Question

Fill in the blank with the most appropriate word.
Hindi is easy, but English ________.

a. is
b. does not
c. is not
d. is not, either

Answer 1

Hint: The use of ‘but’ as a conjunction is intentional in the sentence, because it implies a contradiction.

Complete step by step solution: In grammar, a conjunction is a part of speech that connects words, phrases, or clauses that are called the conjuncts of the conjunctions. There are many kinds of conjunctions, and each imply a different meaning when used.

In this case, the conjunction ‘but’ is used. Usually, when this is used, there needs to be a contradiction. For example, ‘the tea is hot, but the water is cold’. The word ‘but’ implies that there are two contradictory situations. One part should be affirmative and one should be negative to use ‘but’.

In the given sentence, the first part is affirmative, so, the second part should be negative, i.e. it should contain words like ‘no’ or ‘not’.

Now, let’s look at the given options:

a. is - This is an incorrect option because it is affirmative. We need a negative option.
b. does not - This is a negative construction, however, the verb does not match with the first part of the sentence. So, this is an incorrect option.
c. is not - This is a negative construction, and the verb matches. It fits perfectly into the sentence. So, this is the correct option.
d. is not, either - This contains the word ‘either’, which is used with ‘or’, which is missing in the sentence. So, this is an incorrect option.

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