Prepositions Questions and Answers

Answer: B

The blank takes up in: 'rolled myself up in it'.

To roll oneself up in a blanket is to wrap it around the body by rolling, and 'in' expresses being enclosed by the blanket.

'Down with' and 'down about' are not idiomatic with 'roll', and 'up with' would mean rolling together with the blanket as a companion rather than inside it.

Compare 'rolled up in a carpet' or 'wrapped up in a shawl': 'up' marks the completed wrapping, 'in' the position inside.

Answer: C

The preposition is within: You must pay the fees within a week.

Within means before the end of a stated period, which is what a deadline of a week means. It is the preposition used with a length of time.

After a week would mean the payment is due only once the week is over. Before and by are used with a point in time (before Monday, by Friday), not with a period such as "a week".

Answer: A

The correct sentence is She has no authority over her son.

The noun authority takes over before the person or thing controlled: authority over her son, authority over the staff. It takes on only in the sense of an expert (an authority on history), and to before a verb (authority to act).

Authority upon, authority for and authority of do not express control over a person, so the other three sentences are wrong.

Answer: C

The preposition is to: Listen to what your teachers say.

The verb listen takes to before its object: listen to music, listen to me, listen to what someone says. Without an object, it stands alone (please listen).

Listen at (except 'listen at the door', meaning at a place) and listen in (meaning to eavesdrop) have different meanings, and listen for means to wait to hear a particular sound. None of them fits 'what your teachers say'.

Answer: D

The answer is from: The poor have to work from morning to evening.

A period of time with a start and an end is expressed by the pair from ... to (or from ... till): from 9 to 5, from Monday to Friday, from morning to evening.

In and before cannot pair with to in this pattern, and to morning to evening repeats the second word of the pair.

Answer: D

The answer is from: The history of Hindu religion dates from ancient times.

The verb date, meaning to have existed since a certain time, is followed by from (or back to): The temple dates from the twelfth century.

Since is used with a perfect tense and a point in time (it has existed since ancient times), not with dates. Dates at and dates for are not idiomatic in this sense.

Answer: B

The answer is off: government servants have the day off every Saturday.

A day off is a day free from work. The idiom is fixed: take a day off, have Saturdays off.

A day out means an outing or trip, which is not what a work holiday is. Since does not fit the structure, and the day on would mean a working day, the opposite of the intended sense.

Answer: B

The correct preposition is among: 'Sachin is the best among all the players.'

'Among' is used when one person or thing is compared with, or placed within, a group of more than two. All the players form such a group.

'Between' is used for two people or things, 'into' expresses movement inside something, and 'above' would describe position or rank in a different construction ('above all the others').

Answer: D

The correct preposition is on: 'I lost my passport on the way to India.'

'On the way' is the fixed phrase meaning during a journey or while travelling to a place.

'In the way' means obstructing something, and 'by the way' introduces an aside, so both change the meaning. 'At the way' is not English.

Answer: B

The word that fits is into: You are trying to drag me into a controversy.

The verb drag describes movement, and into is the preposition of movement from outside to inside. The fixed expression is drag someone into a dispute, a quarrel or a controversy, meaning to involve them in it against their will.

In describes position, not movement, so 'drag me in a controversy' is unidiomatic. From would mean the opposite, pulling someone out of it, and for does not combine with drag in this sense.