Choose the right preposition 5
✓ Useful for TOEIC
✓ Useful for Cambridge BEC
💡 Top tips
Common business collocations with 'in', 'on', and 'at'
'In' is used with companies and industries: 'She works in finance.' 'On' is used with committees and projects: 'He's on the board.' 'At' refers to specific organizations: 'I work at Google.'
Prepositions of time: 'in', 'on', 'by', 'until'
Use 'by' for deadlines (completed no later than): 'Please submit by Friday.' Use 'until' for duration (continuing up to a point): 'The offer is valid until Friday.' These are frequently confused in professional writing.
Avoid common preposition errors with verbs
Common correct collocations: 'agree on' (a decision), 'agree with' (a person), 'deal with' (a problem), 'result in' (a consequence), 'depend on' (a factor). These fixed combinations are best memorized as complete units.
Common business collocations with 'in', 'on', and 'at'
'In' is used with companies and industries: 'She works in finance.' 'On' is used with committees and projects: 'He's on the board.' 'At' refers to specific organizations: 'I work at Google.'
Prepositions of time: 'in', 'on', 'by', 'until'
Use 'by' for deadlines (completed no later than): 'Please submit by Friday.' Use 'until' for duration (continuing up to a point): 'The offer is valid until Friday.' These are frequently confused in professional writing.
Avoid common preposition errors with verbs
Common correct collocations: 'agree on' (a decision), 'agree with' (a person), 'deal with' (a problem), 'result in' (a consequence), 'depend on' (a factor). These fixed combinations are best memorized as complete units.
READY TO PRACTICE? LET’S GO!
These exercises will help you to practice using prepositions in a Business English context and can be used to to prepare for the Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC) and the Business English Certificate (BEC). Choose the best response to complete each of the sentences below.
1. We currently spend about $10 million a year __________________________ advertising.
Correct answer: B or C — Spend money in/on something — both are correct.
2. We have worked on dozens __________________________ similar projects.
Correct answer: of — Dozens of — of links a quantity to its noun.
3. Our sales have been down ever __________________________ the bad news came out last year.
Correct answer: since — Ever since = from that point in time until now.
4. We've been __________________________ this before = We've experienced this before
Correct answer: through — Fixed expression: been through = experienced.
5. Let me start _________________ welcoming you to the conference.
Correct answer: by — Start by doing something = begin with this action.
6. You should really start _______________________ that project = You should really begin working on that project
Correct answer: on — Fixed expression: start on something = begin work on it.
7. Which category would this fall _______________________ ?
Correct answer: under — Fall under a category = belong to / be classified as.
8. __________________________ the past year, our profits have tripled.
Correct answer: A or B — During and over are both correct with time spans.
9. We have to deal with the problem __________________________ hand. ( = the problem that we are facing)
Correct answer: at — Fixed expression: the problem at hand = the current issue.
10. The partners from New York will be _________________________ hand for ( = present at) the meeting.
Correct answer: on — Fixed expression: on hand = available and present.
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