say that someone was not late, but rather on time, the sentence structure would be different. The current structure 'He _____ late. He was in time.' suggests that the blank should describe him being late, and then the second sentence clarifies or contradicts.

If the blank is meant to be filled with a verb that signifies arriving, and the contradiction is intended to be resolved by the second sentence, it's still ambiguous.

Let's consider the possibility of a common idiom or phrase. However, none is immediately apparent that resolves the contradiction.

Given the visual context of a multiple-choice question, and the options are not visible, it is impossible to provide a definitive answer. However, if we had to guess the most common intended fill for such a sentence structure in an English exercise, and assuming a simple past tense verb is required:

The most likely scenario is that the exercise is testing the understanding of 'late' versus 'in time'. A common structure might be: 'He was late, but he was in time.' (This is still contradictory). Or perhaps, 'He was not late. He was in time.'

Without the options, I cannot proceed.

However, if we have to choose from the implied options, and considering that the blank is before 'late', it implies a verb that takes 'late' as an adverbial complement or part of a predicate. The most common verb would be 'to be' (was) or 'to come' (came).

If the intended answer was to resolve the apparent contradiction, perhaps it was meant to be something like 'He almost was late. He was in time.' or 'He nearly was late. He was in time.'

Based on typical English grammar exercises of this type, and assuming a simple verb is required, 'was' is a highly probable candidate to fill the blank, creating the statement 'He was late.' The subsequent sentence 'He was in time' would then create a logical puzzle or a nuanced situation that might be explained in subsequent parts of the exercise not shown here.

Let's assume the blank is to be filled by a verb that completes the first clause. The second clause provides context.

If we are forced to pick a single word to fill the blank to make grammatical sense with 'late', and considering it's a past tense context, the most fitting verb is 'was'.

Therefore, the completed first clause would be: 'He was late.'

The full sentence would then be: 'He was late. He was in time.' This creates a logical paradox that might be intended to be resolved by a further explanation or choice in the original exercise.

Since I cannot see the dropdown options, I will provide the most grammatically plausible fill for the first part of the sentence.

The answer is:

• was