Directions (For the next five items) : In the following sentences prepositions or phrasal verbs have been used, which have been underlined in each instance respectively. Select the sentence(s) wherein the use of the proposition or phrasal verb is/are correct : 1. The delivery reached its destination just about time. 2. The evidence presented by Shyam states something different than what is being presented by Ram. 3. That is the difference of somebody doing his duty and not doing his duty. Select the answer using the codes given below :

Correct — D, (d) None of the above.

Each numbered sentence carries one underlined item, and the item asks which of them use that preposition correctly. All three are wrong, so the escape option is the answer - and on an item of this shape the escape option has to be treated as a live candidate rather than as the box nobody ticks.

Sentence 1 underlines 'about', in 'reached its destination just about time'. English has 'just in time', meaning with no time to spare, and 'just on time', meaning exactly at the appointed moment; either would be correct here. 'About time' is a fixed expression of a different sort - 'it is about time you applied' - which means something is overdue, and it does not combine with 'just' to describe a delivery arriving. The sentence needs 'in' or 'on'.

Sentence 2 underlines 'than', in 'states something different than what is being presented by Ram'. In careful British and Indian usage the adjective 'different' is followed by 'from'; 'different to' is also accepted in British English. 'Different than' is chiefly American, and even there it is preferred only before a clause. In a paper set on British conventions, and in a sentence where 'from' would serve without difficulty, this is the wrong preposition.

Sentence 3 underlines 'of', in 'the difference of somebody doing his duty and not doing his duty'. When 'difference' introduces the two things being compared, English requires 'between ... and ...'. 'Difference of' exists, but in other constructions - a difference of opinion, a difference of five rupees - where what follows is the respect in which things differ or the amount of the gap, not a pair of contrasted items joined by 'and'. Here two things are contrasted and joined by 'and', so 'between' is required.

Three wrong sentences leave nothing to select, which is option (d).

Why the others are wrong

• (a)1 and 2 — This option requires both sentence 1 and sentence 2 to be correct, and neither is. Sentence 1 substitutes the overdue-sense idiom 'about time' for the arrival idiom 'in time', and sentence 2 uses the American 'different than' where the paper's conventions call for 'different from'. The pairing is attractive because both sentences read smoothly aloud - 'just about time' and 'different than' are both heard in speech, and speech is where these errors live. Reading a preposition item aloud is exactly the wrong test, because the errors it sets are the ones that have already colonised the spoken language.
• (b)1 and 3 — This option needs sentences 1 and 3 to be correct. Sentence 3 is the clearest error of the three: 'difference' introducing two contrasted items takes 'between ... and ...', and the sentence supplies both items and the 'and', so nothing but 'between' will do. Sentence 1 fails independently. The option is worth pausing on only because 'difference of' is a real English phrase in other frames - a difference of opinion, a difference of degree - and a candidate who recalls those may accept the construction here without checking what follows it.
• (c)1 only — This option asks the candidate to accept sentence 1 alone, and it is the trap for a reader who has correctly rejected 'different than' and 'difference of' and then assumes that a well-built item must leave at least one sentence standing. It need not: three of the five items in this set include a 'None of the above' option precisely so that the number of correct sentences can be zero. Sentence 1 has to be judged on its own, and 'reached its destination just about time' is not English - the delivery either arrived just in time, with none to spare, or just on time, at the appointed moment.

Prepositions in English are governed by collocation rather than by logic: the right preposition is the one the language has settled on, and no rule derives it. Three families cover most of what these items test.

First, fixed time expressions. 'In time' means with enough time to spare or before it is too late; 'on time' means punctually, at the appointed moment; 'about time' means overdue. They are not interchangeable, and 'just' intensifies the first two - just in time, just on time - but not the third.

Second, adjectives with their governed prepositions. Different from is the standard; similar to, superior to, inferior to, married to, capable of, dependent on, averse to, oblivious of or to. These have to be learned as pairs, because analogy misleads: 'different' feels comparative and therefore attracts 'than', but 'different' is not a comparative form and does not take the comparative conjunction.

Third, nouns that require a particular frame for the things they relate. 'Difference between X and Y' where two items are contrasted; 'difference of' where what follows names the respect or the amount - a difference of opinion, a difference of two marks. The same pattern governs 'distinction between', 'comparison between' and 'contrast between'.

One broader lesson: on items of this kind, the sentences are built around errors that are common in speech. The ear is therefore an unreliable guide, and the reliable method is to name the required construction from memory before looking at what the sentence does.

Key facts

• 'In time' means with time to spare or before it is too late, 'on time' means punctually at the appointed moment, and 'about time' means overdue - three fixed expressions that are not interchangeable.
• The standard construction is 'different from'; 'different to' is accepted in British English, while 'different than' is chiefly American and is treated as incorrect on papers set in British conventions.
• 'Difference between X and Y' is required when two contrasted items are named; 'difference of' introduces the respect or the amount of a difference, as in a difference of opinion or a difference of five rupees.
• Three of the five items in this set offer 'None of the above', and an item may be built so that every sentence is wrong - the escape option is a genuine answer, not a formality.
• The Directions block for this set is printed with 'proposition' in place of 'preposition' in its second sentence; the stem is reproduced as printed.

Common traps

• Judging a preposition by ear, when the errors set in these items are precisely those that are common in speech.
• Accepting 'different than' because it is widely heard and appears in American writing; the paper's conventions are British.
• Accepting 'difference of' on the strength of 'a difference of opinion', without checking that what follows here is a pair of items joined by 'and'.
• Assuming an item must have at least one correct sentence and therefore choosing '1 only' after rejecting the other two.
• Reading 'just about time' as a variant of 'just in time' rather than as a different idiom altogether.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  In which one of the following sentences is the underlined-style preposition used correctly ?

  • (a)Her answer was quite different than the one the panel expected
  • (b)We reached the counter just in time to file the return
  • (c)That is the difference of a subsidy and a loan
  • (d)The train arrived just about time and we boarded quickly

  Answer(b) We reached the counter just in time to file the return - 'in time' means with none to spare, which is the sense the sentence needs. (a) needs 'different from', (c) needs 'difference between ... and ...', and (d) needs 'in time' or 'on time' rather than the overdue-sense idiom 'about time'.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Which preposition correctly completes the sentence : 'The scheme is quite different ______ the one it replaced' ?

  • (a)than
  • (b)from
  • (c)of
  • (d)with

  Answer(b) from - 'different from' is the standard construction. 'Different than' is chiefly American, and 'different of' and 'different with' are not English at all.