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Question

Difficulty: HardIdiomatic Prepositions

Many architectural conservators argue that while modern synthetic sealants offer immediate protection against moisture, their chemical composition is ultimately not conducive with the long-term preservation of historic sandstone.

Which choice is the most grammatically and idiomatically correct replacement for the underlined portion of the sentence?

  1. A
    NO CHANGE
  2. conducive toAnswer
  3. C
    conducive for
  4. D
    conducive of

Answer

The option stating 'conducive to' is the correct choice because the adjective 'conducive' must be paired with the preposition 'to' in standard English idiom.
The correct option is 'conducive to' because the adjective 'conducive' is idiomatically paired with the preposition 'to' to express that something contributes to or helps produce a particular result. The resulting sentence, '...their chemical composition is ultimately not conducive to the long-term preservation of historic sandstone,' is standard and correct.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the underlined word and the preposition that follows it.
The sentence uses the phrase 'conducive with'.
This is a prepositional idiom question testing the correct pairing of the adjective 'conducive' with a preposition.
2
Evaluate the idiomatic correctness of the original preposition 'with' and the proposed alternatives ('to', 'for', 'of').
Standard English conventions dictate that the adjective 'conducive' is idiomatically followed by 'to' (e.g., 'conducive to learning'). The forms 'conducive with', 'conducive for', and 'conducive of' are non-standard and incorrect.
Correcting idiomatic preposition usage requires selecting the option that conforms to standard American English idiom.
3
Select the option that contains 'conducive to'.
The correct choice is the option containing 'conducive to'.
This makes the sentence grammatically and idiomatically correct: '...their chemical composition is ultimately not conducive to the long-term preservation of historic sandstone.'

Key Concept

Idiomatic Prepositions
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Topics

Idiomatic Prepositions

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