Choose the most suitable option to replace the highlighted part of the sentence:
The bench of judges declared the prisoner as guilty.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B
Explanation
The correct answer is option 2 i.e. guilty.
Introduction:
The sentence tests knowledge of correct verb-preposition usage with declare.
Error is related to / concept:
Incorrect use of “as” after the verb declare.
What is wrong:
The phrase declared the prisoner as guilty is grammatically incorrect because declare does not take as before the complement.
Grammatical concept:
When declare means “to announce officially or publicly,” it is followed directly by an object and complement without as.
Incorrectness of the concept in context:
Here, “declared” already implies an official announcement, so “as” is redundant.
How to correct:
Remove “as” and keep only the complement adjective “guilty.”
Correct phrase / correction:
“declared the prisoner guilty.”
Final sentence:
The bench of judges declared the prisoner guilty.
Hence, the chosen option is correct.