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Difficulty: Very hardIdiomatic Word Choice

In an effort to retain its most productive faculty, the university announced a new grant structure designed to ensure that research funding is commiserate with the scope and anticipated impact of each department's projects.

Which choice represents the correct idiomatic phrasing for the underlined portion of the sentence?

  1. A
    commiserate with
  2. commensurate withAnswer
  3. C
    commensurate to
  4. D
    commiserate to

Answer

commensurate with
The sentence requires a word that means proportional or corresponding in size, which is 'commensurate'. In standard English usage, 'commensurate' must be paired with the preposition 'with' to form the correct idiomatic expression 'commensurate with'.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the meaning required by the sentence context.
The sentence describes funding that matches or is proportional to the scope of research projects. The word 'commiserate' means to sympathize or feel pity, whereas 'commensurate' means corresponding in size or degree. Therefore, 'commensurate' is the correct vocabulary word.
Establishing the correct vocabulary word is necessary to resolve the homophone confusion.
2
Determine the correct idiomatic preposition that pairs with 'commensurate'.
In standard written English, the adjective 'commensurate' is idiomatically followed by the preposition 'with' (e.g., 'commensurate with'). Pairing it with 'to' is non-standard and incorrect.
Identifying the correct prepositional collocation ensures the phrase is grammatically and idiomatically precise.

Key Concept

Idiomatic Word Choice
Estimated Time:1m 0s
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Idiomatic Word Choice

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