Prepositional Collocations | Beginner Level | 10 Questions & Answers with Explanations

This tests the fixed collocation "proud of," commonly confused with "about" or "for" by students.

Correct sentence: "She is very proud of her achievements at such a young age."

Memory hook: "fond of" and "proud of" rhyme in structure — memorise them as a pair to reinforce both at once.

This tests the fixed collocation "good at," used for skills and subjects, which students often get wrong by translating directly from their native language's word for "in."

Correct sentence: "She is very good at mathematics; it's her favourite subject."

Memory hook: "good at cricket, good at cooking, good at English" — memorise this trio together to lock in the at pattern.

This tests the fixed collocation "married to," one of the most commonly tested prepositional errors in SSC and banking exams, since students often write "married with" by mistake.

Correct sentence: "He is married to Priya, and they have a daughter."

Memory hook: marriage is expressed as a relationship directed toward the person — to, never with.

This tests the fixed collocation "interested in," which cannot be replaced with any other preposition despite what might feel natural in other languages.

Correct sentence: "She is interested in Tamil; she also speaks English fluently."

Memory hook: "interested in" is one of the very first collocations most students learn — treat it as a permanently fixed unit.

This tests the fixed collocation "fond of," used to describe liking something, which students often incorrectly pair with "about" or "for."

Correct sentence: "He is quite fond of chocolate; he eats it every day."

Memory hook: group "fond of" with "proud of" — both use of, and both describe a positive feeling toward something.

This tests the fixed collocation "different from," the standard form preferred in formal English and competitive exams, even though "different than" is common in casual American speech.

Correct sentence: "This dish is quite different from the one I had in Chennai."

Memory hook: for Indian competitive exams, always default to "different from" — avoid "different than" and "different to" entirely.

This tests the fixed collocation "deal with," meaning to handle or manage something, which students sometimes confuse with "deal in" (a different collocation meaning to trade in goods).

Correct sentence: "He always deals with his emotions calmly, even under pressure."

Memory hook: "deal with" a problem/situation/emotion is different from "deal in" goods/commodities — keep the two collocations separate in your mind.

This tests the fixed collocation "suffer from," used for illnesses and conditions, which students often incorrectly write as "suffering with."

Correct sentence: "She has been suffering from a persistent cough for the past week."

Memory hook: "suffer from" illness, "suffer from" depression, "suffer from" poverty — the pattern stays fixed no matter what follows.

This tests the fixed collocation "angry with," used specifically when the anger is directed at a person, distinct from "angry at," used for things or situations.

Correct sentence: "He was very angry with his brother when he found out about the lie."

Memory hook: "angry WITH a person" but "angry AT a thing/situation" — the word right after the blank (a person's name vs. an object) decides which preposition to use.

This tests the contrasting half of the angry with/angry at pair — since "traffic" is a situation, not a person, "angry at" is correct here, not "angry with."

Correct sentence: "She was angry at the terrible traffic that made her late for the meeting."

Memory hook: compare this directly with Q9 — a person after the blank needs with, a thing or situation needs at; check what follows before choosing.