Question

Fill in the blank with a suitable preposition.
I looked _____ my watch to see how long the lecture was.
(a)within
(b)by
(c)on
(d)at

Answer 1

Hint: Read the given sentence and try to understand what the sentence is trying to convey. Now, go through the options and choose the one which helps the sentence to best express itself. You can also use the ‘Hit and Trial’ method to check which option fits the best.

Complete answer: Prepositions are words that are used to show positions, locations, direction, and time. They are usually in front of nouns and gerunds. Example - In the sentence ‘There is a lamp on the table’, the word ‘on’ describes the location of the lamp. So, it is a preposition. There are many verb + preposition combinations in English, which are easy to learn, like ‘go up’. Prepositions indicate relationships between other words in a sentence. They can be extremely important parts of a sentence, as they can give you important insight into the meaning of the sentence.
For example, in the sentence ‘We saw a movie at the theatre’, we understand where the movie was seen. It clearly conveys that the movie was not seen at any other location. This is an example of a preposition of location. There are many more kinds of prepositions.
Depending on which preposition is used after a verb, the meaning of the sentence can
completely change. The preposition used makes a big difference. For example, ‘turn back’ and ‘turn off’ have two completely different meanings, even though the root verb is the same.

In the given sentence, we need a preposition that signifies direction.
Now, let’s look at the options:
(a)within - The word ‘within’ refers to ‘inside (something)’. However, it does not signify direction. This is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.
(b)by - The word ‘by’ refers to ‘identifying the agent performing an action'. However, it does not signify direction. This is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.
(c)on - The word ‘on’ refers to ‘physically in contact with and supported by (a surface)’. However, it does not signify direction. This is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.
(d)at - The word ‘at’ refers to ‘expressing the object of a look, thought, action, or plan'. This preposition signifies direction. This is the required answer. So, this is the correct option.

Note: Make sure to go through the parts of speech of the sentence and choose the
preposition that makes the most sense. Also, make sure that the sentence remains
grammatically correct.