<u>Permit</u> me to present you with a book.

Correct: C, 'prohibit'. 'Permit' is to give leave for something to happen and 'prohibit' is to forbid it, which makes them the plain opposites of this pair. The sentence is a request for leave to present a book, so the granting sense of 'permit' is the one in play.

Why the others are wrong

• (a)
  allow: A synonym of 'permit', so it repeats the underlined word instead of reversing it.
• (b)
  enclose: Drawn in by the polite-letter setting, where one encloses a book with a note; it stands in no relation of opposition to 'permit'.
• (d)
  persuade: Means to talk somebody into something, which is neither granting leave nor withholding it.

'Permit' and 'prohibit' are the plain opposites of granting and forbidding.

Key facts

• 'Prohibit' takes 'from' with an -ing form (prohibited from entering) while 'permit' takes a to-infinitive: permitted to enter.
• Forbid, ban and bar are the other everyday opposites of 'permit'.
• 'Permit' as a noun, stressed on the first syllable, means a written licence.

Common traps

• Choosing 'allow' by matching the meaning of the underlined word.
• Being led by the polite setting of the sentence towards 'enclose'.

No directly related past PYQ was found.

• practice, not a real PYQ

  Fill the blank: Visitors are prohibited ______ entering the laboratory.

  • (a)to
  • (b)from
  • (c)of
  • (d)for
  Answer(b) from: 'prohibit' is followed by 'from' and an -ing form.
• practice, not a real PYQ

  Which word is opposite in meaning to 'forbid'?

  • (a)prevent
  • (b)sanction
  • (c)restrain
  • (d)refuse
  Answer(b) sanction: in this sense it means to permit officially, while the rest all withhold.