Select the most appropriate option that can substitute the underlined segment in the given sentence. The chair I have bought recently is costly than what I bought last year.
- (a)will be costly
- (b)is costlier
- (c)was costly
- (d)is the costliest
Answer
Why
Correct — B. The comparison word in the sentence is than, and than can only follow a comparative form.
The printed segment is is costly, a positive-degree adjective, so the sentence compares two chairs with no comparative in it. Move costly one step up: costly becomes costlier (more costly would do the same work, but it is not on offer).
The tense needs no repair. The chair exists now, so the present is stays, and only the degree changes: The chair I have bought recently is costlier than what I bought last year.
Why the others are wrong
- (a)will be costly — will be pushes the sentence into the future for no reason, and costly is still positive degree — so than is left with no comparative to attach to.
- (c)was costly — was puts a chair you have just bought into the past, and it repairs nothing: costly remains positive, so the than clause is still broken.
- (d)is the costliest — Costliest is superlative, and a superlative ranks one thing inside a group of three or more, taking of or in. Two chairs are being compared here, and than cannot follow a superlative.
Concept
Degree is decided by the comparison word in the sentence, not by how emphatic you want to sound.
than takes the comparative: costlier, better, smaller. of and in take the superlative: the costliest of the three, the best in the class. as ... as takes the positive: as costly as.
Two-syllable adjectives ending in -y form the comparative by dropping the y and adding -ier: costly to costlier, heavy to heavier, easy to easier. More costly is equally standard, but never both forms at once.
The underlined segment begins at is, so the repair has to be made inside those two words. That is why more costly, which would mend the sentence just as well, does not appear among the options.
Key facts
- Than is the comparative's own conjunction and cannot follow a positive or superlative form.
- A superlative compares one item against a group of three or more and takes of or in.
- Two-syllable adjectives in -y take -ier: costly to costlier, heavy to heavier.
Study next
Common traps
- Answering on tense when the tense is already right and only the degree is broken.
- Taking the superlative because it sounds stronger than the comparative.
SSC works this rule from both ends. As error-spotting it keys the faulty segment itself.
9 Sep 2024, 16:00, English Q.4 keys is best than, 12 Sep 2024, 09:00, English Q.13 keys is superior than, and 26 Sep 2024, 12:30, English Q.2 keys latest in latest than me.
As substitution it hands you the repair, as at 25 Sep 2024, 12:30, English Q.5, where the greatest than all the Mauryan Emperors becomes of the Mauryan Emperors.
Related PYQs
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