Fill in the blank with the most appropriate option:
Ramesh could not afford ______ a new bicycle, so he took the bus to college instead.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → to buy
Complete sentence: Ramesh could not afford to buy a new bicycle, so he took the bus to college instead. “Can afford” means to have enough money for something. Here a verb follows “afford”.
| Option | Form and use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| (1) buying | the -ing form; follows verbs such as enjoy, avoid and finish, but not “afford” | Ramesh enjoys buying old comics at the Sunday market. |
| (2) to buy (answer) | the to-verb (to + base form); a verb after “afford” takes this form, not the -ing form | Many families cannot afford to buy a car. |
| (3) buy | the base form without “to”; follows helping verbs such as could or did. “Afford” needs “to” | Ramesh could not buy a new bicycle. |
| (4) to buying | “to” + -ing is used only when “to” is a preposition, as in look forward to. In “afford to”, “to” is part of the to-verb | Ramesh is looking forward to buying a new bicycle next year. |