GRAMMAR ©

Prepositions Test
In today's lesson, we're learning all about prepositions - those small yet mighty
connectors that frame our sentences. Whether you're a beginner or looking for
an advanced challenge, this lesson has a mini quiz tailored just for you. And,
with my grammar explanations for each question, you'll understand the "why"
behind every correct preposition. Ready to put your skills to the test?

Prepositions Review
My lesson on YouTube tests you on various prepositions and how they are used
at different English levels. If you aren’t too familiar with prepositions, or maybe
you haven’t practised their varied uses, please look through this review first.
You can come back and review the information from the YouTube lesson
afterwards, but let’s not spoil it just yet.

Okay, so you might be asking yourself, ‘Are prepositions even important?’

Well, yes! They can be very important indeed! In their simplest forms, they act as
little sentence connectors that help us talk about or specify time, location,
direction, cause and possession, among other relationships. Without
prepositions, our sentences could become vague and confusing. It’s important to
note that not all prepositions carry meaning but we’ll talk about that in a bit.

Prepositions allow us to add clarity and detail so we can paint a clearer picture
of what we're talking about. For example, which of these sounds clearer and
more precise to you?

I'll meet you.

or
I’ll meet you at the park in 20 minutes.

YOUTUBE.COM/ENGLISHWITHLUCY
GRAMMAR ©

I think the choice is obvious. But using different prepositions can create very
different meanings!

I'll meet you behind the park for 20 minutes. (implying something else entirely)

Behold the power of prepositions!

Prepositions help people understand exactly what you mean, making your
communication more effective.

There are many types of prepositions but here are a few important ones:

Prepositions of place like in, at and on tell us where something is.

Prepositions of time like before, after and during tell us when something
happens.

Prepositions of movement like to, from and into show movement from one
place to another.

Prepositions like these don’t necessarily need other words to complete their
meaning. They are used in sentences to make connections and have set roles.

However, it's not always that simple. The same preposition can fall into more
than one of those categories. And there is another type of preposition which
doesn't even fall neatly into a category: dependent prepositions.

These prepositions come after a verb, adjective or noun and ​don’t necessarily
carry any meaning on their own. They follow set structures and are necessary to
connect the verb, adjective or noun to the next part of the sentence. You can
think of them as 'fixed phrases' or word combinations which cannot be changed.

Let’s look at this in more depth on the next page.

YOUTUBE.COM/ENGLISHWITHLUCY
GRAMMAR ©

Verbs
Some verbs cannot be followed directly by a person or thing; they need a
preposition to connect them. For example, 'depend on' and 'listen to'. Each
preposition connects the verb to what comes next.

She depends on her mother.

I listen to classical music when I run.

As I said, these combinations follow specific rules. ‘Listen to’ cannot be ‘listen
on’, for example. It follows a set structure.

Adjectives
The same goes for adjectives. Some adjectives need specific prepositions to join
them to the next word. For example, 'interested in' where 'in' connects the
adjective to the interest.

Keep in mind that these prepositions are typically followed by a gerund (the -ing
form of a verb) when a verb directly follows a preposition in a sentence.

We were interested in painting when we were young.

I'm getting tired of waiting for the change to happen.

Nouns
Many nouns also need to be followed by a preposition in order to add more
information, such as ‘fear of' where ‘of’ acts as a connection between the noun
and the object that causes fear.

Meredith has a fear of racoons.

The main reason for the delay was unexpected weather conditions.

There are also differences in preposition use in American and British English, for
example:

YOUTUBE.COM/ENGLISHWITHLUCY
GRAMMAR ©

British English American English

We will get together at the weekend. We will get together on the weekend.

Matthew is at university. Matthew is in college/university.

They’re going away at/for Christmas They’re going away for Christmas.

There are loads more, but this is just a review. I’ll make a separate lesson about
the differences between British and American English.

Plus, I think it’s time we go over the answers from my prepositions test on
YouTube. If you haven’t taken the test yet, make sure you watch the video before
continuing to the next page. You can find the prepositions test on my YouTube
channel by searching English with Lucy.

YOUTUBE.COM/ENGLISHWITHLUCY
GRAMMAR ©

Beginner Level

1. She arrived ______ 8pm.

A) in
B) on
C) at

The correct preposition of time is ‘at’. She arrived at 8pm. We use ‘at’ to talk
about specific times. When we say, 'She arrived at 8pm,' it means she came at
that exact time.

2. Greg put his guitar ________ its case.

A) into
B) at
C) off

Did you choose ‘into’? Great job! Greg put his guitar into its case. We use ‘into’ to
show that we move an object in or inside another object. This sentence means
that Greg moved the guitar from where it was to inside the case. ‘Into’ shows the
action of entering or going inside.

3. They live ___ South Wales.

A) in
B) on
C) at

‘In’, exactly! They live in South Wales.

YOUTUBE.COM/ENGLISHWITHLUCY
GRAMMAR ©

We use ‘in’ to talk about locations within larger areas, like regions, countries,
cities and parts of cities. In this sentence, we are saying where their home is
located.

4. We go to school ____ foot.

A) by
B) on
C) in

I hope you chose ‘on’ because that is our correct answer! We go to school on
foot. We use ‘on’ in the phrase ‘on foot’ to talk about walking or going
somewhere by walking. The expression ‘on foot’ is a set phrase in English that
specifically refers to walking as a mode of transportation.

Now, you might hear or read ‘by foot’ used due to a common confusion with
other transport phrases that use ‘by’. We typically use ‘by’ to say which mode of
transport someone is using, for example, ‘by car’, ‘by bus’, ‘by train’ or ‘by plane’.
Although ‘by foot’ is creeping into modern usage, the traditionally correct phrase
is ‘on foot’.

How’d you do? So far so good, right? Let’s move the difficulty level up a notch -
it’s time for some intermediate-level questions.

Intermediate Level

5. I’m looking forward ____ the weekend.

A) to
B) for
C) at

YOUTUBE.COM/ENGLISHWITHLUCY
GRAMMAR ©

The correct answer is… A ‘to’! I’m looking forward to the weekend. Here, we are
using the phrasal verb ‘to look forward to’. ‘To’ is a dependent preposition that
connects the verb phrase 'looking forward' with what one is excited or eager
about, in this case, ‘the weekend’.

6. Jamie is responsible ____ managing the team.

A) of
B) for
C) to

Raise your hand if you chose ‘for’, and now take that hand to pat yourself on the
back because you are correct! Jamie is responsible for managing the team. Here,
‘for’ is the dependent preposition of the adjective ‘responsible’ to describe
Jamie’s specific role.

‘Responsible for’ is a common collocation.

7. That book was written ____ an anonymous author.

A) by
B) from
C) through

That’s right, ‘by’ is our correct answer! That book was written by an anonymous
author. The preposition ‘by’ is a preposition of agency, showing who performed
the action in the passive voice.

It helps to link the action that was done (the writing) to the person or entity that
did it (the author), even if that person is not named or known.

YOUTUBE.COM/ENGLISHWITHLUCY
GRAMMAR ©

8. They should be ____ Paris ____ the afternoon.

A) at / in
B) to / in
C) in / by

‘In’ and ‘by’, you got it! They should be in Paris by the afternoon. The preposition
‘in’ is a preposition of place, indicating location, just like we saw earlier with
'South Wales'. Here, ‘by’ is a preposition of time, indicating a deadline or the
latest time for something to happen.

Not bad, right? Let’s keep this test moving. It’s time for the advanced-level
prepositions! Hold onto your hats…

Advanced Level

9. We went ___ ___ dinner, which was surprisingly

enjoyable, contrary ____ our initial expectations.

A) away for / with

B) out for / to
C) down on / at

This was a tricky one. The correct answer is B - ‘out for’ and ‘to’. We went out for
dinner, which was surprisingly enjoyable, contrary to our initial expectations.
‘To go out’ is a phrasal verb which means to leave your house. This phrasal verb
is followed by the preposition of purpose ‘for’ to indicate the reason for going
out.

YOUTUBE.COM/ENGLISHWITHLUCY
GRAMMAR ©

In the second part of the sentence, we have the dependent preposition ‘to’,
which is used with the adjective ‘contrary’ to show contrast - ‘contrary to
something’. In this sentence, ‘contrary to’ shows the contrast to what was
previously thought or believed. It means that the enjoyment of the dinner was a
surprise because it was not what was expected.

10. The film is based ___ a novel and it stays true ___ the
original story.

A) on / to
B) in / with
C) about / by

‘On’ and ‘to’ - you got it! The film is based on a novel and it stays true to the
original story. We’ve got two prepositional phrases here: on a novel and to the
original story. Let’s look at ‘on a novel’ first.

We are using the phrasal verb ‘to base sth. on sth.’, which we often see used in
the passive voice. It is used to establish a relationship where the novel serves as
the material for the film. We follow 'true' with 'to' when we want to express that
something is faithful to something else. The film is being compared to the
original story in terms of its accuracy to the novel.

11. We discussed the problem ___ ___ but couldn't come

___ ___ a solution.

A) by means / into
B) in detail / out of
C) at length / up with

YOUTUBE.COM/ENGLISHWITHLUCY
GRAMMAR ©

The correct answer is C: ‘at length/up with’. We discussed the problem at length
but couldn't come up with a solution.

‘At length’ functions as an adverbial prepositional phrase in this sentence - it

acts on the verb 'to discuss' and describes how the problem was discussed. It
was discussed for a long time.

We also have the phrasal verb ‘to come up with’, which means to think of or
produce an idea, plan or solution. So, this sentence means that there was a
detailed and lengthy discussion about the problem, but no solution was found.

12. Our new policy is aimed ___ reducing emissions,

necessitating a shift ___ our reliance on fossil fuels
___ sustainable energy sources.

A) at / from / to
B) towards / off / into
C) for / away / towards

It is A: ‘at/from/to’! Our new policy is aimed at reducing emissions, necessitating

a shift from our reliance on fossil fuels to sustainable energy sources. Let’s look
at what’s going on here in these different prepositional phrases.

First, we have the phrase ‘aimed at reducing emissions’. ‘At’ is used to indicate
the target or goal of the policy. It means that the purpose of the new policy is to
reduce emissions.

The ‘from... to...’ structure is very common in English. It shows a change,

difference or movement from one state to another.

YOUTUBE.COM/ENGLISHWITHLUCY
GRAMMAR ©

It is versatile and can be used to talk about changes in time, location, situations
or strategies, like the shift in our sentence. Let’s look a bit deeper.

In the phrase 'a shift from our reliance on fossil fuels,' ‘from’ is used to indicate
the starting point of the change. It means that there is a move away from
depending on fossil fuels.

In the phrase 'to sustainable energy sources,' ‘to’ is used to indicate the
endpoint or destination of the shift. It means that the move is towards using
sustainable energy sources instead of fossil fuels.

YOUTUBE.COM/ENGLISHWITHLUCY
GRAMMAR ©

QUIZ!
Choose the correct answer for each question.

1) You use the preposition ‘on’ with the days of the week.
a. True
b. False

2) Choose the correct preposition: The artwork was created ___ his wife’s sister.
a. by
b. from
c. to

3) If you're waiting ___ someone, you're expecting that person to arrive.

a. by
b. with
c. for

4) I've decided to walk ___ work in the mornings to improve my fitness.

a. through
b. to
c. as

5) He was disappointed ___ the outcome ___ the meeting.

a. with / of
b. by / from
c. in / at

6) I'm really looking forward to my trip ___ the weekend.

a. for
b. at
c. to

7) The book you need is ___ the stack ___ my desk

a. in / on
b. near / around
c. between / to

8) We've been working ___ this project ___ months.

a. in / since
b. on / for
c. at / during

The End!
1) a 2) a 3) c 4) b 5) a 6) b 7) a 8) b

YOUTUBE.COM/ENGLISHWITHLUCY