Question

Replace the phrase given in bold to make it grammatically correct. If the sentence requires no correction, choose (D) as the answer:

English today is closer to been a world language than any other has been in history.

• A. is closer for been
• B. is closer upon being
• C. is closer to being
• D. No correction required

Answer 1

Answer: (C)

is closer to being

Options D and C: 'Been' is a past participle used in the present and past perfect tenses. It follows the verbs 'has' and 'have', as mentioned in the given sentence: "than any other has been in history".

But, it does not follow the preposition 'to'.

'Being' is a present participle and 'to' is a preposition. 'Being' is the object of the preposition 'to'. It corrects the words in bold to form a complete meaning. Hence option C is correct and D is incorrect.

Option A: 'Is closer for been' does not have a complete meaning, not grammatical structure. 'Been' follows the auxiliaries 'has' or 'have', and not 'for'.

Option B: 'Upon' means 'on occasion of'. The word does not complete the sentence in meaning.

Hence options A, B and D are wrong.