Choose the correct option to fill in the blank:
His bark is worse ____ his bite, so stay calm.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → than
Comparative degree with "than":
- An adjective in the comparative degree (bigger, better, worse) compares two things.
- The second thing compared is brought in by than: "worse than his bite".
- This sentence: "His bark is worse than his bite" is a fixed saying: a person sounds angrier or more threatening than he really is, like a dog that barks fiercely but seldom bites.
- Complete sentence: His bark is worse than his bite, so stay calm.
Example: This year's exam was easier than last year's.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 1: then — Incorrect. Then refers to time or what comes next, not to comparison. (Then and than sound alike: then is about time, than is used in comparisons.)
Example: Finish your homework, and then go out to play.
Option 3: thus — Incorrect. Thus means in this way or therefore; it cannot complete a comparison.
Example: He did not study, and thus he failed.
Option 4: but — Incorrect. But shows contrast; a comparative adjective needs "than", not "but".
Example: He is poor but honest.