Which prepositional phrase correctly completes the sentence: The manager attempted to coerce the team ____ taking action.

Which prepositional phrase correctly completes the sentence: The manager attempted to coerce the team ____ taking action.

• A. to changing
• B. for changing
• C. at changing
• D. into changing

Answer: (D)

The concept at work is the common verb-preposition pairing after “coerce.” When you want someone to be pressured into doing something, the standard construction is “coerce … into doing something.” After “into,” you use the gerund form of the verb, so “into taking action” fits perfectly. Why this fits: “into” signals the action the team is being forced to undertake, and “taking” is the -ing form that follows the preposition. The sentence then reads smoothly as the manager pressuring the team to take action. Why the others don’t fit: alternatives like “to changing” would require an infinitive (to change), which isn’t the idiomatic choice after “coerce into,” and the pairs with “for” or “at” don’t align with the common collocation this verb uses.

The concept at work is the common verb-preposition pairing after “coerce.” When you want someone to be pressured into doing something, the standard construction is “coerce … into doing something.” After “into,” you use the gerund form of the verb, so “into taking action” fits perfectly.

Why this fits: “into” signals the action the team is being forced to undertake, and “taking” is the -ing form that follows the preposition. The sentence then reads smoothly as the manager pressuring the team to take action.

Why the others don’t fit: alternatives like “to changing” would require an infinitive (to change), which isn’t the idiomatic choice after “coerce into,” and the pairs with “for” or “at” don’t align with the common collocation this verb uses.