Question

Fill in the blank with the most appropriate word.
Is this proposal acceptable _____ you ?
A) By
B) In
C) To
D) from

Answer 1

Hint: The words that are given below in the options are prepositions and the sentence is an interrogative sentence. Prepositions are the words placed before a noun phrase, noun or a pronoun in order to indicate time, place, where the object is located etc.

Complete answer:
Before choosing the correct option let us understand the use of the given options:
A) By - It is used to indicate means of achieving something or an agent of achieving something or means of transport or with +ing form of verbs/ time expression/ reflexive pronoun/ or in passive voice statements.
B) In - It is used to indicate location ‘inside of something’.
C) To - It is used to indicate an aim or to indicate direction of movement or a receiver of action or to tell time or to show approximate numbers or after nouns /verbs /adjectives.
D) From - It is used to indicate a place of beginning/ starting something or a person.

Let us understand the given options in context of the sentence.
i) Acceptable by - It implies a person/organisation/ standard/ rule according to whom/which something should be.
ii) Acceptable in- It implies a form in which something should be.
iii) Acceptable to- It implies ‘something logical/reasonable to someone’.
iv) Acceptable from - It implies a specific person/organisation from whom something will be acceptable

The correct answer is ‘To’. It is the most appropriate option. It is so because acceptable means suitable and ‘suitable by/in/from you’ sounds incorrect. Whereas, ‘suitable to’ is grammatically correct. Therefore, the complete sentence will be - Is this proposal acceptable to you?

Therefore the correct answer is option ‘C’.

Note: There is a difference between to as a preposition and to as an infinitive. As a preposition it is immediately followed by a noun or pronoun whereas as an infinitive it is immediately followed by a simple verb.