Language Form and Meaning: word forms, prepositions and articles
Introduced| English | Meaning |
|---|---|
| preposition/ˌprepəˈzɪʃn/ | A word that relates a noun or pronoun to another part of a sentence, often indicating place, time or direction. |
One word, four shapes
- success, succeed, successful, successfully: the same idea in four word forms. Language Form and Meaning often gives you all four and asks which one fits the box.
- The meaning is the same. The job in the sentence decides the form.
"Success", "succeed" and "successful" have the same basic meaning but different jobs in a sentence.
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They share the idea; the form shows the job (noun, verb, adjective).
Find the job of the box
- Before a noun you need an adjective (a careful plan). After the, a, his you need a noun (the success).
- After a verb you often need an adverb (she spoke clearly). After to or a subject, you need a verb (to succeed).
- The team worked ___ to finish the model bridge. careful / carefully / care / caring
- After the verb worked, an adverb: carefully.
What job does the box have?
Choose the right word form from the job of the box in the sentence
The team worked ___ to finish the model bridge.
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After the verb "worked", an adverb describes how.
Mia gave a very ___ talk about recycling.
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Before the noun "talk", an adjective. "Interesting" describes the talk; "interested" describes a person's feeling.
The ___ of the new sports hall took two years.
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After "the" and before "of", a noun is needed. Here "building" is a noun meaning the work of building.
Our class wants to ___ the school garden this spring.
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After "to", the base verb.
Suffixes give clues
- Nouns often end in -tion, -ment, -ness, -ity (decision, movement, kindness, activity).
- Adjectives: -ful, -less, -ous, -ive, -able (helpful, careless, famous, active, comfortable). Adverbs: usually -ly.
- friendly and lovely end in -ly but are adjectives. A friendly dog, not a friend dog.
Match each word to its word class.
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-sion is a noun ending, -ful an adjective ending, -ly an adverb ending.
Which word is an ADJECTIVE even though it ends in -ly?
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"Friendly" describes a noun: a friendly dog.
Prepositions of time and place
- Time: at 7 o'clock, on Monday / 3 May, in June / 2026 / the morning.
- Place: at the bus stop (a point), on the wall (a surface), in the classroom (inside).
- Small to big: at a time → on a day → in a month, year or season.
Match each time phrase to its preposition.
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at a time, on a day, in a month or part of the day.
Meet me ___ the bus stop at four.
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"At" for a point or meeting place.
The map is ___ the wall next to the door. (one word)
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"On" for a surface.
Words that take a fixed preposition
- Some words always take the same preposition 介词: interested in, good at, afraid of, depend on, listen to, arrive at/in.
- Learn them as one chunk: good-at, not good + something. The box often sits right after the word.
Match each word to the preposition it takes.
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Learn these as chunks; the box often comes right after the word.
Please listen ___ the instructions before you start.
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"Listen to" is the fixed chunk.
Articles: a, an, the or nothing
- a / an for one thing that is new to the reader: I saw a fox. the for a thing the reader knows: The fox ran away.
- No article for general plural or uncountable nouns: Foxes are clever. Water boils at 100 °C.
- Our school has ___ new library. ___ library opens at 8. → a new library (first time), The library (now we know it).
Our school has ___ new library. It opens next week.
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The library is mentioned for the first time, and "new" starts with a consonant sound.
I bought a sandwich and an apple. ___ apple was delicious.
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The reader already knows which apple, so "the".
___ elephants can live for more than sixty years.
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A general statement about a plural noun needs no article.
She waited for ___ hour at the station. (a or an)
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"Hour" starts with a vowel sound (the h is silent), so "an".
Traps for Chinese speakers
- Chinese has no articles, so a / the are easy to forget. Check every singular countable noun: does it need one?
- Chinese words don't change form for the job. In English, check the ending: a beauty garden ✗ → a beautiful garden ✓.
Which sentence is correct?
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A singular countable noun needs an article, and before a noun we need the adjective "beautiful".
A 30-second routine
- 1 Read the whole sentence. 2 Name the job of the box (noun, adjective, verb, adverb, preposition, article). 3 Remove options with the wrong job. 4 Choose by meaning.
- Most word-form boxes take 15 seconds once you check the job first.
Put the 30-second routine in order.
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Checking the job first removes most options quickly.
The museum is open ___ weekends, ___ 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
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"On weekends" (days) and "from … to …" for a time range.
Recap
- Same meaning, different job: noun, verb, adjective, adverb. Endings help.
- at / on / in: point, surface, inside; time, day, month.
- a / an = new; the = known; nothing = general plural or uncountable.
Write four sentences about your school day. Use: one adverb ending in -ly, one adjective ending in -ful, "at" with a time, and "the" for something you already mentioned.
Checking the job of each word is the same skill the test uses.
Official sources
- Language Form and Meaning format checked on 15 November 2026 in the TOEFL Junior Test Taker Handbook (ETS, PDF).
- Language Form and Meaning sample questions (ETS). All examples here are original.