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

• Reason: Use for to indicate a duration. He has been absent for a fortnight means "during a period of two weeks."
• Rule: For + duration (e.g., for two days, for a week) is used with perfect tenses to show how long something lasts.

Correct option: C — under

• Reason: “bring under control” is a fixed English idiom meaning to make a situation controllable or manageable.
• Rule: under + control shows state after action; “under” indicates being within the realm of control.
• Why others are wrong:
  • in control → means actively guiding or in charge, not the process of controlling something.
  • within control → not a standard collocation; sounds awkward here.
  • under no control → negates control; opposite meaning.
  • at control → not a typical collocation.

• Correct: with. Use “with” to show the instrument or means used to do something: kill with a rifle.
• Other options: by is for the doer/agent (often in passive voice: “killed by him”), from and at do not indicate instrument.

Rule: use with for tool/means; by for agent in passive voice.

• The rocks were worn out by wind and weather.
• Reason: In passive voice, by marks the agent or cause of the action. “Worn out by wind and weather” is a common collocation indicating cause.
• Why others are wrong:
  • A. from – indicates origin, not agent.
  • B. through – not used to show cause by natural elements here.
  • D. with – suggests accompaniment or instrument, not the causal agent.

• Why correct: "get through" a history examination means to pass or successfully complete it.

Explanation:

• Correct: D. at – We say surprised at when reacting to news or a situation. It shows your reaction to something you heard or learned.
• By – used for the cause/agent (e.g., surprised by the news is less common here).
• With – means accompanied by someone/something; not standard for reaction to news.
• Upon – archaic/rare in modern use for this sense.

• Correct answer: D) at

Why: We use at with verbs of emotion to express reaction to a situation/event. glad at shows happiness in response to the victory (a fixed/useful phrase).

• A. by is not used with glad in this sense.
• B. of and C. for are not correct collocations with glad here; glad about is possible, but not among the options.

• Correct option: C – on
• Reason: on can indicate a surface where activity occurs (e.g., work on a task or on a surface like a desk). Here, it signals the desk as the surface associated with the work.
• Why others are wrong:
  • A. at – typically indicates location or place of activity (at the desk) but not the surface action.
  • B. in – means inside; not used for the surface/location of work here.
  • D. over – not a correct sense for location of working in this context.

• Explanation: After verbs expressing regret, the common pattern is “repent for/about/over” something you did. Here, “repented for what he had done” shows regret about the action.
• Rule: Verb + preposition + object of regret = repent for/of/about (choose the fixed phrase in context).
• Why others are wrong: A. “repented of” is possible, but the given answer uses “for.” C. “over” is not standard here. D. “to” is incorrect with repent.

• Correct: to — We use to for direction toward a location. The fixed phrase is to the east of.
• Why others are wrong:
  • A. on – used for surfaces, not directions.
  • C. from – indicates origin, not direction.
  • D. at – indicates a point/place, not the direction of one place relative to another.