Question

Questions 1–10: Identify the incorrect preposition(s) in each sentence. Then write the correct preposition or other word.

1. Richard arrived to the concert too late to buy a ticket.

2. The farmer puts a hill of soil among every two rows of corn.

3. The feature picture was followed with several short subjects.

4. Stop a minute so that I can run in this drugstore.

5. We should of planned our evening more carefully.

6. You’ll feel happier when you are between your own people again.

7. The trip was so exhausting that I’m glad it’s over with.

8. Beside being tired, Ben was also fighting the symptoms of a cold.

9. My brothers always differed from each other about gun control laws.

10. Teresa said she would do the dishes now rather then after dinner.

Answer 1

1) Richard arrived at the concert too late to buy a ticket. The incorrect preposition in the initial sentence was 'to'. Remember, that this preposition is never used with verb 'arrive' because this is a preposition of movement while the verb does not indicate it. Just replace is with 'at' which is used with locations.

2) The farmer puts a hill of soil between every two rows of corn. The incorrect preposition that was used is 'among'. Here is the difference between them: you put 'among' when something is placed the middle of or surrounded by other things; the other meaning of between is 'in' so you put something into the space that separates things. 

3) The feature picture was followed by several short subjects. The incorrect preposition that was used in the initial sentence is 'with'. It must be  replaced with 'by' because you say 'followed by' to express that something comes after something else in a list of things. Also, it is a passive voice, so 'by' applies here. The only possibility of using 'with' is when your sentence contains an adverbial clause.

4) Stop for a minute so that I can run in this drugstore. The initial sentence does not contain an incorrect preposition, it lacks one. Since you have the time mentioned in the sentence, you have to support it with the prepisition of time. In this case, the proper one is 'for'.

5)  We should have planned our evening more carefully. The incorrect preposition that was used is 'if'. 'Should of' does not have any grammatical sense, it is just misspelled construction of 'should've' which can be heard like 'should of' when pronounced. Should have is used to express a regret, or a thought that it would have been better if you had done something.

6)You’ll feel happier when you are among your own people again. The incorrect preposition that was used is 'between'. As I mentioned before, between is for filling some gaps or spaces, and 'among' is to place in a circle, to be surrounded by many things. So, you are surrounded by closest people as you are in the circle of family ;)

7) The trip was so exhausting that I’m glad it’s over. In this case you either do not need to use a preposition or you have to change the sentence a bit in order to include an idiom 'get it over with'. But since this task focuses on prepositions, just withdraw 'with' as it makes no sense in this sentence.

8) Besides being tired, Ben was also fighting the symptoms of a cold. The incorrect preposition was 'beside'. Keep in mind the difference between these two, as it is an essential part of learning English. 'Beside' means 'near/next to' and it is always followed by a noun, while 'besides' has a meaning of 'in addition to/except. 

9)  My brothers always differed from each other on gun control laws. The initial sentence contains an incorrect preposition 'with'. There are lots of prepositions that follow the verb 'differ' and it always depends on the context. In this case, they are different because they have different views about something, so you should say 'they differ on (subject)'.

10) Teresa said she would do the dishes now rather than after dinner. The initial sentence contained misspelled preposition 'rather than'. Do not confuse the adverb 'then' with the preposition 'than'. 'Rather than' means 'instead of', so it is necessary to put it here.

Answer 2

Answer:

1.Richard arrived TO the concert too late to buy a ticket.

1.Richard arrived at the concert too late to buy a ticket.

3.The feature picture was followed WITH several short subjects.

3.The feature picture was followed by several short subjects.

5.We should OF planned our evening more carefully.

5.We should have planned our evening more carefully.

6.You'll feel happier when you are BETWEEN your own people again.

6.You'll feel happier when you are among your own people again.

8.BESIDE being tired, Ben was also fighting the symptoms of a cold.

8.Besides being tired, Ben was also fighting the symptoms of a cold.

10.Teresa said she would do the dishes now rather THEN after dinner.

10.Teresa said she would do the dishes now rather than after dinner.

11.Neither Ellen nor Joan wanted to leave

12.Joan wouldn't leave unless Ellen left

13.They'll leave together, providing that the cab arrives

11. Neither Ellen nor Joan wanted to leave

12. Joan wouldn't leave unless Ellen left.

13. They'll leave together provided that the cab arrives.

14.both/and, either/or, neither/nor, whether/or, not only/but also

The primary function of a subordinating conjunction is to join dependent and independent clauses

Explanation: