Complete the sentence: I'm gaining too much weight. Why not ___ jogging?

Complete the sentence: I'm gaining too much weight. Why not ___ jogging?

• A. Start
• B. To start
• C. Starting
• D. Started

Answer: (A)

The sentence relies on the pattern after “Why not,” which pairs the phrase with the base form of a verb to propose doing something. Here, that base form is start, giving “Why not start jogging?” This means “Why don’t you start jogging?” and sounds natural as a friendly suggestion. Why not to start would introduce an unnecessary to, which isn’t correct in this construction. Starting would use a gerund, which doesn’t fit the fixed pattern after “Why not” here. Started is past tense, so it doesn’t match the sense of proposing a current action.

The sentence relies on the pattern after “Why not,” which pairs the phrase with the base form of a verb to propose doing something. Here, that base form is start, giving “Why not start jogging?” This means “Why don’t you start jogging?” and sounds natural as a friendly suggestion.

Why not to start would introduce an unnecessary to, which isn’t correct in this construction. Starting would use a gerund, which doesn’t fit the fixed pattern after “Why not” here. Started is past tense, so it doesn’t match the sense of proposing a current action.