Prepositions, Tenses and Relative Clauses

This last grammar unit gathers the three areas that appear most often in Q7 and do most damage in Q10. Prepositions are small, fixed and unforgiving: nothing in logic explains why we are good at English, married to someone and angry **with them. Tenses are the backbone of every sentence you write, and the errors here are errors of sequence rather than of form. Relative clauses let you join two short sentences into one adult sentence — and a single misplaced comma changes what the sentence means. Take the three in turn.

30.1 Prepositions of time and place

Preposition	Time	Place
in	in May, in 2026, in winter, in the 19th century, in the morning, in two hours (= after two hours from now)	in Nepal, in the box, in bed, in the sky
on	on Sunday, on 5 June, on Monday morning, on my birthday	on the table, on the wall, on the second floor, on the bus
at	at 6 o'clock, at night, at noon, at Dashain, at present	at the bus stop, at the door, at school, at 25 Durbar Marg

Pairs that are regularly confused.

Pair	Difference
since / for	since + a point of time (since 2019); for + a length (for three years)
during / for	during + a noun (during the holidays); for + a period (for a week)
by / until	by = not later than (Finish it by Friday); until = up to that moment (Wait until Friday)
in time / on time	in time = early enough; on time = punctually
between / among	between two; among more than two
beside / besides	beside = next to; besides = in addition to
across / through	across a surface; through something you go inside
in front of / opposite	in front of = ahead of; opposite = facing

30.2 Fixed prepositions, and verbs that take none

Adjective + preposition		Verb + preposition
good at, bad at	afraid of	depend on, rely on	consist of
married to	angry with (a person)	apologise to … for	belong to
interested in	angry at (a thing)	congratulate on	complain about
famous for	proud of	accuse of, suspect of	insist on
different from	capable of	prevent from, prohibit from	succeed in
similar to, superior to	aware of	blame for	object to
responsible for	fond of	remind of	refer to
tired of, sure of	absent from	deal with, cope with	translate into
grateful to (person) for (thing)	keen on	provide somebody with	divide into

Verbs that need no preposition at all. These are the ones Nepali speakers add a preposition to, and every one of them is marked wrong.

✗ Wrong	✓ Correct
discuss about the problem	discuss the problem
enter into the hall	enter the hall (but enter into an agreement is correct)
marry with her	marry her / be married to her
reach at the station	reach the station (but arrive at the station)
return back home	return home
repeat again**	repeat
cope up with the pressure	cope with the pressure
emphasise on the point	emphasise the point / lay emphasis on it
investigate into the case	investigate the case
resemble to his father	resemble his father
describe about the scene	describe the scene
obey to the rules	obey the rules
order for a coffee	order a coffee
comprise of five members	comprise five members / consist of five members

30.3 The twelve tenses at a glance

Tense	Form	Typical signal words
Simple present	V1 / V1+s	always, usually, every day, generally
Present continuous	am / is / are + V-ing	now, at present, at the moment, look!
Present perfect	has / have + V3	just, already, yet, ever, never, so far, recently
Present perfect continuous	has / have been + V-ing	for, since, all day, how long
Simple past	V2	yesterday, last week, in 2018, ago
Past continuous	was / were + V-ing	while, at 5 p.m. yesterday, when … came
Past perfect	had + V3	before, after, by the time, already (in the past)
Past perfect continuous	had been + V-ing	for / since + a past point
Simple future	will / shall + V1	tomorrow, next week, soon
Future continuous	will be + V-ing	at this time tomorrow
Future perfect	will have + V3	by next year, by the time
Future perfect continuous	will have been + V-ing	for + a period, by next month

Sequence of tenses. When the main verb is in the past, the verb in the subordinate clause is normally past as well.

He said that he was unwell. · She asked what I wanted. · They left before the guests arrived.

Three exceptions: a universal truth stays in the present (He said that honesty is the best policy); a comparison after than may keep its own tense (He worked harder than I do); and a habitual present fact may be kept (*She told me that she goes* to the gym every morning).

30.4 Relative clauses

A relative clause describes a noun and begins with a relative pronoun.

Pronoun	Used for	Example
who	a person, as subject	the girl who won the prize
whom	a person, as object (formal)	the man whom we met
whose	possession (people or things)	the boy whose bag was lost
which	a thing or animal	the house which stands on the hill
that	person or thing, defining clauses only	the bus that goes to Bhaktapur
where	a place	the village where I was born
when	a time	the day when we met
why	a reason	the reason why he left

Defining clauses

A defining clause says which one is meant. Without it the sentence is incomplete in sense, so it takes no commas.

The man who lives next door is a doctor. This is the book that I told you about. The house which we bought needs repair.

In a defining clause the relative pronoun may be dropped when it is the object of its clause: This is the book (that) I told you about. The man (whom) we met was her uncle. It can never be dropped when it is the subject: ✗ The man lives next door is a doctor. → ✓ The man who lives next door…

That is preferred after superlatives and after all, any, only, everything, nothing, the first, the last: This is the best film that I have ever seen.

Non-defining clauses

A non-defining clause gives extra information about a noun that is already identified. It is enclosed in commas, and that cannot be used.

My uncle, who lives in Biratnagar, is visiting us. Mount Everest, which stands at 8,849 metres, is the world's highest peak. She passed the examination, which delighted her parents. (here which refers to the whole preceding idea)

Prepositions, and reduced clauses

A preposition may stand before whom or which (formal) or at the end of the clause (normal): the officer to whom I spoke = the officer whom I spoke to = the officer I spoke **to ✗ the officer to that I spoke — that never follows a preposition.

A relative clause can often be shortened to a participle: the boy who is standing at the gate → the boy standing at the gate the letter which was written by him → the letter written by him

Chapter summary

• in → the largest container, on → a surface or a named day, at → a single point, for both time and place.
• since + point, for + period; by = not later than, until = up to then; between two, among many.
• Learn adjective + preposition pairs as units: good at, married to, different from, interested in, afraid of, angry with.
• Discuss, enter, reach, marry, resemble, obey, describe, emphasise, investigate, comprise take no preposition; return back, repeat again and cope up with are all wrong.
• A past main verb pulls its subordinate clause into the past, except for universal truths.
• The present perfect never takes a finished past time; the earlier of two past events takes the past perfect; stative verbs have no continuous form.
• Defining relative clause: no commas, that allowed, object pronoun may be dropped.
• Non-defining relative clause: commas, that forbidden, pronoun never dropped — and always non-defining after a proper noun.
• That never follows a preposition; use to whom / in which, or move the preposition to the end.
• A relative clause can be reduced to a participle: the boy standing there, the letter written by him.

Practice questions

Fill in the blanks with the correct preposition, or leave it blank where none is needed (1 mark each)

1. She is very good ____ solving puzzles. [1]
2. My sister was married ____ an engineer last year. [1]
3. We discussed ____ the matter for nearly an hour. [1]
4. The meeting will begin _ ten o'clock _ Monday. [1]
5. He has been living in Butwal ____ 2015. [1]
6. Please reply ____ my letter as soon as possible. [1]
7. The committee consists ____ seven members. [1]
8. She is quite different ____ her twin sister. [1]
9. They reached ____ the village before sunset. [1]
10. The guests will arrive _ the hotel _ the evening. [1]

Answers

1. at — good at + noun or -ing.

2. to — married to, never with.

3. (no preposition) — discuss is transitive; discuss about is wrong.

4. at … on — a clock time takes at, a named day takes on.

5. since — 2015 is a point of time.

6. to — reply to someone or something.

7. of — consist of.

8. from — different from.

9. (no preposition) — reach the village; arrive at the village would need at.

10. at … in — arrive at a building, in the evening.

Put the verbs in brackets into the correct tense (1 mark each)

11. He (work) in this office since 2019. [1]
12. When we reached the theatre, the film already (start). [1]
13. Look! The children (play) in the rain. [1]
14. The teacher told us that the sun (rise) in the east. [1]
15. I (not see) him since last Dashain. [1]
16. By next June we (complete) our course. [1]
17. She (know) the answer, but she refused to say it. [1]

Answers

11. has been working — since + a point of time with an action continuing to now.

12. had already started — the earlier of two past events.

13. are playing — Look! signals something happening now.

14. rises — a universal truth does not shift after a past reporting verb.

15. have not seen — present perfect with since.

16. will have completed — future perfect with by next June.

17. knew — know is stative, so was knowing is impossible.

Join or rewrite as instructed (1 mark each)

18. That is the boy. His father is a pilot. — Join with a relative pronoun. [1]
19. Lumbini is visited by thousands of pilgrims. It is the birthplace of the Buddha. — Join with a non-defining clause. [1]
20. The pen is missing. I bought it yesterday. — Join with a defining clause. [1]
21. The girl who is sitting near the window is my cousin. — Reduce the relative clause. [1]
22. This is the officer. I complained to him. — Join, beginning This is the officer to … [1]

Answers

18. That is the boy whose father is a pilot. — possession takes whose.

19. Lumbini, which is the birthplace of the Buddha, is visited by thousands of pilgrims. — a proper noun requires commas and which.

20. The pen (that) I bought yesterday is missing. — the pronoun is the object, so it may be dropped.

21. The girl sitting near the window is my cousin. — who is is deleted and the -ing form remains.

22. This is the officer to whom I complained. — a preposition may precede whom but never that.