Prepositions Questions and Answers

Answer: D

The preposition is for: an aptitude for business.

Aptitude takes the preposition for when it names the activity someone has a natural ability for: an aptitude for mathematics, an aptitude for languages, an aptitude for business.

Of and about are not used with aptitude in this sense. Aptitude in is sometimes heard, but the standard collocation is aptitude for, which is what the question expects.

Answer: B

The preposition is at: The match ended at 5 p.m.

At is used for an exact point of time: at 5 p.m., at noon, at midnight. The match ended at one precise moment.

On is for days and dates (on Monday, on 5 June), and in is for longer periods (in the evening, in May, in 2019). Between needs two points of time, as in between 4 and 5 p.m., so it cannot go before a single time.

A quick check is to ask whether you mean a point (at), a day (on) or a longer stretch of time (in): at 6 o'clock on Monday in June.

Answer: D

The preposition is Besides: Besides clothes I gave him money.

Besides means "in addition to": the speaker gave him clothes and, in addition, money.

Beside, without the s, means "next to" (sit beside me), which makes no sense here; the two are a classic confusion. Among means "in the middle of a group", and by expresses means or agent. None of them conveys addition.

A simple test: if "in addition to" can replace the word, write besides; if "next to" can replace it, write beside.

Answer: B

The preposition is within: We shall finish the work within a week.

Within means "before the end of" a period: the work will be completed at some time during the coming week, no later.

In a week usually means "after a week from now" or "taking a week", not "before a week is over", and after a week sets the finish later still. On is used with days and dates, not with a length of time.

So within a week answers "by when?" (any time up to seven days), while in a week answers "how soon?" or "how long?", which is why it is the near miss.

Answer: C

The preposition is since: It has been raining since morning.

With the present perfect continuous (has been raining), since marks the starting point of an action that is still going on: since morning, since Monday, since 2015.

For is used with a length of time instead (for two hours, for three days), and morning is a point of reference, not a duration. In and on do not combine with the present perfect continuous to show when something began.

The same contrast appears in since 2015 (starting point) and for ten years (length of time), both with the perfect tense.

Answer: B

The preposition is for: He died for his country.

Die for means to give one's life for a cause or for the sake of someone: soldiers die for their country. That is the meaning the sentence needs.

Other prepositions go with die in different senses: die of a disease, die from a wound, die by the sword. Die over and die after his country make no sense.

Choosing the preposition here depends on the meaning, not on grammar alone: He died of malaria gives the cause, He died for his country gives the cause he gave his life to.

Answer: A

The word is about: The train is about to start.

Be about to + verb means that something will happen very soon, in the immediate future: the train is on the point of starting.

Over, for and before do not form this expression; the train is over to start or for to start is ungrammatical.

The expression is always followed by the base form of the verb with to: We are about to leave. The film was about to begin.

Answer: A

The preposition is after: They ran after the thief.

Run after means to chase or pursue someone in order to catch them, which is what people do to a thief.

Behind would only describe their position, running at the back of him, without the sense of chasing. Run about means to move here and there, and run for means to hurry to reach something (run for the bus) or to stand for an office.

Phrasal verbs with run change meaning with the particle: run into (meet by chance), run out of (have no more), run over (knock down with a vehicle).

Answer: B

The preposition is at: We started at ten minutes to four.

Ten minutes to four (3.50) is an exact clock time, and an exact point of time takes at, as in at 5 p.m. or at noon.

By ten minutes to four would mean "no later than", which does not fit a simple statement of when they started. To and in are not used before a clock time.

The same pattern applies to all clock times: at half past six, at a quarter to nine, at 7.30.

Answer: C

The preposition is for: Della sold her hair for twenty dollars.

After verbs of buying and selling, for introduces the price: sold it for twenty dollars, bought a book for fifty rupees. (In O. Henry's story The Gift of the Magi, Della sells her hair to buy a Christmas present for her husband.)

Of, with and in cannot introduce a price. In may name the currency in general (paid in dollars), but not a sum.

The same preposition is used for exchange in general: He sold his scooter for Rs 20,000. She exchanged her old phone for a new one.