Question

Fill in the blank with the most appropriate word.
He was accused _______ theft by the police.
(a)on
(b)over
(c)from
(d)of

Answer 1

Hint: Try to understand what the sentence is trying to convey. Use the hit and trial method and see which option serves the best.

Complete answer: A preposition is a function word that combines with a noun or pronoun or noun phrase to form a prepositional phrase that can have an adverbial or adjectival relation to some other word.
In the given question, we have to find out which of the options includes the answer which indicates that theft was something that ‘he’ was connected with, according to the police.
Let us thus analyze the options given to us in this question -
Option (a), 'on', refers to ‘Positioned at the upper surface of, touching from above’. Therefore, option (a) is incorrect as it does not indicate that theft was something that ‘he’ was connected with.
Option (b), ‘over', refers to ‘On top of; above; higher than; further up’. Therefore, option (b) is incorrect as it does not indicate that theft was something that ‘he’ was connected with.
Option (c), ‘from', refers to ‘With the source or provenance of or at; With the origin, starting point or initial reference of or at’. Therefore, option (c) is incorrect as it does not indicate that theft was something that ‘he’ was connected with.
Option (d), ‘of', refers to ‘relating to, connected with, belonging to’. Therefore, option (d) is correct.

Note: In this question, it will be helpful for the student to recall the preposition ‘with’. ‘With’ is defined as ‘against’, ‘in the company of; alongside, alongside; close to; near to’, or ‘in addition to; as an accessory too.’