Question

Fill in the blanks with the most appropriate words.
I don't want to argue ____you ____that matter at this time.
A) at / over
B) with / at
C) with / about
D) on / about

Answer 1

Hint: Prepositions are used to link the words in a sentence with each other. They are a closed class of words. A preposition is always followed by a noun and cannot be followed by a verb.

Complete answer:
From the hint given to us, we know that prepositions are used to link the words in a sentence with each other. They are a closed class of words. Thus, we can infer that the suitable preposition must fit the given context of the sentence and correctly link the words with each other.
Option a- ‘at/over’ At is usually used to indicate a point in space or a place. We observe that it is not a suitable preposition for the first blank as, “argue at you” is a grammatically incorrect phrase. Hence, option A is not the correct answer.
Option b- ‘with/at’ At is usually used to indicate a point in space or a place. We observe that it is not a suitable proposition for the second blank as, “you at that matter” is a grammatically incorrect phrase. Hence, option B is not the correct answer.
Option c- ‘with/about’ With is used to indicate a relationship or an accompaniment between the two entities. We observe that it is suitable for the first blank, “argue with you” which is meaningful and grammatically correct. About is used to indicate a subject of concern. We observe that it is suitable for the second blank, “you about that matter”. Hence, we can conclude that option C is the correct answer.
Option d- ‘on/about’ On is used to indicate physical contact or something placed at the top of a surface. We observe that it is not a suitable preposition for the first blank as, “argue on you” is a grammatically incorrect phrase. Hence, option D is not the correct answer.
So, the correct answer is “Option C”.

Note:
Prepositions often tend to gain meaning from the context of the sentence too. They usually precede a noun or a pronoun as a preposition always needs an object otherwise it becomes an adverb.