NDA (II) 2024 General Ability Test · Question 17 of 141

Correct — C, 'the oldest monument in the city'. Selecting one item from a group of more than two calls for the superlative degree ('oldest'), and English superlatives take the definite article 'the'. 'The oldest monument in the city' is the only grammatical and idiomatic choice.

• (a)the older of all monuments in the city — 'Older' is the comparative degree (for two things); comparing against 'all' monuments needs the superlative 'oldest'.
• (b)the old of all monuments in the city — 'The old' is the positive degree used as a noun and cannot express 'the most old'; the superlative form 'oldest' is required.
• (d)an oldest of all monuments in the city — A superlative is unique, so it takes 'the', never the indefinite article 'an'.

Degrees of comparison: to mark one out of many (three or more), use the superlative with 'the' — 'the oldest'; the comparative ('older') is reserved for exactly two.

No directly related past PYQ was found.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Choose the correct completion: This is ______ building in the town.

  • (a)a tallest
  • (b)the taller
  • (c)the tallest
  • (d)tallest

  Answer(c) the tallest — one out of many takes the superlative with 'the'.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Choose the correct completion: Of the two roads, this is ______

  • (a)the shortest
  • (b)the shorter
  • (c)a shortest
  • (d)short

  Answer(b) the shorter — with exactly two options, the comparative 'the shorter' is used, not the superlative.