Choose the most appropriate option to fill in the blank:
Halfway up the steep path to the hill temple, Dadi stopped ______ her breath.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → to catch
Complete sentence: Halfway up the steep path to the hill temple, Dadi stopped to catch her breath. Dadi paused her climb so that she could catch her breath.
| Option | Form and use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| (1) catching | stop + -ing form means to give up an action. It does not tell why someone paused | Uncle Mohan has stopped taking sugar in his tea. |
| (2) catch | the base form without “to”; it does not follow “stop”. It follows words like let | Let me catch my breath first. |
| (3) caught | the past form of catch; “stopped” already shows the past, and the verb after it does not change for tense | The fielder caught the ball near the boundary. |
| (4) to catch (answer) | stop + to-verb means to pause in order to do something else | On the way home, Ravi stopped to buy a pen. |