The GATE Grind

GATE 2022 CE (CE2) – Question 1

General Aptitude · Verbal Aptitude: Grammar and Vocabulary · 1 mark · Multiple choice

The movie was funny and I _________.

  1. could help laughing
  2. couldn’t help laughed
  3. couldn’t help laughing
  4. could helped laughed

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Show answer and explanation

Correct answer: (C) couldn’t help laughing

Explanation

“Could not help” takes a gerund and means being unable to resist an action. Thus the natural sentence is “The movie was funny and I **couldn’t help laughing**.”

B uses the past form instead of the gerund; A reverses the intended meaning; D is grammatically incorrect. **Answer: C**.