Sentence improvement (idiom) — Select the best correction for the phrase in: ‘‘He sent a word to me that he would be coming late.’’ Ensure the expression is concise and idiomatic for formal English usage.

Given sentence
‘‘He sent a word to me that he would be coming late.’’

Concept/Approach
The idiom is send word (to someone) that … without the article ‘‘a’’. We also avoid unnecessary wording like ‘‘to me’’ when context is clear, but the key improvement is removing the article.

Option analysis
A: sent word — Correct idiom: ‘‘He sent word (to me) that he would be coming late.’’B: had sent a word — Wrong article; also past perfect is unwarranted without a second past reference point.C: sent words — Changes meaning; implies multiple words or statements.D: No improvement — Original uses the non-idiomatic ‘‘a word’’.

Final Answer
sent word