Question

Choose the grammatically correct sentence.

• A. You should at once report it to the concerned authority.
• B. You should report it at once, to the authority concerned.
• C. You should report it at once, to the concerned authority.
• D. You should at once report it to the authority concerned.

Hint:

Recall that "concerned" meaning "relevant" goes after the noun, as in "authority concerned", not before it.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is D

This question tests correct word order and standard English idiom, in particular the placement of the adverb phrase "at once" and the proper way to say "the authority concerned".

1. You should at once report it to the concerned authority.: "At once" is placed correctly right after "should", but "concerned authority" is not standard English. The idiomatic form places "concerned" after the noun, as in "the authority concerned".
2. You should report it at once, to the authority concerned.: "The authority concerned" is correct here, but the comma before "to the authority concerned" breaks the sentence awkwardly and is not needed, so the flow is poor.
3. You should report it at once, to the concerned authority.: This carries two faults together, the unnecessary comma and the wrong word order "concerned authority" instead of "authority concerned".
4. You should at once report it to the authority concerned.: "At once" sits right after "should", reading smoothly, and "the authority concerned" follows the standard idiom, where "concerned" (meaning "relevant" or "in question") comes after the noun it describes.

Standard English keeps "concerned" after the noun when it means "relevant to the matter", so "the authority concerned" is correct, not "the concerned authority" (which would instead suggest a worried authority). This makes option (D) the grammatically correct sentence.

Let's summarize:

• "At once" reads most naturally placed close to "should".
• "Concerned", meaning "relevant" or "in question", goes after the noun: "the authority concerned", not before it.

The correct sentence is "You should at once report it to the authority concerned," option (D).