Question

Fill in the blanks with the most appropriate words.
I remember that it was _____ my fifteenth birthday that she first put them _____ my hands.
a. in / on
b. on / into
c. on / at
d. into / on
e. at / on

Answer 1

Hint: Try to understand which prepositions the nouns ‘my birthday’ and ‘my hands’ are usually preceded 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 ‘in’ is used for ‘to or toward the inside’.
The word ‘on’ is used for ‘indicating the day or part of a day during which an event takes place’.
The word ‘into’ is used for ‘expressing movement or action with the result that someone or something makes physical contact with something else’.
The word ‘at’ is used for describing something ‘expressing location or arrival in a particular place or position’.

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

Note: A preposition is followed by a "noun". It is NEVER followed by a verb. They have no particular form. The majority of prepositions are one-word prepositions, but some are two- or three-word phrases known as complex-prepositions.