Question

Fill in the blank with the most appropriate word.
I have only been here ____________ 1983.
a) For
b) By
c) Since
d) In

Answer 1

Hint: You have to connect the two sides of the blank with a preposition which brings out the relationship between the speaker telling how long he has been there and the year (that is given) since he is there.

Complete answer:
Since we are using prepositions let us understand what prepositions are. Therefore, a preposition is a word that comes before a noun or a pronoun and establishes a relationship between the elements of a clause or words.

Now, let us look into the options that we have and try to understand their usage in the context of a sentence.
Option (a) – ‘for’: for is used when you are talking about vague periods of time, like "for the weekend", "for ages" or "for a long time". It talks about a specific period of time also.
Option (b) – ‘by’: by is used to show how something is done or to showplace or location, like – I am standing by the shop, etc.
Option (c) – ‘since’: is used to refer to a point in time. ‘Since’ can refer to a point after a specific time or event in the past. Or it can refer to a particular point beginning sometime in the past and continuing until the present time.
Option (d) – ‘in’: is used to show a longer period of time, such as months, years, decades, or centuries.
If you would see the only preposition that will complete the sentence is ‘since’ therefore, the correct solution is option (c).

Note:
Every preposition talks about a time or some period but you have to find the one that refers to a particular point beginning from the past which is continuing until the present time.