Fill in the blank with an appropriate adverb.
________ he is a good winner but I have never watched him win a race.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → Apparently
Complete sentence: Apparently he is a good winner but I have never watched him win a race. The speaker has heard that he is a good winner, but he has never watched him win a race, so the claim rests on report alone.
| Word | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| (1) Luckily | by good fortune (it does not prepare the contrast with "but I have never watched him win") | Luckily, the bus was late and I caught it. |
| (2) Doubtedly | not a standard English word. The real adverb is undoubtedly (without doubt), which would clash with the doubt expressed by "but I have never watched him win". | – |
| (3) Fortunately | it is lucky that (like "luckily", it gives no sense of a report that the speaker has not checked) | Fortunately, no one was hurt in the accident. |
| (4) Apparently (answer) | according to what one has heard or read, as far as one knows (it shows that the speaker is reporting something without having seen it himself) | Apparently, the new teacher is very strict, though I have not met her yet. |