PREPOSITIONS QUIZ WEEK 1

arrive ___ (cities, countries)

arrive ___ (buildings, addresses)
get ___

___ mistake
___ error

___ surprise
___ my surprise

discuss ___
talk ___

interested ___
hooked ___
engrossed ___
keen ___
glued ___

count ___ (include)

count ___ (don’t include)
count ___ (trust)
count ___ (1,2,3 ...)

apply ___ (a company)

apply ___ (a job)

familiar ___ (... sb/sth)

familiar ___ (... you)

increase ___
invest ___
involved ___
improvement ___
insist ___
impact/influence ___
(in or on)

proud ___ (sb/sth)

take pride ___
pride myself ___

pleased ___ (sb/sth)

pleased ___ (sb)
take pleasure ___
have the pleasure ___ (doing sth)

How were they? Tough, right? Now check your answers and read my notes on the following pages
and I’ll repeat this page at the back so you can practice again.

CORKENGLISHTEACHER
PREPOSITIONS WEEK 1

arrive in
When did you arrive in London?
arrive at
I arrived at the bus station at 6.
get to
I got to the office late this morning.

You arrive at a building or an address while you arrive in a city, country, etc. Get to is more informal and
usually used with a specific time. Note: arrive home, get home. Basically, with verbs of movement and
home, we drop prepositions: go home, come home, leave home, etc. but be, stay at home.

by mistake
I did it by mistake, I’m sorry.
in error
The email was sent in error.

In error is much more formal than by mistake and is often connected with computers or software.

by surprise
You took me by surprise. I hadn’t expected you to come.
to my surprise
To my surprise, there was no traffic this morning.

We use by surprise with verbs like catch and take. You can say to my surprise and also to my horror, to my
disappointment, to my amazement. You can also put ‘much’ before these, much to my surprise.

discuss
We discussed our options.
talk about
We talked about a lot of things.

You discuss something or talk about something, you don’t discuss about it.

interested in
I’m not really interested in politics.
hooked on
I’m hooked on the TV series ‘Dark’.
engrossed in
I’m currently engrossed in a book.
keen on
What sports are you keen on?
glued to
He’s glued to that phone.

Interested in suggests something that involves thinking. Hooked on is often used for TV series nowadays.
I personally use engrossed in to talk about books, keen on activities and glued to devices. Oh, by the way,
you can be keen on activities but keen to do something - you want to do it very soon.

CORKENGLISHTEACHER
count in/out
I’d love to come, count me in.
I’m afraid I have to work, count me out.
count on
You can count on me if you need help.
count with
Come on kids, count with me! 1, 2, 3, ...

Count me in means include me in the plan while count me out is do not include me. Count on is similar to
trust. Count with me, is an instruction to someone to literally count, with you.

apply to
I’ve applied to that company.
apply for
I’ve applied for a job.

So, you apply to a company for a job.

familiar with
Are you familiar with that part of the country?
familiar to
The name sound familiar to me.

If you’re familiar with sb/sth you have knowledge about them or it. When sb/sth is familiar to you, it
means you remember them or it from somewhere.

increase in
There has been an increase in cases.
invest in
I’d like to invest money in the stock market.
involved in
There’s a lot of work involved in passing the exam.
improvement in
I’ve seen a big improvement in your attitude.
insist on
She insisted on paying for dinner.
impact/influence on
It’s had a huge impact on all our lives.

I mean, there are no rules here, you just have to learn them by heart. In/On is tough for all of us.

proud of
I’m so proud of you, well done.
take pride in
I take pride in my culture and identity.
pride myself on
I pride myself on being diligent worker.

Proud of is well known but you can also say proud to + inf, I’m proud to call you my friend. Take pride in
is slightly formal while pride yourself on is related to how proud you are of your skills, qualities, etc.

CORKENGLISHTEACHER
pleased with
The boss seems pleased with your work.
pleased for
Oh, wow! Congrats! I’m so pleased for you both.
take pleasure in
She takes pleasure in others’ misfortune.
have the pleasure of
I’ve never had the pleasure of meeting him.

Pleased with is the same as happy or satified with. You are pleased for somebody, for their success, etc.
Taking pleasure in doing sth means you get your happiness from that. To have the pleasure of means to
be pleased to do something or to have done something and is formal.

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Good job!

Keep this little booklet and practise again another day. Check Cork English Teacher on Instagram for
daily preposition quizzes and we will improve our preposition over the course of this year.

Thanks a million!

John

P.S - One more quiz awaits you __ the next page! ;)

CORKENGLISHTEACHER
PREPOSITIONS QUIZ WEEK 1

arrive ___ (cities, countries)

arrive ___ (buildings, addresses)
get ___

___ mistake
___ error

___ surprise
___ my surprise

discuss ___
talk about ___

interested ___
hooked ___
engrossed ___
keen ___
glued ___

count ___ (include)

count ___ (don’t include)
count ___ (trust)
count ___ (1,2,3 ...)

apply ___ (a company)

apply ___ (a job)

familiar ___ (... sb/sth)

familiar ___ (... you)

increase ___
invest ___
involved ___
improvement ___
insist ___
impact/influence ___
(in or on)

proud ___ (sb/sth)

take pride ___
pride myself ___

pleased ___ (sb/sth)

pleased ___ (sb)
take pleasure ___
have the pleasure ___ (doing sth)

CORKENGLISHTEACHER