Question

Choose the appropriate preposition and fill in the blank:
There has been a sharp rise __________ the cost of living in the past few years.
A) For
B) With
C) In
D) To

Answer 1

Hint: As per the question, we need to find the correct preposition for the blank space. First of all, we must know the meaning of prepositions. It can be defined as a word that comes prior to a noun or a pronoun and builds a connection with the clause and makes a sentence complete.
For example- Lorina is happy for Hardik. Here ‘Hardik’ is a noun and ‘For’ is a preposition which is building a connection between “Hardik” and “Lorina is happy” and making a sentence complete by stating the reason for Lorina's happiness.

Complete answer:
According to the given question, we need to put a word in a black space which tells us that as compared to previous years, the cost of living has increased very high these days.
Let’s examine the options available-

Option(A) For: This is an incorrect answer. For is used to specify the purpose or to indicate the time as well as to convey the use of something. For example- I joined the course for 1 year only. In the given example ‘for’ is indicating the time of joining the course.

Option(B) With: This is an incorrect answer. With is used to describe the inclusion of something to do anything. It is also used to tell the possession of something. For instance, she woke up with a terrible headache. Here, ‘with’ is showing the possession of headache.

Option(C) In: This is the correct answer.
It is used in various ways. It specifies feelings and ideas, duration and time, a particular day, month, season or year. Furthermore, it is used to indicate a comparison between two things.
With the reference of the question, it is indicating the rise in something from the previous years to now. It shows the comparison of past years with today.

Option(D) To This an incorrect answer. To is used to convey information about the direction or a place. In addition to this, it also specifies any relationship or a period of something. In this case, Sudha got married to Prithvi. In this, ‘to’ is describing the relationship between two persons.

Thus the correct answer is option ‘C’ i.e, in. There has been a sharp rise in the cost of living in the past few years.

Note: While working with the prepositions, it is the most important thing to remember that there is always an adverb, verb or subject prior to the preposition followed by a noun or a pronoun. Prepositions never come after verbs.