Question

Fill in the blank with a suitable preposition:
We show other people that we are happy ______ smiling.
A. with
B. by
C. at
D. in

Answer 1

Hint: Prepositions refer to relationships in a sentence between different words.
Many prepositions tell you where or when something is happening/happened and most of the prepositions have several meanings, but in different contexts, the meaning differs a little.

Complete answer:
A preposition is a word or a set of words used to indicate a direction, time, place, position, spatial relations or insert an object before a verb, pronoun or noun phrase. Some examples are terms such as "in," "at," "on," "of," and "about."

Prepositions indicate when or where there is something more.\ But more abstract concepts, as intention or comparison, can also be mentioned by prepositions.

There are different types of prepositions such as:
1. Direction: Using the prepositions 'to,' 'on,' 'in,' 'on' and 'onto,' to refer to a direction.

2. Time: Using the prepositions "in," "at," and "on" to refer to a certain moment in time.

3. Place: Using the prepositions "in" (the point itself), "at" (the general surroundings), "on," and "within" in order to refer to a location (something contained).

4. Location: Use "in" (area or volume), "at" (point) and "on" to refer to a location (a surface).

5. Space: Using the preparations 'over,' 'across,' "around," 'ahead of,' 'along,' 'along,' 'among,' 'about,' 'behind,' 'beneath,' 'between,' "out of," 'out of,' 'over,' 'down,' 'under' and 'out of,' to relate to spatial relationships.

Let’s look at the sentence given in the question:
“We show other people that we are happy ______ smiling.”
Here, “smiling” is considered as an action or expression.

Option (A) with - It is used to indicate that two things or two people are together. Hence, when you look at the sentence, there is no context of being together. Therefore, this option is incorrect.

Option (B) by - It is generally used for time expressions but it is also used to indicate a manner, means, according to. Hence, in the given sentence you can tell people that you are happy by smiling. Therefore, this option is correct.

Option (C) at - It is generally used for buildings, places and locations. Hence, when you look at the sentence, there is no context of place or location. Therefore, this option is incorrect.


Option (D) in - It is generally used to indicate when something occurs at a time, or in the building etc. Hence, when you look at the sentence, there is no context of time or location. Therefore, this option is incorrect.

Therefore the correct answer is option ‘B’.

Note: English prepositions are very idiomatic. Although certain laws apply, much use of prepositions is determined by fixed expressions. There is no grammatical error if you end a sentence with a preposition.