Question

Fill in the blank with the most appropriate option:
Most children are afraid ______ mice.
a) with
b) of
c) from
d) than

Answer 1

Hint: The phrase ‘to be afraid’ ends with a certain preposition. Identify in what way the word ‘afraid’ is used.

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’.
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.

The given sentence is an assertive sentence telling us about the fear that children harbour for mice. It indicates a quality or characteristic, so, we need a preposition that emphasizes this.

Now, we know what we are looking for. Let’s look at the given options-
a) with - The word ‘with’ refers to something in addition to something/someone. This does not fit into the given sentence. This is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.
b) of - The word ‘of’ also refers to a characteristic/quality. This means that this word fits perfectly into the given sentence. This is the required answer. So, this is the correct option.
c) from - The word ‘from’ indicates the origin of something or someone. This word does not fit into the given sentence. This is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.
d) than - The word ‘than’ indicates a comparison between two things. This word does not fit into the given sentence. This is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.

Note:
Understand the meaning of the given sentence and go through the given options. Complete the phrase by identifying the required preposition by using the elimination method.