Choose the option that will replace the error highlighted in bold.
Cassius spoke to Brutus under so influence of jealousy and pride.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: C
Explanation
Correct Answer
The
Explanation
Meaning: The sentence explains that Cassius's speech to Brutus was motivated by specific emotional factors, namely a particular combination of jealousy and pride. To solve this quickly for an exam, look at the grammatical structure following the blank space: 'influence + of + noun'. While 'influence' is an abstract noun that typically doesn't take an article in general statements, it becomes specific here because it is modified by the prepositional phrase 'of jealousy and pride.' This specific modifying structure creates a unique, definite context that mandates the use of the definite article 'the' instead of the determiner 'so'. Evaluating the incorrect options: 'A' and 'An' are indefinite articles used for non-specific, countable nouns, and 'That' acts as a demonstrative pronoun which breaks the idiomatic flow of the phrase 'under the influence of.' Therefore, Option 3 is the correct choice.
Key Points
Definition: Correcting definite article errors requires recognizing specific noun modifiers, such as a trailing 'of + noun' phrase, which makes an abstract noun definite and requires the use of 'the'.
Grammatical Role: Selecting a definite article to correctly restrict and specify an abstract noun within a prepositional phrase.