A preposition question looks trivial and is worth a mark: "comply ___ the rules" has exactly one correct answer, and it is correct because it is the fixed pairing, not because it follows a rule of logic. The same is true of "effect" against "affect", "principal" against "principle", and the handful of confusable word pairs the paper reuses every cycle.
This is the most efficiently learned material in the whole verbal section: a closed list of roughly sixty items, each learned with one sentence. Two hours of study here typically converts to three or four marks, and those marks cannot be lost again by a bad day.
Prepositions are not chosen by meaning — they are chosen by memory of the pairing. So the study method is not reasoning, it is a list rehearsed with a sentence each:
Two habits make the list stick. First, always store the pair, never the preposition alone: "depend on", not "on". Second, store a real sentence with it: "the result depends on the sample size". A remembered sentence survives stress; a remembered list does not.
| Verb | Preposition | Verb | Preposition |
|---|---|---|---|
| depend, insist, rely, congratulate | on | differ, escape, prevent, refrain | from |
| comply, interfere, agree (a person), cope | with | object, refer, listen, attend | to |
| consist, accuse (a person), approve, dispose | of | abide, stand (by a decision) | by |
| conform, prefer (one thing to another) | to | arrive (a city), believe, engage, participate | in |
| Adjective | Preposition | Adjective | Preposition |
|---|---|---|---|
| afraid, aware, capable, fond, guilty, jealous | of | interested, proficient, engaged, absorbed | in |
| angry (a person), pleased, satisfied, familiar (a thing) | with | good, bad, adept, skilled, expert | at |
| responsible, eligible, famous, fit, sorry | for | superior, inferior, senior, junior, similar, married, accustomed | to |
| anxious, curious, concerned, particular | about | different, safe, protected, derived | from |
on account of, in spite of, by means of, for the sake of, at the expense of, in the light of, with respect to, take into account, make up for, put up with, look forward to, look down upon, call off, carry out, give in, break down.
| Pair | Distinction | Example |
|---|---|---|
| affect / effect | affect is the verb, effect the noun | The drug affects the pulse; it had no effect |
| advice / advise | advice is the noun, advise the verb | He gave advice; he advised me to wait |
| principal / principle | principal means chief or a school head; principle is a rule | The principal reason; a matter of principle |
| its / it's | its is possessive; it's means it is | The company raised its prices; it's late |
| than / then | than compares; then marks time | Better than before; then we left |
| lie / lay | lie is intransitive; lay needs an object | I lie down; I lay the book on the table |
| complement / compliment | complement completes; compliment praises | A complement to the course; a nice compliment |
| eminent / imminent | eminent means distinguished; imminent means about to happen | An eminent scholar; imminent danger |
| adverse / averse | adverse describes conditions; averse describes reluctance | Adverse weather; averse to risk |
accommodate, definitely, separate, occurrence, necessary, government, receive, believe, maintenance, embarrass, privilege, commitment.
Comply pairs with with: comply with the rules. Offering "to" comes from reasoning that you comply to an authority — but comply takes with whoever or whatever you obey.
Here the blank needs a noun after "had no", so it is effect. "Affect" is the verb form, and "effected" would mean brought about, which changes the meaning.
Senior takes to, never "than": she is senior to the other officers. The "than" version is the classic trap because the sentence means a comparison.
The idiom is on account of. The alternatives "in account of" and "by account of" are inventions that look plausible under pressure.
All staff must comply ___ the new safety rules.
She is not afraid ___ criticism.
The new policy had no ___ on prices.
The meeting was postponed ___ account of the strike.
Without looking back: which preposition follows "consist", "depend" and "responsible"?
The answer: consist of, depend on, responsible for.
We say depend , consist and responsible . The noun form of affect is .
Correct the preposition or word error in each sentence: (1) "The committee insisted for a written report." (2) "His answer was different than mine." (3) "Neither of the options had any affect on the result." (4) "She is capable to handling the project alone."
(1) Insist takes on: insisted on a written report.
(2) In formal writing, different pairs with from: different from mine. "Different than" appears in informal use, especially before clauses, and the exam prefers from.
(3) The noun is needed, so effect: no effect on the result.
(4) Capable pairs with of, and of takes the -ing form: capable of handling the project alone.
Notice the pattern in all four: each error is a fixed pairing replaced by a plausible-sounding alternative. That is why this material is learned as a list of pairs and sentences rather than as a set of rules.
Words, relationships, grammar and fixed pairs are now in place. The next lesson is the largest single verbal block on the paper and the one where technique beats vocabulary: reading comprehension under a clock.