Prepositions

1. Use ‘at/ by/ with/ for/ in/ of/ in/ on’ with nouns as adverbial modifiers.

1. He's a lawyer by profession.

2. It’s Ms. Blake on the phone. She says it’s urgent.

3. I didn’t have a bottle-opener, so I had to open the bottle with a screwdriver.

4. He began to speak in a low voice.

5. She isn’t here this week. She’s gone to Canada on business.

6. We decided to travel to Australia by boat.

7. We were just in time to see the Queen arrive.

8. I only had a cup of coffee for breakfast.

9. I picked up the wrong suitcase at the airport by mistake.

10. Is there anything interesting on television tonight?

11. He was very reluctant to do it at first, but in the end he agreed.

12. I’d like to go to Paris for a holiday.

13. She’s very shy by nature.

14. I like walking in the rain.

2. Use ‘about/ at/ by/ for/ in/ of/ to/ with’ after be/ get + adjective or participle.

1. There is nothing to be afraid of now.

2. If you are interested in literature you may join our literary society.

3. Ann has always been good at languages.

4. It is said that this diet is rich in vitamins.

5. Don’t be angry with me. I did it by mistake.

6. Paul is getting anxious about his future career.

7. Hurry up or you’ll be late for the plane.

8. He is not ashamed of what he did. In fact he seems to be proud of it.

9. I didn’t think I could ever get used to living in a big city after living in the country.

10. The manager was satisfied with Jim’s work and offered him a pay rise.

11. I am surprised at the number of people who still believe whatever advertisements say.

12. It was good of you to help Dave with his work.

13. I’m not used to driving on the left.

14. I’m a bit short of money. Can you lend me more?

Past perfect versus past perfect progressive

1. Choose between the Past Perfect and Past Perfect Progressive.

1. As soon as I raised my eyes I knew that we had met before.

2. Hardly had I got off the bus when it started moving.

3. Maggie took a hot bath after she had been working in the garden all afternoon.

4. By the time I got to the station the train had been leaving.

5. I had a pleasant surprise when I got to my room: someone had put some flowers there for me.

2. Choose the appropriate adverbial of time.

1. She was working in the garden at that time.

2. Scarcely had the bell gone when the students filled the corridor.

3. The other day he called on me to return the money he had borrowed.

4. It wasn’t by 2000 that Robert could afford to buy a new car.

5. Her father had been running his own business for two years before he went bankrupt.

3. Open the brackets using the Past Simple/ Past Progressive/ Past Perfect/ Past Perfect Progressive. Rewrite the whole extract.

I went to London for the first time in 2001 when I was just a child. My parents had already been there many times so they know the city well. But they had never been there with a child so they could see a different side of London with me. We went out every day and had a fantastic time. My parents had been studying English for years so they had no difficulty with the language. It was raining while we were there but we have packed all our waterproof clothes so it was no problem. When the time had come to leave, I felt quite unhappy because I was having such a good time.