WAEC 2023 English Language · Question 67

The Chairman wasn't privy … that information.

Question

From the words or group of words lettered A to D, choose the word or group of words that best completes each of the following sentences. The Chairman wasn't privy ..... that information.

A.with
B.at
C.on
D.to

Answer: D. to

Explanation written with AI and checked against the answer key

Analyze the question: The sentence tests the correct preposition after the adjective "privy". You need to choose the preposition that normally follows it.

Explain the concept: "Privy to" means having shared, secret, or private knowledge of something. It is a fixed collocation (an adjective + preposition pair), so it can't be worked out by logic alone. You simply have to know it.

Examples:

She was privy to the discussions.
Only a few officers were privy to the secret plan.

Solution, step by step:

The word to complete is the preposition after "privy".
Test each option: • A. "privy with" is incorrect. • B. "privy at" is incorrect. • C. "privy on" is incorrect. • D. "privy to" is the correct, standard collocation.
The completed sentence reads: The Chairman wasn't privy to that information. This means the Chairman did not have access to, or knowledge of, that information.

Tip: Memorize common adjective + preposition pairs, because WASSCE, NECO, and JAMB test them often. Some examples:

privy to
oblivious of/to
adept at
jealous of
ignorant of

A quick way to remember: "Privy to a secret" (secrets are given to someone).

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