Cloze Test
🔒 Log in to trackPreposition and phrasal-verb blanks
🔒 Log in to trackPreposition blanks are pure collocation memory: the word before or after the blank dictates the answer.
Find the governor. The preposition belongs to a nearby verb, adjective or noun:
- depend on, insist on, congratulate on;
- afraid of, fond of, aware of;
- good at, angry with (person) / at (thing), married to;
- reason for, solution to, influence on, rise in. Identify the governor, then recall its fixed partner — never translate meaning word by word.
Phrasal-verb blanks test verb + particle as one unit. The same verb changes meaning with each particle, so read the sentence's demand first, then match the unit: caring for trees → look after; investigating a complaint → look into; a road replacing a market → give way to.
| Phrasal verb | Meaning | Fit in a sentence |
|---|---|---|
| give way to | yield; be replaced by | the old market gave way to a mall |
| look after | take care of | residents look after the street trees |
| look into | investigate | the committee will look into the complaint |
| carry out | perform, execute | carry out a survey / an order |
| put off | postpone | the match was put off till Sunday |
| call off | cancel | the strike was called off |
| break out | begin suddenly (fire, war, disease) | a fire broke out at night |
| turn down | reject | she turned down the offer |
| come across | meet/find by chance | I came across an old diary |
| set up | establish | a clinic was set up in the village |
Particles with a logic of their own: up often completes (finish, appear, build), off suggests cancellation or departure, out suggests eruption or distribution, down suggests rejection or recording. When two options are grammatically possible, this direction sense breaks the tie.
Preposition after 'different': different from is the standard form in formal prose. Preposition after 'compare': compared to (liken) vs compared with (examine differences) — in SSC usage both survive, but compared to is the safer default for similarity.
Preposition blanks: fixed pairs
English fixes a preposition to many verbs, adjectives and nouns, and logic rarely helps — the pair is a convention. The blank is usually the second half of such a pair, so your real task is to spot the first half and recall its partner.
High-frequency fixed pairs
| First half | Correct pair | Wrong pair to avoid |
|---|---|---|
| ashamed | ashamed of | ashamed for |
| respond | respond to | respond on |
| apply (organisation) | apply to a bank | apply on |
| apply (post) | apply for a post | apply to a post |
| depend | depend on | depend from |
| prevent | prevent from + -ing | prevent to |
| insist | insist on + -ing | insist to |
| smell / taste | smell of garlic | smell with |
| arrive | arrive at a place, in a city | arrive to |
| married | married to | married with |
| according | according to records | according with |
| in spite | in spite of | in spite from |
Prepositions of time: in, on, at
- at a clock or point: at 6 p.m., at noon, at night.
- on a day or date: on Sunday, on 15 August, on Sunday morning.
- in a longer period: in June, in 2019, in the morning, in winter.
- Duration with since/for with perfect tenses: since 2020 (point), for five years (length).
Prepositions of place
- at a point on the map: at the bus stop, at the gate.
- in an enclosed space or area: in the room, in Erode, in India.
- on a surface or line: on the table, on the riverbank, on the wall.
- away from, out of, into show direction: cattle kept away from the edge.
Phrasal verbs: the particle is the meaning
A phrasal verb = verb + particle, and the particle changes the meaning completely:
- look after = take care of; look into = investigate; look down upon = despise; look up to = admire.
- put off = postpone; put down = place / write; put up with = tolerate.
- set up = establish; set out = begin a journey; set aside = save or discard.
- carry out = perform; carry on = continue. In the exam, translate the sentence's need into a meaning ("take care of the trees") and then find the phrasal verb with that meaning — never accept a phrasal verb just because it contains a familiar verb.
Method for these blanks
- Read the word before the blank (verb/adjective/noun) and the phrase after it.
- If a fixed pair exists, the pair decides — no meaning test needed.
- If it is a phrasal verb, state the needed meaning first, then match the particle.
- For time/place, classify the noun: clock/point → at, day → on, period/enclosure → in.
Question types you will see
Each type: how to recognise it, the method step by step, and one question to try.
Preposition after a verb or adjective (fixed pair)
The blank follows a word like ashamed, respond, insist, smell and the options are single prepositions.
Identify the word before the blank.
Recall its fixed preposition (ashamed of, respond to, insist on).
Check the object after the blank — some words take different prepositions for different objects (apply TO a bank, apply FOR a post).
Why it works: the pair is a convention; once you spot the first half, only one option survives.
"The office responds (1) ______ every complaint within a day." (a) to (b) for (c) on (d) at
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The fixed pair is respond to: responds to every complaint. Respond for/on/at are not English.
Preposition of time or place
The blank sits before a clock time, a day, a period or a place, and the options are in/on/at/by/since/during type words.
Classify the noun after the blank: point of time → at; day or date → on; longer period → in; duration up to a limit → until/by; through a period → during.
For places: point → at, enclosure/area → in, surface/line → on.
Plug in the word and read the sentence as a full statement.
Why it works: the noun's kind forces the preposition; the other options break the classification.
"Suresh and his wife rarely watch television (1) ______ Sundays." (a) in (b) on (c) at (d) within
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Sundays = a day → on. In takes periods, at takes clock points, within takes a length of time.
Phrasal verb blank
The options are the same verb with different particles (put off/down/up) or different phrasal verbs with near meanings.
Say the needed meaning in plain words ('postpone small pleasures').
Match each option's meaning: put off = postpone, put down = place/write, put up with = tolerate.
Choose the phrasal verb whose meaning equals your plain-words version.
Why it works: the particle carries the meaning; translating the sentence first stops you from being hypnotised by the main verb.
"A man who cannot put (1) ______ small pleasures for a year does not deserve a big one." (a) off (b) down (c) up (d) in
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Needed meaning: postpone enjoying them → put off. Put down = place, put up = erect/tolerate (with 'with').
Preposition inside a fixed phrase
The blank is part of a set phrase: in spite of, according to, on behalf of, in charge of, with the help of.
Read the phrase after the blank (…of repeated warnings, …the committee's records).
Recall the complete phrase: in spite OF, according TO, on behalf OF.
Check that the completed phrase fits the sentence's logic (concession, source of information, representation).
Why it works: the phrase is one unit; half of it is given, so the other half is fixed.
"Contractors who delay the work are fined (1) ______ of repeated warnings." (a) due (b) in spite (c) instead (d) ahead
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In spite of repeated warnings = although they were warned many times. Due of is not English ('due to' has no 'of'), and 'fined instead of warnings' or 'ahead of warnings' makes no sense here — the sentence concedes the warnings and still fines.
Shortcuts that save time
Underline the word governing the blank and recite its pair: depend—on, afraid—of, good—at, solution—to. Ten pairs cover most paper prepositions.
'...now pay residents a small sum to ___ the trees outside their homes.' Options: look after / look into / look down upon / look up to.
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Paying someone to care for trees → look after. Look into investigates, the other two are about respect/contempt.
Ask what the sentence does to the object: cancels it (call off), rejects it (turn down), erects it (set up). The particle encodes the action's direction.
Replace the phrasal option with a one-word verb in your head: look after = tend. The sentence must keep its meaning with the substitution; if not, that phrasal is wrong.
Mistakes to avoid
Where most students lose marks on this subtopic.
Choosing a preposition by intuition from Hindi rather than by the English governor.
Splitting a phrasal verb: 'give way' needs its particle; 'gives way' without 'to' can also be the trap depending on the sentence.
Mixing between and among — two items take between, an indefinite group takes among.
Using in for years vs on for dates: 'in 2024' but 'on 15 August 2024'.
Quick revision
Read this the night before the exam.
Fixed pairs decide: ashamed of, respond to, depend on, married to, according to, in spite of.
apply to an organisation, apply for a post.
at a point, on a day, in a period or enclosure.
Phrasal verb: decide the meaning first, then the particle (look after ≠ look into).
Never translate prepositions from your mother tongue.
Practice: 13 questions
Sets of 10, mixed across the question types above. Every answer has a step-by-step explanation.
Topic test · 13 questions
Suggested time 8 min · wrong answers go to your mistake notebook automatically.