Building regulations ____ the storage of flammable materials in the basement. The options are prohibit, forbid, ban, and bar. A learner who reads all four as "not allow" can stall, because each looks plausible in front of "the storage." The intended answer is prohibit — the formal, rule-based way to say something is not permitted. This guide sorts the prohibition verbs so the choice rests on who is stopping what, not on which verb sounds most severe.
Four verbs, one idea of "stopping," different framings
All four block something, but they frame the act differently — and Part 5 lives on that framing.
prohibit → not permit by a formal rule, law, or policy ("regulations prohibit," "the policy prohibits")
forbid → order someone not to do something, often more personal or absolute ("forbid employees from," "strictly forbid")
ban → remove something from public or official use entirely ("ban a product," "ban smoking")
bar → block a specific person from access or from an activity ("bar him from the premises," "barred from trading")
Prohibit is the language of rules and regulations; forbid is the language of an authority ordering someone directly; ban is about taking something out of circulation for everyone; bar is about shutting one named person out. Same territory — stopping something — but different agents and objects.
The one-second test: rule, order, removal, or block?
You do not need to weigh nuance first. Read who is stopping what:
- A rule, law, or policy does not permit an activity → prohibit.
- An authority orders a person not to do something → forbid.
- Something is removed from public or official use for everyone → ban.
- A specific person is blocked from access or an activity → bar.
The airline has ____ oversized carry-on bags on all flights. That is removing something from use for everyone, so the answer is banned, not barred. The referee ____ the player from the next three matches. That is blocking one specific person, so barred fits. Read the framing, and the verb decides before any question of severity arises. For the wider skill of reading whether an item tests meaning at all, see word choice versus word form.
Prohibit versus forbid: the grammar tells you as much as the meaning
The two blur because both mean "not allow," but they take different structures, and Part 5 exploits that. Prohibit most naturally takes a noun or the pattern prohibit someone from doing, while forbid takes forbid someone to do or forbid someone from doing and sounds more like a direct order.
Company policy **prohibits** employees from accepting gifts.✓ — a rule, with the from -ing pattern.Her doctor **forbade** her to lift anything heavy.✓ — a personal order, with the to pattern.
When the subject is an impersonal rule, regulation, or policy, prohibit fits and reads as neutral procedure. When the subject is a person or authority ordering someone directly — and especially with the to-infinitive — forbid fits. TOEIC often puts a regulation as the subject, which tips the answer toward prohibit. Matching the verb to the grammar and the agent rather than defaulting to whichever option looks most forceful is the same instinct that separates a strict standard from a rigorous one: context, not intensity, decides.
Why "ban" is the public-removal word, not the office-rule word
Ban is the distractor that punishes reading "not allow" without checking whether the sentence is about removing something from public or official use. It means to stop something from being used, sold, or done at all, usually across a whole place or population:
The government has **banned** single-use plastic bags.✓ — removed from use for everyone.The stadium **banned** outside food and drink.✓ — a blanket removal across a venue.
It does not fit a quiet internal policy aimed at staff conduct. The handbook ____ employees from using personal devices during meetings is a workplace rule, so prohibits fits, not bans. Reserve ban for sentences where something is taken out of circulation, not where a policy governs conduct. This mirrors the way a near-synonym can share meaning yet resist a given slot — the same trap as the practical versus practicable pair, where surface similarity hides a real difference in use.
Quick reference
| Verb | Core act | Typical subject / object | Sample blank |
|---|---|---|---|
| prohibit | not permit by rule or policy | regulations, policy + noun/from | "____ the storage of chemicals" |
| forbid | order a person not to | authority + someone to/from | "____ her to travel alone" |
| ban | remove from public use | government, venue + a thing | "____ single-use plastics" |
| bar | block a specific person | order, ruling + one person from | "____ him from the trading floor" |
Practice reading the act, not the register
Work through each blank by naming who is stopping what before you look at the options:
Fire regulations ____ the use of candles in guest rooms.→ an impersonal rule against an activity → prohibit.The city council voted to ____ billboards along the highway.→ removing something from public use → ban.The court order ____ the executive from contacting former clients.→ blocking one specific person → bar.The captain ____ the crew to leave the ship without permission.→ an authority ordering people directly, with to → forbade.
The verb that wins is the one whose framing matches the sentence — rule, order, removal, or block. When two look right, ask whether the subject is an impersonal rule (prohibit) or a person giving an order (forbid), and whether the object is a whole public activity (ban) or one named individual (bar). That question, not the search for the harshest-sounding word, is what Part 5 rewards. For a full map of how meaning-based items differ from form-based ones, revisit word choice versus word form and drill the distinction until naming the agent and object becomes automatic.