Fill in the blanks with the correct pair of words or phrases so that the…
2025
Fill in the blanks with the correct pair of words or phrases so that the sentence is grammatically meaningful and appropriate.
Sonia is so unadaptable; she ……….her parents …….her seniors.
- A.
never obeyed, nor
- B.
never have obeyed, nor
- C.
never obeyed, or
- D.
never had obeyed, nor
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: C
Concept
The negative word "never" (like "not") pairs with "or", not "nor", when connecting two items in a negative clause -- using "nor" after an already-negative word creates an unintended double negative, which standard English avoids ("nor" pairs correctly only with "neither", which is not used here). Separately, every verb must agree with its subject in number and person, and a sentence narrating a single continuous past trait or one single action (not two separate, time-sequenced actions) is most naturally told in one consistent, simple tense.
Application
Here, "she … her parents … her seniors" describes one single continuous behaviour (never obeying anyone), so the simple past "obeyed" tells it in one plain, agreeing tense. And because "never" is already negative, joining the two objects requires "or", not "nor" (which would double the negative). So the pair "never obeyed, or" is the only pair that satisfies both the connector rule and standard verb usage together.
Cross-check
Checking each remaining pair confirms this: "never obeyed, nor" keeps a grammatically fine verb but wrongly doubles the negative with "nor"; "never have obeyed, nor" additionally fails subject-verb agreement (the singular subject "she" needs "has", not "have") on top of the same "nor" error; "never had obeyed, nor" is not a subject-verb-agreement problem ("had" does not conjugate), but the past perfect wrongly frames the action as completed before some other past reference point the sentence never sets up, and it too keeps the erroneous "nor". Only the pairing with simple past tense and "or" avoids every error.