Question

Fill in the blank with the most appropriate word.
The book speaks _____ the writer’s childhood.
a- of
b- by
c- with
d- to

Answer 1

Hint: We use prepositions to link the noun or the pronoun with the rest of the sentence. Prepositions help in forming a phrase that usually acts like an adjective, adverb, or a noun.

Complete answer:
Let’s look at the functions of different prepositions-
1) Of- ‘Of’ is a preposition that is used to indicate the relation between the subject and the other words in a sentence. For example- This is a book of mine.
2) By- ‘By’ is a preposition that is used to indicate how an action is done. For example- We paid for the food by cash.
3) With- ‘With’ is a preposition that is used with adjectives to indicate feelings and qualities. For example- I went upstairs with happiness.
4) To- ‘To’ is a preposition that is used to denote a goal or the direction of an action. For Example- She gave the book to me.
In the given question- We can conclude that the book speaks of the writer’s childhood. Here, we have used ‘of’ to indicate a relation between the writer’s childhood and the book.
Now, let’s examine the given options-
Option a- ‘of’ is the correct option because it helps in indicating the link between the subject and the object.
Option b- ‘by’ is an incorrect option because we are not talking about how an action is done.
Option c- ‘with’ is an incorrect option because we are not talking about feelings or qualities.
Option d- ‘to’ is an incorrect option because we are not indicating the direction of an action.
The correct answer is Option ‘a’.

Note:
 A preposition cannot function without an object, otherwise, it becomes an adverb. Keep in mind, the preposition acts as a modifier for the subject and not the object.