Sita is true to _____ .
- (a)word
- (b)her words
- (c)the words
- (d)words
Correct — B, her words. The expression needs a possessive in front of the noun to say whose promise is being kept, and 'her' is the only one of the four choices that supplies it, giving 'Sita is true to her words.'
- (a)word — A singular countable noun cannot stand alone after 'to'; the phrase needs a determiner, and without one 'true to word' is not English.
- (c)the words — 'The' points to particular words already mentioned, and the sentence has mentioned none; the expression is about a person keeping her own promises.
- (d)words — A bare plural gives no owner at all, so the sentence stops saying whose word is being kept.
Being true to one's word means keeping one's promises, and the expression always carries a possessive — my word, his word, her word.
The usual form of the expression keeps the noun singular, 'true to her word', and that is how dictionaries record it. The paper prints the plural and marks it correct, and among the four choices offered it is still the only one carrying the possessive that the expression cannot do without, so it is the answer to give.
- 'To keep one's word' and 'to be as good as one's word' belong to the same family of expressions.
- A singular countable noun in English needs a determiner — an article, a possessive or a demonstrative.
- 'True to' also appears in 'true to form', 'true to life' and 'true to type'.
- Choosing the shortest option because the expression sounds familiar without one.
Asked as a blank-filling item testing the determiner that a fixed expression requires.
The greatest glory in life is to be able to realize ones dreams and ambitions without trampling on those of others.
- (a) The greatest glory in life
- (b) is to be able to realize ones dreams and ambitions
- (c) without trampling on those of others.
- (d) No error
Answer(b) is to be able to realize ones dreams and ambitions
Both items turn on the possessive that these general expressions are built on. There the possessive 'one's' has been written without its apostrophe; here the blank has to be filled by the only option that supplies the possessive 'her'.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Choose the phrase that best fills the blank — He always keeps ____ , however inconvenient it may be.
- (a)word
- (b)his word
- (c)the word
- (d)words
Answer(b) his word — the expression needs the possessive to show whose promise is meant.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Choose the phrase that best fills the blank — The manager was as good as ____ and the payment arrived on Monday.
- (a)word
- (b)words
- (c)his word
- (d)the words
Answer(c) his word — 'as good as one's word' is built on the possessive.