Difficulty: Easy

Average Score: 89%

Select the sentence in which 'legal' is used as an adjective.

Rationale

He is a legal resident of the United States.

In this sentence, 'legal' functions as an adjective describing the noun 'resident,' indicating that the individual has lawful status within the United States. The use of 'legal' here specifically qualifies what kind of resident he is, emphasizing compliance with immigration laws.

A (It is legal to wear green on March 17th.) YOUR ANSWER

In this sentence, 'legal' is used in a more general sense to indicate that wearing green is permissible by law. However, it does not describe a noun directly; instead, it describes the action of wearing green, making it an adverbial usage rather than an adjectival one.

B (He did not know that jaywalking was not legal.) YOUR ANSWER

Here, 'legal' is again used to describe the action of jaywalking, indicating its status under the law. Similar to choice A, it does not modify a noun directly, which is necessary for an adjectival use of the term.

C (It is not legal to jaywalk.) YOUR ANSWER

In this example, 'legal' describes the action of jaywalking, stating that it is against the law. As with the previous options, it does not function as an adjective modifying a specific noun, thus failing to meet the criteria for this question.

Conclusion

To identify the use of 'legal' as an adjective, one must look for a noun that it describes directly. In the sentence "He is a legal resident of the United States," 'legal' clearly qualifies the noun 'resident,' establishing it as the only correct option among the choices provided. The other sentences use 'legal' in contexts that do not serve as direct noun modifiers, illustrating the importance of context in grammatical function.

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