They in Holland for ten years. Now they have settled down in Paris. A. lived B. have lived C. had li

They in Holland for ten years. Now they have settled down in Paris. A. lived B. have lived C. had lived D. were living

The correct answer is A. lived.

Here’s why:

The sentence begins with “They in Holland for ten years.”
We need a past tense verb to fit the structure: They lived in Holland for ten years.

This describes a completed past event — they lived there for ten years, but now they live in Paris, so that period is finished.

Let’s check why the other options are wrong:

B. have lived → This would require “They have lived in Holland for ten years” (present perfect), but the next sentence says they have now settled in Paris, meaning living in Holland is a finished past period, not connected to now.
C. had lived → Past perfect needs a more recent past event to relate to, but here it’s just a sequence: first they lived in Holland, now in Paris. No past-before-past needed.
D. were living → Past continuous (“were living”) is possible but less natural for stating a duration in the past unless setting the scene for something else that happened.

Correct sentence:
They lived in Holland for ten years. Now they have settled down in Paris.

Answer: A. lived ✅