Question

Fill in the blank with the most appropriate option:
You _____ easily find the newspaper now where his article was printed.
a) might
b) need
c) couldn’t
d) had to
e) can

Answer 1

Hint: A verb is a content word that denotes an action, occurrence, or state of existence. A verb is the word class that serves as the predicate of a sentence.

Complete answer:
In the given question, we have to find out which of the options given to us expresses ability; as the ability to find the newspaper is being discussed.
Let us thus analyze the options given to us in this question-
Option (a.), 'might', refers to ‘(auxiliary) used to indicate conditional or possible actions.’
Therefore, option (a.) is incorrect as it does not express ability.
Option (b.), ‘need', refers to ‘require as useful, just, or proper.’Therefore, option (b.) is incorrect as it does not express ability.
Option (c.), ‘couldn’t', refers to ‘could not; used to politely ask for permission to do something.’Therefore, option (c.) is incorrect as it does not express ability.
Option (d.), ‘had to', refers to ‘had’ which means ‘(auxiliary) used to form the pluperfect tense, expressing a completed action in the past (past participle)’ and ‘to’ which both together mean the requirement to carry something out.’Therefore, option (d.) is incorrect as it does not express ability.
Option (e.), ‘can', refers to ‘used to show that somebody/something has the ability to do something.’Therefore, option (d.) is correct as it expresses ability.

Note:
 In this question, it will be helpful for the student to recall the concept of modal auxiliaries. A modal auxiliary is an auxiliary verb (such as `can' or `will') that is used to express modality. Modality refers to a classification of propositions on the basis of whether they claim necessity or possibility or impossibility.