There is absolutely ___ possibilty of failure! Which word completes the sentence?

There is absolutely ___ possibilty of failure! Which word completes the sentence?

• A. No
• B. Not
• C. Any
• D. Zero

Answer: (A)

The sentence is expressing total absence of a chance of something going wrong, so the natural, strong way to say that with a noun like possibility is to use a negative determiner before the singular countable noun: there is absolutely no possibility of failure. The word no pairs smoothly with the singular noun and with absolutely as an intensifier, giving a clear, idiomatic meaning. Using not would be awkward here because you don’t normally say absolutely not possibility; the structure isn’t standard for negating a noun in this position. Any would push the meaning toward there being some chance, which is opposite of what is being conveyed. Zero is possible and would be understood, but no is the more common, natural collocation in this context.

The sentence is expressing total absence of a chance of something going wrong, so the natural, strong way to say that with a noun like possibility is to use a negative determiner before the singular countable noun: there is absolutely no possibility of failure. The word no pairs smoothly with the singular noun and with absolutely as an intensifier, giving a clear, idiomatic meaning.

Using not would be awkward here because you don’t normally say absolutely not possibility; the structure isn’t standard for negating a noun in this position. Any would push the meaning toward there being some chance, which is opposite of what is being conveyed. Zero is possible and would be understood, but no is the more common, natural collocation in this context.