Question

Fill in the blank with the most appropriate word.
I hope help comes soon, Julie. I don’t think we can _________ much longer.
(a)Holdback
(b)Holdover
(c)Hold in
(d)Hold out

Answer 1

Hint: Read the given sentence and try to decipher what it wants to convey. Now go through the options and look for the one which signifies the phrasal verb of ‘hold’.

Complete answer: Phrasal verbs are phrases that indicate actions. They are generally used in spoken English and informal texts. It is a verb that is made up of the main verb together with an adverb or a preposition or both. Hold means to last (in a difficult situation). It generally means to manage to resist an enemy or opponent in difficult circumstances and refuse to give in and It also indicates to continue to defend yourself against an enemy or attack without being defeated. Now, let us analyze the given options: Option(a) ‘Holdback’ is not the appropriate answer. ‘Hold back’ development of someone or something. This option does not at all suit the nature of the sentence. The subject is talking about help whereas Option A is absolutely contradictory to the same. Hence, it is not the correct option.
Option(b) ‘Holdover’ is the incorrect answer. ‘Holdover’ is a phrasal verb but the option does fit well in the sentence grammatically. ‘Holdover’ in general means to postpone something. Again, Option B also does not suit the sentence in any way, it has no meaning if it gets used in the sentence. Thus, this is not the correct answer.
Option(c) ‘Hold in’ is the wrong answer. ‘Hold in’ means to not allow your feelings to show, but the subject is showing off his/her feelings clearly to Julie. So using this option makes zero sense. Hence Option C is also irrelevant.
Option(d) ‘Hold out’ is the correct answer. As the hint suggests ‘Hold out’ is a phrasal verb which means to continue to be enough or continue to exist. This option suits the need of the sentence. It makes perfect sense in the sentence. Therefore, Option D is the appropriate answer.

Note: Phrasal verbs can be intransitive (i.e. they have no object) or transitive (i.e. they can have an object). In intransitive, the verb and adverb elements are never separated while in transitive If the object is a pronoun (such as it, him, her, them), then the object always comes between the verb and the adverb.