Question

Fill in the blank with the most appropriate word:
A: What are you looking _____? B: My pen.
A) About
B) After
C) Around
D) For

Answer 1

Hint: All the words given in the options are prepositions. These are words which tell us the position of object, relation of object to the verb etc. For e.g. The cat ran after the mouse. I have travelled all around the world.

Complete answer:
The sentence given in the question has a subject (you), a verb (looking), an interrogative word (what), and an auxiliary verb (are). The blank can be filled only with a preposition.

Let us analyze the given options:
Option A) About – The word ‘about’ is a preposition and has several meanings such as; in various directions, in connection with, roughly etc. For e.g. There are about six boys in the class. (roughly). The kids are running about in my room. (in different directions). This word is not suitable for filling the blank. Thus, this option is incorrect.
Option B) After – ‘After’ is used to refer to things or actions which are ‘later or next in time or place’. For e.g. I will sleep after watching this show. It is not an appropriate word to be used in this case. Hence, this option is incorrect.
Option C) Around – The word ‘around’ is used as a preposition as well as an adverb. For e.g. We were just walking around the park. Here, ‘around’ is used as a preposition. Another example is; She is around 5 feet tall. Here, it is used as an adverb and in describing the ‘be’ verb. It is also not suitable to fill the blank. Therefore, this option is incorrect.
Option D) For – It is a preposition which is used for indicating purpose, reason, to achieve, get or find etc. For e.g. The cops are looking for you. In the sentence given in the question the second person is trying to find something. Therefore, this option can be used to fill the blank.

Thus, the correct answer is Option (D) i.e, What are you looking for?

Note: Some prepositions for location and movements are at, in, by, into, out of etc. Prepositions of time include words like by, until, by the time, no later than etc. Prepositions of position are above, over, on, on top of, behind, under etc. Some prepositions like ‘over’ can be used for position, time, numbers etc. The preposition ‘by’ can be used for a time as well as position.