Parts of a sentence are given below in jumbled order. Arrange the parts in the correct order to form a meaningful sentence. (A) he had to take the bus (B) his friend, who used to give (C) to his office because he had (D) him a lift, was on vacation (E) never learned to drive and

Correct — B. Two grammatical joins settle this one as well.

C ends on "because he had" — a perfect auxiliary waiting for its past participle. Only E begins with one: never learned. So C is followed by E.

B ends on "who used to give" — and give needs two objects. Only D supplies them: him a lift. So B is followed by D.

A, he had to take the bus, is the only part that stands as a complete main clause, so it opens. A + CE + BD = ACEBD → option (b).

Read out: He had to take the bus to his office because he had never learned to drive and his friend, who used to give him a lift, was on vacation.

Why the others are wrong

• (a)
  EBADC — EBADC opens on "never learned to drive and", a bare verb phrase that cannot start a sentence. It also puts A between B and D, so "who used to give" is left without its objects.
• (c)
  DACEB — DACEB keeps C before E correctly, but it opens on "him a lift, was on vacation", which begins with an object pronoun and carries no subject. B is stranded at the end with nothing to receive its objects.
• (d)
  BADEC — BADEC puts A immediately after B, so "who used to give" runs into "he had to take the bus" and give never gets its objects. It also ends on C, which trails off at "because he had".

The tests that solve English Q.5 of this same 11 Sep 2024, 09:00 sitting solve this one too, in a slightly harder form.

Test one: a part ending in an auxiliary (had, has, was, will) is waiting for the rest of its verb, so the next part must begin with the participle.

Test two: a part ending in a verb that needs an object is waiting for that object. Give takes two — a person and a thing — and "him a lift" is exactly both.

Only A is a complete clause on its own, and a sentence has to start with one.

Key facts

• A part ending in an auxiliary such as "had" must be followed by the part that begins with the participle.
• Give is ditransitive and takes an indirect object and a direct object, as in give him a lift.
• A sentence must open on a part that can stand as a clause, not on a fragment or an object pronoun.
• The full sentence reads: He had to take the bus to his office because he had never learned to drive and his friend, who used to give him a lift, was on vacation.

Common traps

• Opening on E because "never learned to drive" sounds like a finished thought
• Splitting B from D, which leaves the verb give with no objects
• Ending on C, which stops the sentence in the middle of a verb group

No directly related past PYQ was found.