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Question

Difficulty: HardPhrasal Verbs and Prepositional Verbs

Complete the sentence below by supplying the correct preposition to form an appropriate prepositional verb.

Answer:During the tribunal hearing, the defense counsel argued that the witness's reckless statements bordered 【on】 perjury and should be expunged from the record.

Answer

The sentence requires the preposition 'on' (or 'upon') to form the prepositional verb 'border on / border upon'.
The verb 'border', when used figuratively to mean verging on or approaching a specific quality, behavior, or state (such as perjury), strictly requires the preposition 'on' or 'upon'.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the context of the sentence and the meaning of the verb stem.
The verb 'border' is used figuratively to convey that the witness's statements came dangerously close to or verged on committing perjury.
Determining the required idiomatic prepositional verb structure based on contextual meaning.
2
Identify the standard preposition that collocates with 'border' in this figurative sense.
In standard English grammar, 'border' requires the preposition 'on' or 'upon' when used to mean 'verge on' or 'approach near to'.
'Border on' and 'border upon' are the only idiomatically correct prepositional verb combinations in this context.

Key Concept

Prepositional Verbs and Fixed Verb-Preposition Collocations
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Topics

Phrasal Verbs and Prepositional Verbs

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