Choose the most appropriate word from the options given below to fill in the blank.
He _____________ the horse in time and escaped the fall that would have been detrimental.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → reined
Reined is the past tense of rein, meaning to control or stop a horse by pulling its reins (the leather bands fixed to its head). He pulled the reins in time, so the horse stopped and he escaped the fall.
Example: The rider reined in his horse at the edge of the river.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 1: reign — Incorrect. Reign means to rule as a king or queen; it sounds like "rein" but has nothing to do with horses, and the sentence needs a past tense. (Rein and reign sound alike: rein is "to control a horse", reign is "to rule".)
Example: Queen Victoria continued to reign for over sixty years.
Option 3: rained — Incorrect. Rained is the past tense of rain, water falling from the sky; it cannot take "the horse" as its object.
Example: It rained heavily all night.
Option 4: reigned — Incorrect. Reigned means ruled as a king or queen; it is in the past tense, but a person does not rule a horse to stop it.
Example: Akbar reigned for nearly fifty years.