Preposition MCQ (A / An / The) – Daily Practice Set with Answers

• Rule: Sympathize with someone is a fixed collocation meaning to feel pity or sorrow for them.
• Correct reasoning: “He sympathised with him in his bereavement” uses the standard expression; bereavement is the situation for sympathy.
• Why others are wrong:
  • in: not used with sympathise to show sympathy.
  • for: incorrect collocation here.
  • by: not used with sympathise to express support.

• Correct answer: D) at — The phrasal verb hint at means to indirectly suggest or imply something.
• Rule/usage: Use hint at when you want to say someone suggested a possibility or hinted something without stating it directly.
• Why others are wrong:
  • A) of — not used with hint in this sense.
  • B) for — not the standard collocation with hint.
  • C) with — not correct for this meaning.

• Correct: on — The verb phrase prevail on means to persuade or influence someone to do something. So: "I prevailed on him to join our group."
• Note: upon is also used in some contexts, but the given option is on.
• Opposites: beside means next to; along with means together with — both do not fit the sense of persuading.

• Rule: Use into for movement from outside to inside (entering).
• Reason here: He moves from the shore to the sea (into the water) alone.
• Why others are wrong:
  • A) in – does not show motion into the water.
  • B) to – indicates destination, not entering.
  • D) on – wrong preposition for entering water.

• The correct phrase is “accountable to” someone and “accountable for” something. Here, God is the person to whom one is accountable, and “for his actions” explains what is being accounted for.
• Correct answer: for is the fixed collocation after “accountable” to describe what is being answered for.
• Options:
  • A. about – not used with “accountable” here
  • C. to – would place God as the recipient without the action-specific meaning
  • D. over – incorrect collocation

Explanation in simple words: The correct preposition with “apologize/sorry” is for when you mean “sorry because of that thing.”

• Correct answer: C. for — Fixed phrase: “sorry for the mistake.”
• Why others are wrong:
• “from” is used to show origin or separation (not the reason).
• “with” implies accompaniment or tool, not the reason.
• “at” is used for location or times, not the reason.

• Correct: He complimented her on new dress — the fixed phrase is compliment sb on sth (praise about something).
• Wrong options:
  • A) for — not used with “compliment” here.
  • B) of — incorrect collocation.
  • D) about — not the standard preposition with “compliment.”

• Rule: prevent someone from doing something is the correct collocation.
• Reason: "prevent" requires from before the gerund to show what is being prevented.
• A, B, C: "against", "at", "with" do not form the fixed phrase with prevent in this sense.
• Usage: He tried to prevent me from doing my duty.

• Correct: with — The phrasal verb dispense with means to do away with or no longer require someone’s services.
• Rule/usage: dispense with + noun/gerund to indicate elimination or removal.
• Why others are wrong:
  • of — not used with dispense in this sense.
  • off — not correct in this fixed phrase.
  • on — changes meaning; not the collocation here.

• Rule: Assure someone of something means to tell them that they will receive that thing.
• Here, “assured … every type of help” uses of after “assured …” → He was assured of every type of help.
• Other options fail: about (not correct with “assured”); by is used to indicate the agent; with isn’t the fixed collocation here.