Question
Out of the following four sentences, select the most suitable sentence with respect to grammar and usage.
Official answer and solution
- Official answer
- D
- From
- Official GATE 2016 answer key
Solution
Identify the standard rule regarding double negatives with 'until' and singular subject-verb agreement.
The conjunction 'until' means 'up to the time that' and is inherently negative in force when indicating a condition. Using 'does not' or 'doesn't' after 'until' introduces an erroneous double negative in standard English.
Therefore, options A and B are grammatically incorrect because of the double negative ('until the minister does not / doesn't meet me').
In option C, the third-person singular subject 'the minister' requires the singular verb form 'meets', not the base form 'meet'. Hence option C violates subject-verb agreement.
Option D correctly avoids the double negative and uses the proper singular verb: 'I will not leave the place until the minister meets me.'
D
Adding an auxiliary negative ('does not') inside the subordinate clause introduced by 'until'.
The answer is the one in the official GATE answer key. The solution is this site's own explanation.
Source
- Paper
- GATE 2016 Computer Science and Information Technology (CS) Session 1
- Question
- 1 of 65, printed as GA Q.1
- Section
- General Aptitude
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