Parts of a sentence are given below in jumbled order. Select the option that arranges the parts in the correct sequence to form a meaningful sentence. (P) the sun (Q) to our planet, Earth (O) provides essential energy (R) sustaining life and warmth

Correct — B. Rule: build the finite clause first — subject, then verb, then object — and hang the modifiers off it afterwards.

P (the sun) is the one part that can be a subject, and O (provides essential energy) carries the finite verb, so the sentence has to open P + O.

Q names who receives the energy, and 'provide something to somebody' puts it straight after the object: the sun provides essential energy to our planet, Earth.

R begins with the participle sustaining, and a participle attaches to the clause it describes, so it comes last: POQR, option (b).

Why the others are wrong

• (a)
  QROP — QROP opens with 'to our planet, Earth', a prepositional phrase, and reaches the verb phrase O only third, behind two modifiers, so the sentence never gets a subject in front of its verb — 'the sun' arrives last.
• (c)
  ROQP — ROQP starts with the participle 'sustaining life and warmth', which then has no clause to modify, and it finishes on 'the sun' with no verb of its own.
• (d)
  ORPQ — ORPQ puts 'provides' before any subject, so the sentence begins with a bare verb phrase and 'the sun' arrives too late to govern it.

A part-jumble is solved by grammar, not by feel. Find the finite verb first, then the noun phrase that can govern it.

Here the only finite verb is provides, and the only part that can be its subject is the sun. Fixing that pair fixes the opening, and half the options fall away.

What is left are modifiers, and modifiers go where the grammar puts them: the recipient after 'provides essential energy', the participial phrase after the clause it describes.

Key facts

• A finite clause needs a subject in front of its verb, so a part beginning with a preposition or a participle cannot open the sentence.
• 'Provide' takes the pattern provide something to somebody.
• A present participle such as 'sustaining' modifies the clause beside it, so it normally follows that clause.

Common traps

• Ordering the parts by their labels instead of by grammar.
• Opening the sentence with the participial part because it sounds descriptive.
• Assuming the labels run P, Q, R, S when this question uses P, Q, O, R.

No directly related past PYQ was found.