Fill in the blank with a suitable homophone: It’s hard to believe what Anushka…

Homophones are words that sound alike but differ in spelling and meaning; choosing the right one in a sentence depends on matching its grammatical role and meaning to the context, not just its sound.

The blank follows 'she always' and is completed by the adjective phrase 'so nice', a pattern (subject + verb + adjective) that needs a linking verb — one that connects the subject to a description of it. Among these four words, only 'seem' (past tense 'seemed') works as a linking verb meaning 'to give the impression of being'. So 'she always seemed so nice' means Anushka gave the impression of being nice, which sets up the irony with what she actually did.

• 'Seamed' comes from 'seam' (to join with a seam, as in fabric or stitching), a transitive action verb that cannot take an adjective like 'nice' as its complement.

• 'Shamed' comes from 'shame' (to cause someone to feel ashamed), a transitive verb that needs a person as its object, not an adjective describing her own demeanour.

• 'Schemed' comes from 'scheme' (to plot or plan something secretly), which describes plotting rather than an appearance or impression, so it cannot fit before 'so nice'.

Only 'seemed' fits both grammatically, as a linking verb, and semantically, conveying how Anushka appeared to others.