Question

Fill in the blank with the most suitable option:
You’d better not try to bribe him. He __________ you to the police.
a) Could report
b) Might have reported
c) Needs to report
d) Could have reported

Answer 1

Hint: Modality refers to a classification of propositions on the basis of whether they claim necessity or possibility or impossibility.

Complete solution:

In the given question, the possibility of the ability to bribe is being discussed. Thus, the correct answer cannot be in the past tense.

Let us thus analyze the options given to us in this question:

Option (a.), 'could report', refers to the modal ‘could’ which expresses possibility and ability; and the verb ‘report’ which is in the present tense.

Therefore, option (a.) is correct as it correctly describes that ‘he’ could report the bribery.

Option (b.), ‘might have reported', refers to past tense.

Therefore, option (b.) is incorrect because as discussed above, the answer cannot be in the past tense.

Option (c.), ‘needs to report', refers to ‘needs to’ which expresses essentiality.

Therefore, option (c.) is incorrect as possibility and ability are being discussed in the sentence.

Option (d.), ‘could have reported', refers to past tense.

Therefore, option (d.) is incorrect because as discussed above, the answer cannot be in the past tense.

Hence, the correct answer is option ‘a’.

Note: In this question, it will be helpful for the student to recall the concept of tense. Tense is a grammatical category of verbs used to express distinctions of time. There are three tenses- past, present, and future.