Which of the following sentences use the adverb correctly?
(A) The rope was not long enough to reach the water in the old well.
(B) My cousins have reached Pune two days ago.
(C) My grandfather retired from the railways six years ago.
(D) Our train from Kota arrived lately, so we missed the first half of the wedding.
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → (A) and (C) only
An adverb is a word that tells how, when, where or how much something happens. It can also describe an adjective or another adverb, for example she sings sweetly, very hot.
(A) The rope was not long enough to reach the water in the old well. — Correct.
- “Enough” comes after the adjective it describes: “long enough”.
(B) My cousins have reached Pune two days ago. — Incorrect.
- “Ago” points to a finished time in the past, so it goes with the simple past.
- The present perfect (“have reached”) is never used with “ago”.
- Correct form: My cousins reached Pune two days ago.
(C) My grandfather retired from the railways six years ago. — Correct.
- “Ago” goes with the simple past “retired” and counts back from now.
(D) Our train from Kota arrived lately, so we missed the first half of the wedding. — Incorrect.
- “Late” means after the right time. “Lately” means recently.
- The train came after its time, so the adverb needed is “late”.
- Correct form: Our train from Kota arrived late, so we missed the first half of the wedding.