Choose the sentence that uses ‘absolve’ correctly.

Choose the sentence that uses ‘absolve’ correctly.

• A. The priest absolved him from his sins.
• B. The priest absolved him of his sins.
• C. The priest absolved from his sins.
• D. The priest absolved to his sins.

Answer: (A)

Absolve means to free someone from guilt, blame, or a burden, and it is used with the person as the object and a prepositional phrase indicating what they are freed from. In this context, the priest is performing the action on him, freeing him from his sins, which fits the common, natural phrasing: absolve someone from something. Using a preposition other than from changes the sense or sounds off. Absolving someone of his sins is less idiomatic here, and leaving out a preposition or using to would misrepresent the idea of being freed from sins. Thus, the construction with from his sins is the clearest and most natural.

Absolve means to free someone from guilt, blame, or a burden, and it is used with the person as the object and a prepositional phrase indicating what they are freed from. In this context, the priest is performing the action on him, freeing him from his sins, which fits the common, natural phrasing: absolve someone from something.

Using a preposition other than from changes the sense or sounds off. Absolving someone of his sins is less idiomatic here, and leaving out a preposition or using to would misrepresent the idea of being freed from sins. Thus, the construction with from his sins is the clearest and most natural.