Question

Combine the sentences using an appropriate conjunction. (This question has multiple correct options)
She must apologize to me first. I won’t speak to her until then.
I won’t speak to her ____ she apologizes.
A) Unless
B) Until
C) When
D) While

Answer 1

Hint: The word used to fill the blank in the question we need to use a conjunction. This is because the blank is a connecting link between the clause, ‘I won’t speak to her’ and the phrase ‘she apologizes’. Conjunctions can be used to connect words, phrases and clauses with each other.

Complete answer:
The options given in the question are all conjunctions. Out of them ‘unless’ and ‘until’ are conditional conjunctions in which one clause is the condition for the other clause to occur. ‘When’ and ‘while’ are conjunctions that indicate actions taking place simultaneously. Let us now compare all of them.

Now let us look into the given options
Option A) Unless – It is a preposition that is used to mean ‘except if’. When it is used in the sentence given in the question we get; I won’t speak to her unless she apologizes. This means that the speaker will not talk to the third person except if the third person apologizes to the speaker. Therefore, this option is correct.
Option B) Until – ‘Until’ is a preposition as well as conjunction and it means ‘up to a certain time’. For e.g. I couldn’t sleep until 3 in the morning. It may be used for an event or a time, unlike ‘unless’ which is only used for events. When we fill the blank with this option, we get; I won’t speak to her until she apologizes. This option is also correct.
Option C) When – This preposition is used to refer to an activity that happens only if another certain activity happens. For e.g. I will sign this paper when I see your original documents. ‘When’ is not a suitable preposition to fill the blank with. Therefore, this option is wrong.
Option D) While – ‘While’ is a preposition that is used to indicate activities that are occurring simultaneously. For e.g. I’ll have to eat my breakfast while studying, as I don’t have much time. This option is also not suitable for filling the blank. Thus, this option is also wrong.

Thus, the correct answers are Option (A) I won’t speak to her unless she apologizes and Option (B) I won’t speak to her until she apologizes.

Note: The sentence given in the question has a negative tone that is indicated by the word ‘won’t’. We can also use a positive tone to say the exact same thing with minor changes. For e.g. I will talk to her after/ when/ if she apologizes. Therefore, we can see that when we have a negative sentence we use a different set of conjunctions and when we have a positive sentence we use a different set.