They apologized _____ me for what happened.
- (a)to
- (b)at
- (c)for
- (d)with
Correct — A, to. 'Apologise' takes 'to' before the person who was wronged and 'for' before the offence. This sentence already prints 'for what happened', so the slot before 'me' can only be 'to' — 'They apologized to me for what happened.'
- (b)at — 'At' marks the target of a directed feeling, as in 'shouted at me', but no such pattern exists for apologising.
- (c)for — 'For' is already doing its job later in the sentence, where it introduces 'what happened'. It introduces the offence, never the person.
- (d)with — 'With' would suggest joint action, as though they and the speaker apologised together, which is not what the sentence says.
A preposition item on the fixed pattern 'apologise to somebody for something'.
Verbs of speech often split their two objects between two different prepositions, and the trap is to let the more familiar 'for' fill both slots. Once you notice that 'for what happened' is already printed at the end, the person's slot has only one candidate left.
- The related noun keeps the same pattern, as in 'an apology to the family for the delay'.
- Explain, describe, suggest and announce also take 'to' before the person, as in 'he explained the rule to me'.
- Reusing a preposition that already appears elsewhere in the same sentence.
Asked as a fill-in-the-blank item that prints one half of a two-preposition pattern and blanks the other.
People who are averse ____ hard work, generally do not succeed in life.
- (a) to
- (b) about
- (c) at
- (d) on
Answer(a) to
The same skill on a different word. A term that locks on to one fixed preposition, so the answer is settled by the pattern rather than by the meaning of the sentence.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Choose the pair that fits — She apologised _____ her teacher _____ arriving late.
- (a)to / for
- (b)for / to
- (c)with / for
- (d)at / for
Answer(a) to / for — 'to' takes the person and 'for' takes the offence.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Choose the preposition that fits — He explained the new rule _____ the recruits.
- (a)with
- (b)to
- (c)for
- (d)at
Answer(b) to — 'explain' places the listener after 'to'.