Question

Fill in the blank with the most appropriate word.
I am sorry I am so late. My car _________.

a. broke up
b. broke away
c. broke down
d. broke in

Answer 1

Hint: A small group of words standing together as a conceptual unit is called a phrase, it is an expression consisting of one or more words forming a grammatical constituent of a sentence. For example- try her clothes.

Complete step by step solution:

 The given sentence in the question indicates that the subject ‘I’ is sorry because ‘I’ was late and the reason given was that ‘I’’s car had stopped working.
Thus, the phrase used to fill in the blank must convey that the car 'stopped functioning'.
Let us go through all the options one by one in order to know the correct option:
Option (a.) is incorrect because the phrase 'broke up' refers to 'to cause to separate something or someone' and not 'stopped working/functioning'. Thus, this phrase doesn’t have the required meaning and is not the right answer.
Option (b.) is incorrect because the phrase 'broke away' refers to 'to escape suddenly' and not 'stopped working/functioning'. Thus, this phrase doesn’t have the required meaning and is not the right answer.
Option (c.) is correct, because the phrase 'broke down', in this context, refers to 'stopped working/functioning'. Thus, this phrase has the required meaning and is the right answer.
Option (c.) is correct because the phrase 'broke in' refers to 'to enter someone's property without permission' and not 'stopped working/functioning'. Thus, this phrase doesn’t have the required meaning and is not the right answer.

Note: The students should be well acquainted with all the meanings of the phrases that make the correct option. Some synonyms for the phrase ‘broke down’ are- dilapidated, ramshackle, rickety, tumbledown, run-down, worn out, in disrepair, battered, decayed, crumbling, deteriorated.