Prepositions and Conjunctions
Part 1: High-Yield Preposition Concepts
Competitive exams frequently test prepositions through error spotting and sentence completion, focusing heavily on fixed prepositions and transitive verbs.
1. The Omission of Prepositions (Transitive Verbs)
A frequent trap in exams is placing a preposition after a transitive verb in the active voice. Graduates often make this error due to direct translation from their first language.
| Verb | Incorrect Usage (Exam Trap) | Correct Usage |
| Discuss | Discuss about the matter | Discuss the matter |
| Describe | Describe about the scenery | Describe the scenery |
| Comprise | Comprise of three parts | Comprise three parts |
| Investigate | Investigate into the case | Investigate the case |
| Emphasize | Emphasize on the rules | Emphasize the rules |
| Order | Order for a cup of coffee | Order a cup of coffee |
(Note: "Comprised of" is acceptable only in the passive voice: "The book is comprised of three parts.")
2. Frequently Tested Fixed Prepositions
Certain verbs and adjectives always take specific prepositions. Memorizing these is crucial for the cloze test and fill-in-the-blanks sections.
Acquainted with (Not to)
Addicted to + [Gerund/Noun] (e.g., addicted to smoking, not smoke)
Deprived of (Not from)
Averse to + [Gerund] (e.g., averse to working late)
Die of a disease (e.g., died of cancer) vs. Die from a cause (e.g., died from overwork)
Prefer X to Y (Not prefer over)
Part 2: High-Yield Conjunction Concepts
For conjunctions, competitive exams focus strictly on paired consistency (correlatives), structural parallelism, and inversion rules.
1. Correlative Conjunctions and Parallelism
Conjunctions that come in pairs must connect elements of the exact same grammatical structure (noun to noun, verb to verb, prepositional phrase to prepositional phrase).
Not only ... but also:
Error: He not only speaks English but also Spanish. (Connects verb to noun)
Correct: He speaks not only English but also Spanish. (Connects noun to noun)
Neither ... nor / Either ... or: The verb agrees with the subject closest to it (Rule of Proximity).
Correct: Neither the manager nor the employees are attending.
2. Inversion Rules with Conjunctions
When a sentence begins with a negative or restrictive conjunction, the subject and the auxiliary verb must invert (Auxiliary + Subject + Main Verb).
| Conjunction Pair | Inversion Structure | Example |
| Hardly / Scarcely ... when | Hardly + had + Subject + V3 | Hardly had I reached the station when the train left. |
| No sooner ... than | No sooner + did + Subject + V1 | No sooner did he arrive than the meeting began. |
(Exam Trap: Examiners often swap "when" and "than", using "Hardly... than" or "No sooner... when". Watch out for this.)
3. Redundancy and Contextual Traps
Unless vs. Until: Unless denotes a condition; until denotes time. Both are inherently negative. Rule: Never use "not" in the exact same clause as unless/until.
Lest ... should: "Lest" means "for fear that" and is always followed by the modal "should". It is also negative, so it never takes a "not".
Correct: Walk carefully lest you should fall.
Because / Since / As: Never pair these with "therefore" or "so" in the same sentence.
Error: Because he was late, therefore he missed the train.
