Question

Choose the appropriate preposition and fill in the blank:
I have searched everywhere ____ John but I have not been able to find him.
a) For
b) About
c) After
d) Of

Answer 1

Hint: A preposition is that word in a sentence that is used in establishing a link with pronouns, nouns, or any other word or phrase in a sentence within a sentence so that it becomes more meaningful to the people.

Complete answer:
We are given that the blank has to be filled with a word which is a preposition, reading the sentence, we can clearly figure out that this sentence is a statement of concern. Hence we need to fill in the blank with such a preposition that fulfills this particular requirement of the statement.
If we go with option ‘a’, the sentence becomes ‘I have searched everywhere for John but I have not been able to find him.’ as for is used a term with respect to ‘concern’; option ‘a’ is the correct answer.
Using option b, ‘I have searched everywhere about John but I have not been able to find him.’ is the statement that we get, this sentence clearly does not portray any kind of concern anywhere in fact it used to describe a connection, hence option b is incorrect.
The preposition 'after' is generally used for something or someone following, so using this preposition, the sentence becomes; ‘I have searched everywhere after John but I have not been able to find him.’ so this makes option c also incorrect.

Lastly, option d, ‘of' is used to denote any belonging or relation. This preposition makes the sentence irrelevant, hence it is the wrong answer.

Note:
Although we have found our answer in the first alternative itself, we still must go through all the options to be on a safer side.