Fill in the blank with most appropriate option:
He showed great ___ in solving the puzzle.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: C
Explanation
Correct Answer
intelligence
Explanation
The sentence requires a specific part of speech to fill the blank after the modifier "great". In English grammar, an adjective like "great" must modify a noun.
Intelligence is an abstract noun that refers to the quality of mental sharpness, reasoning, and capability. Therefore, saying "He showed great intelligence" is grammatically flawless.
The other choices represent different parts of speech that do not fit this structural requirement because "intelligent" is an adjective, while both "intelligently" and "intelligibly" are adverbs. You cannot place an adjective or an adverb directly after the word "great" in this context.
Key Points
The structural formula for this sentence pattern is Subject + Verb + Adjective (great) + Noun (intelligence).
Identifying the suffixes of words can help you determine their parts of speech quickly during an exam, where the suffix -ence denotes a noun, -ent denotes an adjective, and -ly denotes an adverb.