Question

Fill in the blank with a suitable preposition.
The kids were talking _________ the teacher was busy correcting.

• A. while
• B. on
• C. by
• D. at

Answer 1

Answer: (A)

while

The preposition ‘while’ means during a particular time. In the sentence, the kids were talking among themselves when the teacher was correcting. Hence option A is correct. On the other hand, ‘on’ and ‘at’ are inappropriate in the given context since ‘on’ and ‘at’ are used to denote a place, which is not the case here. Hence options B and D are incorrect. Similarly ‘by’ is unsuitable because ‘by’ is used to refer to an agent of the action. In the given sentence the teacher is not the agent, therefore ‘by’ cannot be used and option C is incorrect.