Question

Fill in the blank with the most appropriate word:
He is an artistic person very good at ______ poetry.
a) To write
b) To be written
c) Having written
d) Write
e) Writing

Answer 1

Hint: Since the word “at” has already been used, we cannot use another preposition such as “to”. Use the word in the sentence to see if it makes the sentence grammatically correct. When there is no usage of a be a verb in the middle of the sentence, the verb used is usually in the continuous tense.

Complete answer:
Option a is wrong because the word “to” has been added. The given sentence already has one preposition “at” in it. At and to cannot be used together.
Option b is wrong because of the inclusion of “to” as already explained above. Also “to be written” means something which is yet to be written but the sentence talks about a person who writes poetry. He has already written poetry and not that he is going to write one.
Option c is wrong because “at” and “having” cannot be used simultaneously. “Good at having written poetry” is a wrong phrase.
Option d is incorrect because of the use of present tense “write”. The person is singular and so the verb is supposed to be “writes”. However, since the preposition “at” has been used, the word “write” cannot be used.
Option e is the correct answer because the tense used is present continuous which shows that he has already written poetry and will write in the future too. It’s a continuing process.

Note:
Always remember that two prepositions cannot be used simultaneously together. The context of the sentence is also very important to choose the correct form or the tense of the word. Also, continuous tense is used mainly in sentences where the conjunction is omitted.