Question

It is with a heavy heart that I pen these few lines to condole for you on the death of your beloved mother.

• A. Condole for you on
• B. Condole with you in
• C. Condole upon you on
• D. Condole with you on
• E. Condole for you in

Hint:

Recall that "condole" pairs with "with" for the person and "on" for the cause of grief.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is D

Step 1: Identify the underlined part.
The underlined phrase is "to condole for you on," used in the sentence "It is with a heavy heart that I pen these few lines to condole for you on the death of your beloved mother."

Step 2: Recall the correct idiom.
The verb "condole" always takes the preposition "with" before the person being consoled, and "on" (or "upon") before the event or cause of grief. The standard structure is "condole with someone on something." Saying "condole for you" is not correct English usage.

Step 3: Apply the correction.
Replacing "for" with "with" while keeping "on" gives us "to condole with you on the death of your beloved mother," which reads naturally and follows the accepted idiom.

Step 4: Eliminate the other choices.
"Condole for you on" repeats the original error. "Condole with you in" fixes the preposition before "you" but wrongly changes "on" to "in," which does not fit before "the death of." "Condole upon you on" wrongly places "upon" before the person instead of "with." "Condole for you in" carries two errors at once. Only "Condole with you on" is fully correct.

Step 5: Conclude.
The correct replacement is "Condole with you on," option (d).

Note: the publisher's answer key lists option (b) as correct, but "condole with you in" produces the ungrammatical phrase "condole with you in the death of," whereas "condole with you on" correctly follows the standard idiom "condole with someone on something." After rechecking, option (d) is retained as the verified answer.