Question

Fill in the blank with the most appropriate word.
A: They are not very fond of chips.
B: Neither ______.

(a)do I
(b)am I
(c)I am
(d)I don’t

Answer 1

Hint: Auxiliaries are used to remark on subjects. They need to match the subject and verb that came before them and need to be inverted for them to be grammatically correct.

Complete answer: A “negative statement” is usually defined as any sentence with a negative verb. The above statement ‘A’ makes use of a negative auxiliary.
A modal verb is a type of verb that is used to indicate modality – that is, likelihood, ability, permission, request, capacity, suggestions, order, obligation, or advice. We need to find the verb from the options that indicate suggestion.

We can understand whether the actions are happening right now by certain pointers that are given in the sentence in the question. The given sentence is simply stating a personal preference, which means the verb needs to match the verb in sentence ‘A’. The verb used in the first sentence is ‘are’. That matches ‘they’. So, we need a verb that matches ‘I’. They also need to be inverted, as that is grammatically correct.

Now, we know what we are looking for. Let’s look at the given options:
(a)do I - The verb in this construction does not match the verb in the given sentence which means that this does not fit into the context of the given sentence. This is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.
(b)am I - The verb in this construction matches the verb in the given sentence which means that this fits into the context of the given sentence. This is the required answer. So, this is the correct option.
(c)I am - The verb in this construction matches the verb in the given sentence, however, it is not inverted which means that this does not fit into the context of the given sentence. This is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.
(d)I don’t - The verb in this construction does not match the verb in the given sentence, and it is not inverted which means that this does not fit into the context of the given sentence. This is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.

Note: The given sentence needs a clear auxiliary, which is missing. Go through each
option carefully to make sure that you choose the grammatically correct option.