Question

Fill in the blank with the most appropriate word.
Don’t expect him to approve ____ your design at once.
(a) Of
(b) At
(c) On
(d) With

Answer 1

Hint: Read the sentence and try to guess what it is trying to convey. Now go through the given options and choose the one which helps in expressing the context of the given sentence. You can use the hit and trial method too.

Complete answer:
 We use prepositions to join 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.
Let’s look at the functions of different prepositions-
i. 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 house belongs to a friend of ours.
ii. At- ‘At’ is a preposition that is used to indicate any place or location. Example- She has asked us to meet her at the fountain.
iii. On- ‘On’ is a preposition that is used to indicate a surface over which something is kept. It is also used to indicate dates and days. Example- I will remember to keep your breakfast on the bed table.
iv. With- ‘With’ is used to indicate feelings and reactions. ‘With’ is placed before an adjective that describes such feelings. For example- She prepared for her exam with determination.
In the given question- We can conclude the answer; Don’t expect him to approve of your design at once. Here, we have used ‘of’ to indicate a relation between the subject and the rest of the sentence.
Now, let’s examine the given options-
Option a- ‘Of’ is the correct option because it is used to denote a relation between the subject and the predicate.
Option b- ‘At’ is an incorrect option because we are not talking about a location.
Option c- ‘On’ is an incorrect option because we are not talking about the position of the subject.
Option d- ‘With’ is an incorrect option because we are not indicating feelings. The correct answer is Option ‘a’.

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