Question

Choose the best replacement for the underlined phrase: "He denied to have stolen the money." 
 

• A. denied having stole
• B. denied having stolen
• C. denied to stealing
• D. denied he has stolen

Hint:

For verb usage questions, check the verb's required form (e.g., "deny" takes a gerund like "stealing" or "having stolen"). Use the perfect gerund (having + past participle) for past actions. Test each option in the sentence for grammatical fit, and eliminate incorrect verb forms (e.g., infinitive after "deny"). Practice identifying verbs that take gerunds vs. infinitives.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is B

In the sentence "He denied to have stolen the money," the underlined phrase is grammatically incorrect. Let's evaluate the provided options to find the correct replacement.

• denied having stole: Incorrect. The correct form is the past participle of "steal," not the simple past.
• denied having stolen: Correct. "Denied having stolen" employs the perfect gerund, suitable after "denied." This construction ("denied having + past participle") indicates denial of a completed past action.
• denied to stealing: Incorrect. "Deny" is not followed by "to" when referring to actions; the gerund or perfect gerund is used.
• denied he has stolen: While seemingly logical, this option changes the original sentence's structure and meaning, and it is not the most concise way to express the denial of a past action in this context.

Consequently, the most appropriate replacement is "denied having stolen."