Fill in the blank with a suitable preposition.
The police searched to verify if a cellphone was _______ the accused.
Fill in the blank with a suitable preposition.
The police searched to verify if a cellphone was _______ the accused.
The correct option is B on
The preposition ‘on’ is used to refer to something being carried or possessed by someone. In the given sentence the police are trying to find if the accused possesses a cell phone. Therefore ‘on’ is the apt answer in the given context. Hence option A is correct. On the other hand ‘upon’ is generally used to speak about climbing on top of a moving object which is not the case here, hence option C is incorrect. Similarly ‘in’ cannot be used in the given sentence because ‘in’ is used to indicate being inside a larger space/place. The cell phone cannot be inside the accused, i.e. inside his body; therefore ‘in’ is inappropriate here. Thus option D is incorrect. The preposition ‘by’ is used to denote the agent of the action, but in this sentence, the agent of the action is ‘the police’ and not ‘the accused’ therefore ‘by’ cannot be used to fill the blank. Thus option B is incorrect.
The preposition ‘on’ is used to refer to something being carried or possessed by someone. In the given sentence the police are trying to find if the accused possesses a cell phone. Therefore ‘on’ is the apt answer in the given context. Hence option A is correct. On the other hand ‘upon’ is generally used to speak about climbing on top of a moving object which is not the case here, hence option C is incorrect. Similarly ‘in’ cannot be used in the given sentence because ‘in’ is used to indicate being inside a larger space/place. The cell phone cannot be inside the accused, i.e. inside his body; therefore ‘in’ is inappropriate here. Thus option D is incorrect. The preposition ‘by’ is used to denote the agent of the action, but in this sentence, the agent of the action is ‘the police’ and not ‘the accused’ therefore ‘by’ cannot be used to fill the blank. Thus option B is incorrect.
