Question

Choose the correct option: "He was accused ____ negligence and was held responsible ____ the failure."

• A. of, for
• B. for, of
• C. with, for
• D. of, with

Hint:

Keep these common blame and legal prepositions paired together in your study notes:
• Accused of an offense
• Charged with a crime
• Responsible for a result
• Guilty of a misdeed Memorizing these sets saves you valuable time during examinations!

Answer 1

The Correct Option is A

Step 1: Understanding the Concept:
This question tests fixed prepositions. In English grammar, certain verbs, adjectives, and nouns are idiomatically bound to specific prepositions. Choosing the correct terms relies on identifying these standardized, non-negotiable lexical combinations rather than attempting to translate word-for-word from another language.

Step 2: Detailed Explanation:
Let's analyze each blank independently to find its fixed prepositional pairing: First Blank: The passive verb construction was accused means to be charged with a specific fault, wrongdoing, or legal error. In standard English idiom, the verb accuse always pairs with the fixed preposition "of" (e.g., accused of theft, accused of murder, accused of negligence). Using for or with here is grammatically incorrect. Second Blank: The adjective phrase held responsible indicates accountability for an event, outcome, or action. It standardly pairs with the fixed preposition "for" when followed directly by the situation or failure in question (e.g., responsible for the mistake, responsible for the failure). Combining these two specific requirements yields the clean sequence: of, for. This matches option (a) perfectly.

Step 3: Final Answer:
The correct prepositions to complete the sentence are "of, for".