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Difficulty: MediumConjunctions and Clause Structure

The minister addressed the press conference regarding the new fiscal policies. Which of the following conjunctions correctly completes the sentence below?

'______ hard the parliamentary committee scrutinized the proposed budget, they could not locate any structural irregularities in the allocation.'

  1. HoweverAnswer
  2. B
    Whatever
  3. C
    Although
  4. D
    No matter

Answer

The word 'However' correctly completes the sentence by modifying the adverb 'hard' to introduce a concessive subordinate clause.
The correct option is 'However' because in formal English grammar, when a concessive clause highlights the degree of an action or quality using an adverb or adjective placed before the subject, 'however' serves as the proper subordinating conjunction (conforming to the pattern: 'however + adjective/adverb + subject + verb').

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the structure of the subordinate clause following the blank space.
The clause begins with an adverb ('hard'), followed by a noun phrase subject ('the parliamentary committee') and a finite verb ('scrutinized').
Identifying the grammatical element immediately following the blank is essential for selecting the correct connective.
2
Evaluate which conjunction forms a syntactically correct concessive clause with this word order.
'However' is the only conjunction that accepts the fronted adverb structure 'However + adverb + subject + verb'.
Other conjunctions like 'Although' require normal subject-verb order, while 'No matter' requires the addition of 'how'.

Key Concept

Concessive Clause Structure with Fronted Adverbs
Estimated Time:1m 0s
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Topics

Conjunctions and Clause Structure

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