Question

Fill in the blank with the most appropriate word.
I found a flat on my own _____ last year.
(a)at
(b)for
(c)*
(d)on

Answer 1

Hint: Read the given sentence and try to understand what it means. Now go through the given options, recall what they mean and when they are used. Choose the option which fits the context.

Complete answer: Prepositions are the words that are used to show
positions, locations, direction, and time. They are usually placed in front of nouns and gerunds. Example - In the sentence ‘There is a pen on the table’, the word ‘on’ describes the
location of the pen. So, it can be called a preposition. There are many verb + preposition
combinations in the English language, which are easy to learn, like ‘go out’. Prepositions indicate relationships between all the other words in a sentence. They can be very important parts of a sentence, as they can give you relevant insight into the meaning of the given sentence.

For example, in the sentence ‘We saw a play at the local school’, we understand where the play was seen. It conveys that the play was not seen at any other location. This is an example of a preposition of location. There are many more types of prepositions. Depending on which preposition is used after a verb, the meaning of the sentence can completely change. The preposition used makes a huge difference. For example, ‘turn back’ and ‘turn down’ have two completely different meanings, even though the root verb is the same. However, for adverbial phrases such as ‘the day before yesterday’ or ‘last year’, we do not need prepositions as the phrases provide enough information on their own.

Now, we know what we are looking for. Let’s look at the given options:
(a)at - The word ‘at’ refers to ‘expressing location or arrival in a particular place or position’ and this does not fit into the given sentence. This is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.
(b)for - The word ‘for’ refers to ‘having the purpose of’ and this does not fit into the given sentence. This is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.
(c) * - This symbol indicates ‘no preposition’ and this fits perfectly into the given sentence. This is the required answer. So, this is the correct option.
(d)on - The word ‘on’ refers to ‘indicating the day or part of a day during which an event takes place’ and this does not fit into the given sentence. This is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.

Note: Make sure to go through the parts of speech of the sentence and choose the
preposition that makes the most sense. There could also be an option of not having a preposition. Also, make sure that the sentence remains grammatically correct.