In the following sentence improve the underlined part with the help of given…
2017
In the following sentence improve the underlined part with the help of given options.
Keep him at an arm's length lest you should suffer.
- A.
from an arm's length
- B.
at arm's length
- C.
at an arm long
- D.
from arms length
Attempted by 45 students.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B
Correct sentence: Keep him at arm's length, lest you suffer.
Explanation:
Use the fixed idiom 'at arm's length' to mean keeping someone at a safe or respectful distance.
Do not use 'from' or insert 'an' before 'arm's length' — the idiomatic preposition is 'at' and the phrase is 'arm's length' (possessive).
Avoid ungrammatical variants such as 'at an arm long' or incorrect forms like 'from arms length' (missing possessive apostrophe and wrong preposition).
On the 'lest' clause: 'lest you should suffer' is acceptable in older style, but 'lest you suffer' is more concise. Use a comma before 'lest' in this sentence.