President Buhari has dissolved the ________ committee.
Explanation
The correct answer to the sentence "President Buhari has dissolved the ________ committee" is C. Six-man. Here’s a comprehensive explanation:
1. Understanding the Terms:
- Six man: This option is incorrect because it is missing a hyphen, which is needed to properly describe the noun (committee) with a compound adjective (six-man).
- Six men: This option is incorrect because it uses the plural form "men," which is not appropriate for describing a singular committee.
- Six-man: This option is correct because it uses the hyphenated compound adjective "six-man" to describe the committee. In English, when two or more words are used together to modify a noun, they are often hyphenated to form a compound adjective.
- Six-men: This option is incorrect because it incorrectly pluralizes "men" when only one committee is being described.
2. Why Hyphenation is Important:
- In compound adjectives, hyphenation helps clarify that the words are functioning together as a single descriptive unit. In this case, "six-man" modifies the noun "committee" by specifying that the committee is composed of six men.
3. Grammar Rule:
- Compound Adjectives: When a compound adjective comes before a noun, it is typically hyphenated to avoid ambiguity and ensure clarity. For example, "six-man committee" clearly means a committee with six men, as opposed to a committee consisting of just "six" or "men."
Summary:
- "Six-man" is the correct choice because it properly uses a compound adjective with a hyphen to describe the type of committee.