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Difficulty: HardIdiomatic Word Choice

For decades, local planners struggled to preserve the architectural heritage of the old downtown area. Although the city council initially supported the commercial development project, the newly enacted zoning laws prohibit developers to build structures taller than six stories in the historic district.

Which of the following choices is the best replacement for the underlined portion of the sentence?

  1. A
    NO CHANGE
  2. prohibit developers from buildingAnswer
  3. C
    prohibit developers against building
  4. D
    prohibit developers of building

Answer

prohibit developers from building
The correct option is 'prohibit developers from building' because the verb 'prohibit' idiomatically pairs with the preposition 'from' and a gerund (an '-ing' verb) to express prevention or restriction. In this sentence, this structure correctly connects the zoning laws' restriction to the action of building tall structures.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the verb in the underlined portion and analyze the construction that follows it.
The verb is 'prohibit', and it is followed by the object 'developers' and the infinitive phrase 'to build'.
We need to determine if this verb-preposition-verb collocation is idiomatically correct in standard written English.
2
Recall the correct idiomatic preposition and verb form that pair with 'prohibit' when indicating prevention.
The verb 'prohibit' requires the preposition 'from' followed by a gerund (the '-ing' form of a verb).
Phrases like 'prohibit to' or 'prohibit against' violate English idiomatic usage standards.
3
Select the option that correctly implements the 'prohibit [object] from [gerund]' structure.
The option stating 'prohibit developers from building' uses the correct preposition 'from' and the gerund 'building'.
This choice matches standard idiomatic usage and maintains grammatical correctness within the sentence.

Key Concept

Idiomatic Preposition Collocations (prohibit from)
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Topics

Idiomatic Word Choice

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