To strengthen your banking exam preparation and to take it to the next level, you need to be good at English grammar. Within the English language section of the exam, prepositions can help you score around 3 to 4 sure shot marks. However, it can happen only with the systematic learning of concepts that are relevant from the exam perspective.
In this regard, the language experts from the Best Bank PO Coaching Institute in Delhi, have prepared this set of notes which covers all the important aspects related to prepositions.
What are Prepositions?
Prepositions are the words that demonstrate the relationship between a noun or pronoun and another word in a sentence. The relationship demonstrated could be that of time & place (on, at, in), location (over, above, below, under), direction (toward, to, through), agency (with, by), origin (out of, from) etc.
Prepositions of Time & Place: On, At, and In
(A) ‘On’ is used for designating days & dates. (Time)
(B) ‘On’ is used to talk about streets & avenues. (Place)
- His sister is arriving on Tuesday.
- There is a party on the 15th of August.
- I have heard that Mary used to live on 19th Avenue.
- My house is on Churchill Road.
(C) ‘At’ is used to designate specific times. It is also used with dawn, noon, night & midnight. (Time)
(D) ‘At’ is used for mentioning specific addresses. (Place)
- The train will leave the station at 12:30 p.m.
- The enemy forces are expected to hit the beach at midnight.
- My office is located at the northeast corner of this road.
- Shelock Holmes can be found at 221B Baker Street.
(E) ‘In’ is used for other non-specific parts of the day, months, years & seasons. (Time)
(F) ‘In’ is used for land areas such as towns, states, countries & continents (Place)
- Ramon loves to write in the evening.
- In December, you will notice that everybody is in a festive mood.
- His article on social reform got published in 2011.
- Beautiful flowers will bloom and fill our garden in spring.
- Soha lives in Jamshedpur.
- Panaji is a city in Goa.
- Mica is found in great abundance in India.
Prepositions of Extended Time: Since, For, During and Within
- I have not slept properly since yesterday.
- My mother is going to Manila for a week.
- In Germany, it was difficult to survive during the Second World War.
- You have to complete this assignment within a month.
Prepositions of Location: Over, Above, Below, Under, Near, Opposite and Between
- The dog jumped over the wall.
- Our study centre is located above Café Coffee Day.
- His performance was below my expectation.
- After having food, my dog crawls under the table in order to relax.
- You will find him standing near the park.
- Tilak Nagar lies between Rajouri Garden and Uttam Nagar.
- My teacher lives on the 2nd floor opposite McDonalds.
Prepositions of Direction & Movement: To, Onto, Into, Toward and Through
- Our Principal flew to London last week.
- The frog jumped onto the shore to save itself from the snake.
- The man jumped into the river to rescue his friend.
- Alice walked through the door confidently.
- John is driving toward the final destination.
Prepositions of Agency: With and By
- The old man was killed by the robber.
- Stir the mixture with a spoon so that its taste becomes consistent.
Prepositions of Origin: Out of and From
- The journal you are quoting from is not a reliable one.
- Mira dresses like a character out of an 18th century play.
Prepositions with Nouns
- Approval of – Being an adult, she doesn’t need the approval of her mother to go out.
- Awareness of – To crack any banking exam, you must have the awareness of current events.
- Belief in – My belief in him is strong and can’t be shaken easily.
- Concern for – Rachel crosses the road without any concern for her safety.
- Confusion about – There should be no confusion about our company’s performance.
- Desire for – The desire for fame and money is bound to be there in all human beings.
- Fondness for – Indians have great fondness for mangoes.
- Grasp of – Our professor has a remarkable grasp of all management related subjects.
- Hatred of – Hitler’s irrational hatred of Jews turned him into a monster.
- Hope for – You must hope for the best.
- Interest in – What is your interest in this matter?
- Need for – Formula-one drivers do feel an innate need for speed.
- Participation in – India’s participation in Sri Lanka’s internal affairs was a serious mistake.
- Reason for – He did not give me any convincing reason for quitting the job.
- Respect for – The writer has a lot of respect for all the actors associated with this film.
- Success in – Doctors are yet to find success in developing a vaccine to counter Malaria.
- Understanding of – The manager has little understanding of the problems we face on a daily basis.
Prepositions with Adjectives
- Afraid of – There is no need to be afraid of him.
- Angry at – The supervisor got really angry at his subordinate.
- Aware of – Are you aware of what is happening in our organization?
- Capable of – Jack is capable of writing a fine essay.
- Careless about – Adults are often careless about the needs of children.
- Familiar with – The new judge does not seem to be familiar with the details of this case.
- Fond of – I am really fond of my six-year-old niece.
- Happy about – Are you happy about getting transferred to the city?
- Interested in – You seem to be interested in his financial matters.
- Jealous of – One must not be jealous of one’s neighbors.
- Made of – Items made of glass must be handled with care.
- Married to – Last year, Ron got married to Jane.
- Proud of – I am proud of what we have achieved in the last 5 years.
- Similar to – Fungi are somewhat similar to plants.
- Sorry for – The prisoner felt sorry for the crimes that he had committed in the past.
- Sure of – The candidate feels sure of cracking the exam this time.
- Tired of – Our players have got tired of playing cricket throughout the year.
- Worried about – These days, youngsters don’t seem worried about their career.
Prepositions with Verbs
- Apologize for – We must readily apologize for the mistakes that we commit.
- Ask about – Many people approach us to ask about how they should invest their money.
- Ask for – Be careful of what you ask for, because you might just get it.
- Belong to – Snake is an animal that belongs to the family of reptiles.
- Bring up – It is best not to bring up any controversial subject during an interview.
- Care for – When I was a kid, I used to care for my pet named Bruno.
- Find out – You will feel sorry, when you find out the reality.
- Give up – The prince has decided to give up all his wealth to the needy.
- Grow up – As you grow up, you will realize that it takes a lot of effort to become successful.
- Look for – If you carefully look for musical talent in this country, you will not be disappointed.
- Look forward to – I look forward to meeting you this Thursday.
- Look up – Make it a point to look up the meanings of difficult words in your pocket dictionary.
- Make up – Jason requires some more time to make up his mind about marriage.
- Pay for – Sooner or later, she will have to pay for her sins.
- Prepare for – One must take out sufficient time to prepare for a competitive exam.
- Study for – If you study for the sake of only marks and not knowledge, you won’t be successful in the long run.
- Talk about – Those who talk about patriotism should also be willing to serve the country.
- Think about – You only think about yourself and nobody else.
- Work for – He will land up in hell, if he continues to work for the devil.
- Worry about – Don’t worry about him; he is a survivor.
- Cope with – It is not easy to cope with something as mentally damaging as ragging.
Quite often we make grammatical errors, when we use prepositions where they aren’t required. Using prepositions unnecessarily creates wordiness and we must avoid making such errors.
- Lucy met (up with) her teacher at the mall. (‘Up with’ isn’t required)
- Where did he go (to)? (‘To’ isn’t required)
- The young girl fell off (of) the roof. (‘Of’ isn’t required)
- Where is her school (at)? (‘At’ isn’t required)
- The champion will be awarded (with) a gold medal. (‘With’ isn’t required)
- Could you help me carry the luggage (to) downstairs? (‘To’ isn’t required)
- To simplify a problem, break it (up) into smaller pieces. (‘Up’ isn’t required)
Finally, any candidate attending Bank Clerk Coaching or even PO Coaching in Delhi must attempt sufficient number of practice questions after having learnt the concepts explained above. Without that, the error spotting and sentence improvement questions asked in the exam will continue to remain tricky and challenging. Therefore, it is suggested that past year questions, which are easily available on the internet, should be practiced.
This article on prepositions will be really useful to anybody looking for help in English grammar. However, it will be particularly helpful to those who are preparing for competitive exams at Bank Exam Coaching Centres like Vidya Guru. For further guidance and support, you can write to firstname.lastname@example.org.