Prepositions & Articles

Snapshot

• Prepositions (in, on, at, by, for, with, of, to, from) link a noun or pronoun to the rest of the sentence and show place, time, direction, cause or manner.
• CUET tests them as gap-fills, as error spotting ("which part has the wrong preposition?"), as "which sentence is correct?" items, and as phrases whose meaning changes with the preposition (in time versus on time).
• The idea that cracks it: reason out the time and place prepositions (point, surface, enclosure), memorise the verb, adjective and noun pairings as fixed units, and learn the short list of verbs that take no preposition.
• Scoring is +5 / −1. The "natural sounding" preposition is often the examiner's trap, so trust the rule or the fixed pairing, not your ear.

Part 1 — Why prepositions are hard, and the two halves of the topic

Written and reviewed by Omveer Thakur, English & Languages faculty at UniDrill (M.A. English, University of Delhi · 9 years teaching). Prepared for the CUET UG English paper.

A preposition is a small word that sits before a noun, a pronoun or an -ing form and tells you how it relates to the rest of the sentence: on the table, after the match, good at drawing. Because the words are so small and so common, we use them mostly by habit, and habit is exactly what the exam tests.

Prepositions fall into two groups that need different study methods.

One grammar fact removes a whole class of errors: a preposition is followed by a noun, a pronoun or an -ing form, never by the base verb or an infinitive. So we say interested in learning, fond of reading, look forward to meeting, capable of doing, never interested to learn or look forward to meet.

Why it matters. The exam does not test whether a sentence "sounds all right". Many wrong prepositions (discuss about, married with, different than) sound perfectly fluent in everyday speech. Your defence is a stored list, not an impression.

Part 2 — The question types CUET uses

Part 3 — The method

Part 4 — Time prepositions

The pattern: at is a point, on is a day, in is a longer container of time. Two small flips to remember. In the morning becomes on the morning of 5 May once a date is attached. And at night is the fixed form for general night time.

Contrasts the exam enjoys: by a deadline versus until a continuing state (Submit it by Friday; I will wait until Friday), and for a length versus since a start (for three years; since 2022).

Part 5 — Place, direction and movement

Vehicles have their own rule. We travel on a bus, train, plane or ship (you can stand and walk inside) and in a car, taxi or helicopter (you sit inside). We say get on the bus and get in the car. And we say by bus, by train, by air for the means of travel with no article.

For arrival: arrive at a station, a small place or a building; arrive in a city or country. Reach takes no preposition: reach Delhi.

Part 6 — Confusing pairs worth learning together

Part 7 — Dependent prepositions: verbs, adjectives and nouns

Learn each one inside a short sentence (I depend on my alarm), because the sentence stores the pairing better than the bare pair.

Note the words that look like comparisons but are not: superior, inferior, senior, junior, prior and preferable all take to, never than. And prefer takes to: I prefer tea to coffee, she prefers walking to driving.

Part 8 — Verbs that take no preposition

A large share of wins in this topic comes from refusing to add a preposition. These verbs take a direct object.

Two nuances so that you do not over-apply the rule. Some of these verbs take a preposition in a different sense: enter into an agreement, attend to a customer (give attention to). And be opposed to is correct as an adjective phrase, while the plain verb oppose takes no preposition.

Part 9 — Worked examples with the reasoning

Example 1. The report must be submitted ___ Friday. Options: at, by, until, on. A deadline, "not later than", is expressed with by. Until would mean it is being submitted continuously up to Friday. By.

Example 2. The shop will remain open ___ nine tonight. The state (open) continues up to a point. Until.

Example 3. She has lived here ___ 2015. A starting point with a perfect tense needs since. Since. (For a length: for ten years.)

Example 4. We discussed ___ the new policy for an hour. Options: about, on, over, no preposition. Discuss takes a direct object. No preposition.

Example 5. The prize was divided ___ the five finalists. Five is more than two, so among. Among. A deliberate trap for those who say between by habit.

Example 6. He was accused ___ stealing the money. Fixed with accuse, followed by an -ing form. Of.

Example 7. I prefer tea ___ coffee. Prefer takes to, not than. To.

Example 8. She apologised ___ the guests ___ the delay. A person receives the apology and a fault is what you apologise for. To ... for.

Example 9. Sita was born ___ Pune ___ 15 August 2005. A city is an area (in), a date is a day (on). In ... on.

Example 10. I look forward ___ hearing from you. In look forward to, to is a preposition, which is why -ing follows. To.

Example 11. We reached the airport ___ time to catch the flight, and the flight left ___ time. The first means early enough, the second exactly punctual. In ... on.

Example 12. The thief jumped ___ the river and swam away. The movement goes to the inside of the river. Into.

Example 13. Error spotting: He is married with a doctor. The faulty part is with. Married to.

Example 14. Error spotting: She is senior than me by two years. Senior takes to. Senior to me.

Part 10 — Common traps

Part 11 — Rapid-fire practice with answers

Part 12 — A timed routine

In the exam, a preposition item should take about 20 to 30 seconds. If you do not recall the pairing, first ask whether it is a no-preposition verb, then whether it is time or place, and only then guess.

Part 13 — Where this connects

Prepositions are the building blocks of other grammar tasks. They appear again in Fill in the Blanks and Spotting Errors and Sentence Improvement, and the tense that goes with since and for is explained in Tenses. When a preposition joins a verb to make a new meaning (look into, put up with), you are in Phrasal Verbs.

One-line revision: at is a point, on is a surface or a day, in is inside or a period; learn the dependent pairings as units; and remember that discuss, enter, marry, resemble and reach take no preposition.