Home › MCQs › English Sentence Correction › Question #4905
Back to Questions
English Sentence Correction QUESTION #4905
Question 1
A number of linguists contend _____ can be traced back to a common root language.
  • that all of the thousands of languages spoken by the world's five billion people can be traced✔️
  • that the world's five billion people speak thousands of languages of which all can be traced
  • the world's five billion people speak thousands of languages which are all traceable
  • all of the thousands of languages spoken by the world's five billion people to be traceable
Correct Answer Explanation
Contend that…can be traced' is the proper construction after a verb of assertion. Option D omits 'that' and uses an awkward infinitive. Option E turns the contention into an ability claim. Options B and C shift the focus unnecessarily from the languages to the speakers.