Select the most appropriate option to fill in the blank.Sun Tzu says that ______ the enemy without battle requires greater skill than winning on the battlefield.

Question

Prepp Team · Accepted Answer

Solving the Sun Tzu Fill-in-the-Blank Question

The question asks us to select the most appropriate option to fill in the blank in the sentence attributed to Sun Tzu:

"Sun Tzu says that ______ the enemy without battle requires greater skill than winning on the battlefield."

We need to find a word or phrase that fits grammatically and makes sense in the context of the sentence. The blank and the words immediately following it ("the enemy without battle") form the subject of the verb "requires". This means the blank needs to be filled with a word form that can function as a noun, specifically a gerund (the -ing form of a verb used as a noun) or a noun phrase.

Analyzing the Options

Let's look at each option and see if it fits the grammatical requirement for the subject of the sentence:

defeated: This is the past tense or past participle form of the verb "defeat". It cannot function as the subject of the sentence in this context. "Sun Tzu says that defeated the enemy..." is grammatically incorrect.
defeating: This is the gerund form of the verb "defeat". A gerund functions as a noun and can be the subject of a sentence. "Defeating the enemy without battle" acts as a gerund phrase, which is the subject of the verb "requires". This fits the grammatical structure.
in defeating: This is a prepositional phrase. A prepositional phrase ("in defeating the enemy...") cannot function as the subject of a sentence.
defeat: This is the base form of the verb or the noun form. While "defeat" can be a noun, "defeat the enemy without battle" does not function correctly as a subject with "defeat" as a simple noun or verb. The gerund form "defeating" is required here to form the subject phrase.

Identifying the Correct Option

Based on the grammatical analysis, the blank requires a word that functions as the subject of the verb "requires". The gerund form "defeating" correctly forms the gerund phrase "defeating the enemy without battle", which serves as the subject of the sentence. Therefore, "defeating" is the most appropriate option.

Completed Sentence

With the correct option, the sentence reads:

"Sun Tzu says that defeating the enemy without battle requires greater skill than winning on the battlefield."

This sentence is grammatically correct and conveys the intended meaning from Sun Tzu's philosophy.

Option Analysis Summary
Option	Word Type / Function	Fits as Subject?	Reason
defeated	Past Tense / Past Participle	No	Cannot be the subject in this structure.
defeating	Gerund	Yes	Functions as a noun (part of the subject phrase).
in defeating	Prepositional Phrase	No	Cannot be the subject.
defeat	Base Verb / Noun	No	Does not form a correct subject phrase in this context.

Revision Table: Understanding Gerunds

A gerund is a verb form ending in -ing that is used as a noun. It can function in various roles that a noun performs, such as:

Subject of a sentence: Running is good for your health.
Direct object: I enjoy reading.
Subject complement: My favorite activity is swimming.
Object of a preposition: She is good at painting.

In the given sentence, the gerund "defeating" is the core of the subject phrase "defeating the enemy without battle".

Additional Information: Sentence Structure and Subjects

Every complete sentence in English needs a subject and a verb. The subject is usually the person, place, thing, or idea that the sentence is about, performing the action of the verb. The subject can be a single word (a noun or pronoun) or a phrase (like a noun phrase, gerund phrase, or infinitive phrase). In our Sun Tzu example, the subject is the entire idea of "defeating the enemy without battle," which is expressed using a gerund phrase.