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ESL Easy Quiz - A Time and a Place - Prepositions (Questions)

Quiz playing is a wonderful way to increase your knowledge of English as a Second Language. Remember that all of our ESL quizzes have titles that are both friendly and technical at the same time… In the case of this quiz you might like to tell your friends about “A Time and a Place Quiz” but no doubt your teachers will talk about “Prepositions”! If you hear a technical term and you want to find a quiz about the subject then just look through the list of quiz titles until you find what you need.

In English we use prepositions to tell where things are and when they happen. Someone once said that there is 'a time and a place for everything' but without prepositions you would find it almost impossible to explain times and places. Try this quiz to test your knowledge of prepositions.

1. Pick the best word (or words) to fit into the gap.
There is a beautiful vase of flowers ... ... the dining-room table.
[ ] ... on ...
[ ] ... in ...
[ ] ... under ...
[ ] ... behind ...
2. Pick the best word (or words) to fit into the gap.
Your documents should be available to collect ... ... the weekend.
[ ] ... in ...
[ ] ... before ...
[ ] ... while ...
[ ] ... behind ...
3. Pick the best word (or words) to fit into the gap.
She went ... ... a special program on her computer and translated the information ... ... Spanish.
[ ] ... on ... / ... to ...
[ ] ... in ... / ... for ...
[ ] ... into ... / ... in ...
[ ] ... into ... / ... into ...
4. Pick the best word (or words) to fit into the gap.
They always used to send me a card ... ... my birthday.
[ ] ... on ...
[ ] ... of ...
[ ] ... for ...
[ ] ... at ...
5. Pick the best word (or words) to fit into the gap.
What were you looking ... ?
[ ] ... to?
[ ] ... in?
[ ] ... by?
[ ] ... at?
6. Pick the best word (or words) to fit into the gap.
Who is the girl standing ... those two strange men?
[ ] ... among ...
[ ] ... between ...
[ ] ... against ...
[ ] ... along ...
7. Pick the best word (or words) to fit into the gap.
I've never quite mastered the art of eating 'bitty' Eastern food ... ... chopsticks.
[ ] ... with ...
[ ] ... by ...
[ ] ... off ...
[ ] ... from ...
8. Pick the best word (or words) to fit into the gap.
Which letter comes ... ... Zeta in the Greek alphabet?
[ ] ... under ...
[ ] ... after ...
[ ] ... beyond ...
[ ] ... behind ...
9. Pick the best word (or words) to fit into the gap.
I'm afraid I was always pretty hopeless ... ... foreign languages when I was at school.
[ ] ... at ...
[ ] ... with ...
[ ] ... in ...
[ ] ... on ...
10. Pick the best word (or words) to fit into the gap.
I wonder who has moved into the house ... ... , ... ... the street?
[ ] ... facing, over ...
[ ] ... over, opposite ...
[ ] ... opposite, across ...
[ ] ... across, facing ...
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ESL Easy Quiz - A Time and a Place - Prepositions (Answers)
1. Pick the best word (or words) to fit into the gap.
There is a beautiful vase of flowers ... ... the dining-room table.
[x] ... on ...
[ ] ... in ...
[ ] ... under ...
[ ] ... behind ...
None of the other answers makes much sense. (Why have such a pretty thing in a place where nobody can see it?)
2. Pick the best word (or words) to fit into the gap.
Your documents should be available to collect ... ... the weekend.
[ ] ... in ...
[x] ... before ...
[ ] ... while ...
[ ] ... behind ...
This clearly needs to be an expression of time rather than place. Answer 4 may have looked tempting, but proper English would say 'after the weekend', rather than 'behind' it.
3. Pick the best word (or words) to fit into the gap.
She went ... ... a special program on her computer and translated the information ... ... Spanish.
[ ] ... on ... / ... to ...
[ ] ... in ... / ... for ...
[ ] ... into ... / ... in ...
[x] ... into ... / ... into ...
'Into' is right in both parts of this sentence.
4. Pick the best word (or words) to fit into the gap.
They always used to send me a card ... ... my birthday.
[x] ... on ...
[ ] ... of ...
[ ] ... for ...
[ ] ... at ...
'On' in its primary sense means 'physically on top of' (as in 'on horseback' / 'on the river'), but for some reason English uses it to say 'on what day/date' something happens. Answer 3 ('for') is possible but unlikely; people might send you presents FOR your birthday, but a card ON it; perhaps because a present is a bigger thing that is sent 'for the sake of' the birthday, which has a wider sense to it than just the mathematical mark of one date on the calendar.
5. Pick the best word (or words) to fit into the gap.
What were you looking ... ?
[ ] ... to?
[ ] ... in?
[ ] ... by?
[x] ... at?
We 'look at' things (such as pictures) in English; we also 'look for' them if we've lost them.
6. Pick the best word (or words) to fit into the gap.
Who is the girl standing ... those two strange men?
[ ] ... among ...
[x] ... between ...
[ ] ... against ...
[ ] ... along ...
We wouldn't say 'among' unless there were more than two men ('a house built among [several] trees'). It would be hard to stand 'against' more than one other person at a time, except perhaps in a political sense ('She stood against five men and won the election').
7. Pick the best word (or words) to fit into the gap.
I've never quite mastered the art of eating 'bitty' Eastern food ... ... chopsticks.
[x] ... with ...
[ ] ... by ...
[ ] ... off ...
[ ] ... from ...
We use 'with' to show that we are using a tool to do a job ('Cut it neatly with the scissors, instead of tearing it with your hands!'). All the other answers feel sensible, but only No.1 is completely right.
8. Pick the best word (or words) to fit into the gap.
Which letter comes ... ... Zeta in the Greek alphabet?
[ ] ... under ...
[x] ... after ...
[ ] ... beyond ...
[ ] ... behind ...
'After' is what we use to mark the next item in a sequence. ('I before E except after C', as the English spelling rule goes ...)
9. Pick the best word (or words) to fit into the gap.
I'm afraid I was always pretty hopeless ... ... foreign languages when I was at school.
[x] ... at ...
[ ] ... with ...
[ ] ... in ...
[ ] ... on ...
In English we are usually good (or bad, etc.) 'at' doing things, such as playing sports or instruments. Sometimes you will hear expressions such as 'He's very good with children' or 'She's not confident with computers', but in those cases we are talking more about the things themselves, as such, rather than what we do with them (although that's fairly obviously what is really meant).
10. Pick the best word (or words) to fit into the gap.
I wonder who has moved into the house ... ... , ... ... the street?
[ ] ... facing, over ...
[ ] ... over, opposite ...
[x] ... opposite, across ...
[ ] ... across, facing ...
These two expressions are simple enough, but easily confused.