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: Try to understand which prepositions the nouns ‘you’ and ‘that matter’ are usually followed by. This means that we need to understand the exact context of the sentence.

Complete answer:
Prepositions are words that are used to show positions, locations, direction, and time. They are usually placed in front of nouns and gerunds.
Example - In the sentence ‘There is a book on the table’, the word ‘on’ describes the location of the book. So, it is definitely a preposition. There are many verb + preposition combinations in the English language, which are easy to learn, like ‘get up’. Prepositions indicate the different relationships between other words in a sentence. They can be very important parts of a sentence, as they can give you important insight into the meaning of the sentence.
For example, in the sentence ‘We had a picnic at the park’, we understand where the picnic took place. It clearly conveys that the picnic did not take place at any other location This is an example of a preposition of location. There are many more types of prepositions.

Understand the meaning of each preposition in the options-
The word ‘at’ is used for ‘expressing location or arrival in a particular place or position’.
The word ‘over’ is used for ‘extending directly upwards from’
The word ‘with’ is used for describing something ‘accompanied by (another person or thing)’.
The word ‘about’ is used for ‘on the subject of; concerning’.
The word ‘on’ is used for ‘physically in contact with and supported by (a surface)’.

Now, we know what we are looking for. Let’s look at the given options-
a) at / over - This option places two different prepositions in the blanks, however, both of them do not fit into the given sentence. This is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.
b) with / at - This option places two different prepositions in the blanks, however, one of them does not fit into the given sentence. This is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.
c) with / about - This option places two different prepositions in the blanks, and they fit perfectly into the given sentence. This is the required answer. So, this is the correct option.
d) on / about - This option also places two different prepositions in the blanks, however, both of them do not fit into the given sentence. This is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.

Note:
 The preposition used after the verb can completely change the meaning of the sentence. Make sure to read each preposition carefully. They are crucial to the basic construction of the sentence.