When Henry arrived home after a hard day at work ____.

1. Past Continuous Tense: In this sentence, "was sleeping" is used. The past continuous tense is formed with the past tense of the verb "to be" (was/were) and the present participle of the main verb (sleeping). This tense is used to describe actions that were ongoing at a specific point in the past.

2. Adverbial Clause: The introductory phrase "When Henry arrived home after a hard day at work" serves as an adverbial clause, providing context for the main action in the sentence. It indicates the time frame when the main action occurred.

3. Past Action: The sentence implies that Henry arrived home after his hard day at work, and at that moment, his wife was already in the state of sleeping. Therefore, the past continuous tense ("was sleeping") is appropriate to describe the ongoing action of sleeping at the time of Henry's arrival.

4. Correct Verb Form: The verb "to sleep" is used in its past participle form ("was sleeping") to match the past continuous tense and agree with the subject "his wife."

5. Logical Sequence: The use of the past continuous tense in this context helps to convey the sequence of events logically. It indicates that the action of sleeping was already in progress when Henry arrived home, providing a clear and coherent narrative.

In summary, option "ঘ his wife was sleeping" follows grammatical rules by using the past continuous tense to describe an ongoing action in the past and effectively conveys the intended meaning of the sentence.