Choose the correct option to join the following sentences without using ‘and’, ‘but’ or ‘so’:
He will be late. It is certain.
Topic: Synthesis — infinitive
Try it
Pick an option and check your answer. The full worked answer is below either way.
Answer
(c) He is certain to be late..
The neatest combination uses an INFINITIVE: "He is certain TO BE late." One clause absorbs the other without any conjunction at all, which is what the instruction requires.
Option (d) is grammatically sound but changes the MEANING in a way worth understanding. "He is certain TO BE late" means it is certain — the certainty belongs to the situation. "He is certain THAT he will be late" means HE feels certain — the certainty belongs to him. The original says "It is certain", so the impersonal version is right.
Option (a) turns the future into the present and drops the certainty into an adverb. Option (b) is not English.
He is certain to be late..