Select the most appropriate option to substitute the underlined segment in the given sentence.
The article that you have submitted isn’t make sense to me.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: D
Explanation
The correct answer is option 4 i.e. doesn’t make sense.
Error Concept: Related to subject-auxiliary-verb agreement in negative sentences using the verb “do/does”.
What is wrong: The phrase “isn’t make sense” is grammatically incorrect because it mixes two verb forms: the auxiliary “isn’t” (from “to be”) and the base verb “make”, which doesn’t pair with “isn’t” in this structure.
Grammar Concept:
In negative sentences expressing general truth or present actions with verbs like “make”, we use the auxiliary “do/does” with the base form of the main verb.
For third-person singular subjects like “the article”, we use “doesn’t” followed by the base verb “make”.
Incorrectness of the concept in context:
Using “isn’t make” is wrong because “isn’t” needs a verb in -ing form (e.g., “isn’t making”), and “make” is in base form. However, “make sense” is an idiomatic expression that should use “doesn’t”, not “isn’t”.
Correction: Replace “isn’t make sense” with “doesn’t make sense”.
Corrected phrase: doesn’t make sense
Final sentence: The article that you have submitted doesn’t make sense to me.
Hence, the chosen option is correct.