Prepositions: Part 1

A preposition is a word or group of words used before a noun, pronoun, or noun phrase to show direction, time, place, location, spatial relationships, or to introduce an object.

Prepositions in English are highly idiomatic — much preposition usage is dictated by fixed expressions. Thus, it is best to memorise the phrase instead of the individual preposition.

Some Common Verb + Preposition Combinations

About: worry, complain, read

• He worries about the future.

• She complained about the homework.

• I read about the flooding in the city.

At: arrive (a building or event), smile, look

• He arrived at the airport 2 hours early.

• The children smiled at her.

• She looked at him.

From: differ, suffer

• The results differ from my original idea.

• She suffers from dementia.

For: account, allow, search

• Be sure to account for any discrepancies.

• I returned the transcripts to the interviewees to allow for revisions to be made.

• They are searching for the missing dog.

In: occur, result, succeed

• The same problem occurred in three out of four cases.

• My recruitment strategies resulted in finding 10 participants.

• She will succeed in completing her degree.

Of: (dis)approve, consist, smell

• I approve of the idea.

• The recipe consists of three basic ingredients.

• The basement smells of mildew.

On: concentrate, depend, insist

• He is concentrating on his work.

• They depend on each other.

• I must insist on following this rule.

To: belong, contribute, lead, refer

• Bears belong to the family of mammals.

• I hope to contribute to the previous research.

• My results will lead to future research on the topic.

• Please refer to my previous explanation.

With: (dis)agree, argue, deal

• I (dis)agree with you.

• She argued with him.

• They will deal with the situation.

Source: https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/writingcenter/grammar/prepositions

Fill in the blanks with the correct prepositions (at, between, for, in, of, on, to, towards, with, etc.). If no preposition is needed, write “0” in the blank. Sometimes more than one answer is possible.

1. Go ... a bike ride.

2. Wholeheartedly approve ... someone’s idea.

3. Reach ... the mountain top.

4. Find information ... the Internet.

5. Leave ... midnight.

6. Arrive ... Berlin.

7. Be short ... funds.

8. Leave India ... another country.

9. Arrive ... the meeting.

10. Go ... vacation.

11. Be ... a loss ... words.

12. Escape ... punishment.

13. Be prone ... conflict.

14. Be tolerant ... others.

15. Gain ... popularity.

16. ... all intents and purposes (almost completely).

17. Disappointed ... the results.

18. Refer ... a dictionary.

19. Choose ... yoga and karate.

20. Our attitudes ... marriage.