Question 196·Easy·Form, Structure, and Sense
During the festival, volunteers set up booths, organized games, and distributed flyers to inform ______ about the schedule of events.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
For Standard English conventions questions like this, plug each option into the sentence and listen for both grammar and natural usage. Pay special attention to apostrophes—ask if possession is actually needed or if you just need a simple plural noun—and to small function words like articles (“a,” “an,” “the”). Also recall common verb patterns (such as “inform [someone] about [something]”) to see which option fits the normal structure of English.
Hints
Focus on the verb "inform"
Look at the words that come right after “inform.” Think about what kind of word or phrase usually follows “inform” in sentences like “They informed ___ about the rules.”
Consider plural vs. possessive
Ask yourself: Are the volunteers informing people, or informing something that belongs to those people? This determines whether you need an apostrophe or not.
Check for necessary small words
Read the sentence in your head with each option. Does it sound more natural to say “about schedule” or “about the schedule” when you are referring to a specific schedule of events?
Step-by-step Explanation
Understand the sentence structure
The sentence is describing what volunteers did at a festival: they “distributed flyers to inform ______ about the schedule of events.” We need a phrase that logically and grammatically completes “to inform ______ about the schedule of events.”
Identify the verb pattern: "inform someone about something"
The verb “inform” usually follows this pattern: inform + person/people + about + thing.
- Example: “They informed students about the test.” So in this sentence, we need:
- a plural noun referring to people (the ones being informed)
- followed by “about the schedule of events.” We do not need a possessive noun (with an apostrophe) because no ownership is being shown; “attendees” here are just the people being informed.
Check plural vs. possessive forms
Look at the options that use an apostrophe:
- “attendee’s” = singular possessive (belonging to one attendee)
- “attendees’” = plural possessive (belonging to multiple attendees) In the sentence, the volunteers are not informing something that belongs to the attendees; they are informing the attendees themselves. That means a plain plural noun (no apostrophe) is needed: “attendees,” not “attendee’s” or “attendees’.”
Decide whether you need the article "the"
Now compare the two options that use the plain plural noun:
- “attendees about schedule”
- “attendees about the schedule” In standard English, with a specific schedule already identified (the schedule of events at the festival), we usually include the article “the”: we say “about the schedule,” not “about schedule.” So the phrase that is both grammatically correct and natural is “attendees about the schedule”, which is the correct answer.