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Question

Difficulty: MediumCollocations and Fixed Phrases

The newly discovered archaeological evidence served to _______ credence to the historian's longstanding theory regarding ancient trans-Saharan trade routes. Which verb correctly completes the fixed collocation in the sentence?

  1. lendAnswer
  2. B
    give
  3. C
    grant
  4. D
    yield

Answer

The correct verb is 'lend', forming the fixed collocation 'lend credence to'.
The correct phrase is 'lend credence to'. In standard English, the noun 'credence' specifically pairs with the verb 'lend' when expressing that new evidence or facts make an idea, statement, or theory more believable.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the target noun phrase and prepositions in the sentence structure.
The target phrase is '_______ credence to'.
Recognizing the head noun ('credence') helps isolate the specific fixed verb-noun collocation required by standard English usage.
2
Evaluate standard idiomatic verb pairings for 'credence to'.
'lend credence to' is the recognized formal collocation meaning to make something plausible or trustworthy.
English collocations rely on fixed lexical pairings that cannot be substituted with near-synonyms without creating unidiomatic expressions.

Key Concept

Fixed Verb-Noun Collocations
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Topics

Collocations and Fixed Phrases

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