Select the correct alternative to fill in the blank with the correct preposition in the following sentence.
The servants were responsible ______ keeping the house neat and clean.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B
Explanation
Correct Answer
for
Explanation
The adjective "responsible" takes the fixed preposition "for" when it is followed by an action, task, or person that someone has a duty to look after. In this sentence, because keeping the house neat and clean is a duty assigned to the servants, the correct combination is "responsible for".
The other options do not fit standard grammatical collocations. While you can be responsible to an authority figure (like a boss or a manager), you cannot use "to" directly before a task or a gerund like "keeping". Prepositions like "about" or "on" are completely ungrammatical in this context.
Key Points
Fixed preposition combinations depend heavily on what follows the adjective. Remember the pattern: you are responsible to a superior authority, but you are responsible for a specific task, duty, or mistake.