The software automatically saves documents _____ prevent users from losing their work during unexpected crashes.

Let's begin by understanding the meaning of this sentence. We'll use our understanding of pause points and segment the sentence as shown - understanding and assimilating the meaning of each segment bit by bit!

Sentence Structure

The software automatically saves documents _____ prevent users from losing their work during unexpected crashes.

• Where the blank is:
  • Common to all choices: "frequently" comes before, "prevent users from..." comes after
  • What varies (?): What comes between "frequently" and "prevent" - period + "As to" / period + "To" / comma + "to" / just "to"

Understanding the Meaning

Let's start reading from the beginning:

'The software automatically saves documents frequently'

• This tells us what the software does:
  • It saves documents
  • It does this automatically
  • It does this frequently (often)

This is where we have the blank. Let's look at the choices:

• Choice A and B want to put a period here and start a new sentence
• Choice C wants to put a comma here
• Choice D wants no punctuation at all

To see what works here, let's read the rest of the sentence and understand what it's saying!

'prevent users from losing their work during unexpected crashes'

Now let's understand what this is telling us:

• 'Prevent users from losing their work'
  • This is explaining WHY the software saves documents frequently
  • It's the purpose or reason behind the automatic saving
• 'During unexpected crashes'
  • This tells us when users might lose work - when the system crashes unexpectedly
  • The frequent saving protects against this problem

So the complete picture is:

• The software saves documents frequently for the purpose of preventing users from losing work when crashes happen

What do we notice about the structure here?

• We have a main action: 'The software automatically saves documents frequently'
  • This is a complete thought that tells us what happens
• Then we have a purpose phrase: 'to prevent users from losing their work...'
  • This phrase starting with 'to' explains why the saving happens
  • This kind of purpose phrase needs to flow directly from the main action
  • It shouldn't be cut off by a period (that would make it a fragment)
  • It shouldn't be separated by a comma either - it needs to attach directly

The correct answer is Choice D: frequently to

• The infinitive 'to prevent' expresses the purpose
• It should connect directly to the main clause with no punctuation between them

GRAMMAR CONCEPT APPLIED

Infinitive Phrases of Purpose - No Punctuation Needed

When you use an infinitive phrase (a phrase starting with "to" + verb) to explain the purpose or reason for an action, this phrase should connect directly to the main clause without any punctuation between them (called an infinitive of purpose in grammar terms).

Pattern:

• Main action + to + verb (expressing why) = No punctuation between them

Examples:

• "She wakes up early to exercise before work."
  • Main action: She wakes up early
  • Purpose: to exercise before work
  • No comma or other punctuation between them
• "The teacher repeated the instructions to ensure everyone understood."
  • Main action: The teacher repeated the instructions
  • Purpose: to ensure everyone understood
  • Direct connection, no punctuation
• "Companies invest in training to improve employee skills."
  • Main action: Companies invest in training
  • Purpose: to improve employee skills
  • Flows together without punctuation

In our question:

• Main action: "The software automatically saves documents frequently"
• Purpose: "to prevent users from losing their work during unexpected crashes"
• These connect directly: "...saves documents frequently to prevent..."

Important: These infinitive purpose phrases cannot stand alone as sentences, so they should never be separated by a period. They also don't need commas because they're essential to explaining why the action happens.