Question

exercise 1 choose the correct preposition to complete each sentence. 1. my mother, brother, and i order bulbs and seeds; (between among) the three of us, we receive many gardening catalogs. 2. we have a large pile of them (beside besides) the phone. 3. we each draw a diagram of our backyard, planning what new plants to grow (beside besides) the garage. 4. (beside besides) flowers, we also grow herbs and vegetables. 5. our plans usually differ (on from) one another’s somewhat. 6. we talked about planting shrubs (between each walkway between walkways). 7. i differed (with from) my brother on what bulbs to plant. 8. a heated argument broke out (among between) us. 9. mother looked (like as if) she was going to yell at us. 10. since we differed (on from) the plan, she made the final decision. 11. mother chided us for getting so easily (angry with angry at) each other. 12. at first i was (angry with angry at) her decision. 13. the garden will look (like as if) a rainbow. 14. our yard will look (like as though) it was professionally landscaped. exercise 2 rewrite the sentences to correct errors in preposition usage. not all the sentences have errors. 1. i read my mother’s book about tulips like it were a novel. 2. i learned about the differences between “broken,” “parrot,” and regular tulips. 3. beside information on types of tulips, the book explained how in the 1600s in the netherlands, tulips were more valuable than gold. 4. my mother is now angry at me because i left the book in the garden, and it got damp with dew. 5. i, of course, differ with my mother on whether my admittedly careless action merits punishment. identify the prepositions in the last sentence of the exercise on p. 324. apply it now choose four sets of troublesome prepositions. write eight sentences showing the correct use of the prepositions in each set.

Explanation:

Each correct preposition is selected based on standard English usage rules:

1. "Among" is for 3+ people/items; "between" for 2.
2. "Beside" means next to; "besides" means in addition to.
3. "Differ from" is for contrasting people/ideas; "differ on" is for specific topics.
4. "Angry with" is for people; "angry at" is for things/decisions.
5. "As if/as though" introduce hypothetical clauses; "like" is for nouns.

Answer:

Exercise 1

1. among
2. beside
3. beside
4. Besides
5. from
6. between walkways
7. from
8. between
9. as if
10. from
11. angry with
12. angry at
13. like
14. as though

Exercise 2

1. I read my mother's book about tulips as if it were a novel.
2. (No error) I learned about the differences between "broken," "parrot," and regular tulips.
3. Besides information on types of tulips, the book explained how in the 1600s in the Netherlands, tulips were more valuable than gold.
4. (No error) My mother is now angry at me because I left the tools in the garden, and it got damp with dew.
5. I differ with my mother on whether my admittedly careless action merits punishment.