Fill in the blanks with an appropriate preposition.
1There were ............... ten students in the class.
Wrong!
Use "under" to mean less than a number or amount.
2Parts of the country are ............... sea level.
Wrong!
Use "below" for a position lower than a fixed level such as sea level.
3The climbers stopped a few hundred meters ............... the top of the mountain.
Wrong!
Use "below" when something is lower than another point but not necessarily directly underneath it.
4Who is that child sitting ............... your mother?
Wrong!
Use "beside" to mean next to someone or something.
5He can play all the musical instruments ............... the violin.
Wrong!
Use "except" to exclude one thing from a group.
6He has a number of criminals ............... his friends.
Wrong!
Use "among" to mean included in a group of people or things.
7The office was closed ............... the whole of May.
Wrong!
Use "during" to mean throughout a period of time.
8I met him ............... my stay in Germany.
Wrong!
Use "during" to show that something happened within a period of time.
9I stayed in bed all day ............... going to work.
Wrong!
Use "instead of" before the thing someone does not do or choose.
10We arrived ............... to get good seats.
Wrong!
Use "in time" to mean early enough to do something.
11The trains are never ...............
Wrong!
Use "on time" to mean at the scheduled or expected time.
12The movie is quite exciting ...............
Wrong!
Use "at the end" to refer to the final part of something.
Answers
- There were under ten students in the class.
- Parts of the country are below sea level.
- The climbers stopped a few hundred meters below the top of the mountain.
- Who is that child sitting beside your mother?
- He can play all the musical instruments except the violin.
- He has a number of criminals among his friends.
- The office was closed during the whole of May.
- I met him during my stay in Germany.
- I stayed in bed all day instead of going to work.
- We arrived in time to get good seats.
- The trains are never on time.
- The movie is quite exciting at the end.