[Grammar] Correct use of Prepositions

[Chamara Janaka]

i have trouble with understanding the use of following prepositions.

to or at

from or by

1. I need the pizza to be delivered at/to Colombo (Colombo is a city)

2. I was punished by/from our English teacher

 

[Jigster]

I am not a teacher, but the correct answers here are:
1. to
2. by

1. "to" suggests direction, "at" suggests presence (I hope I am calling it correctly), as in: I am at my friend's at the moment. At is not usable in the sentence you provided.
2. "by" suggests that the teacher is the performer of the action of punishing. If he were to give you something, you would get it "from" him.
I hope I am making sense. I am sure the teachers here will explain this more comprehensively.

 

[MikeNewYork]

i have trouble with understanding the use of following prepositions.

to or at

from or by

1. I need the pizza to be delivered at/to Colombo (Colombo is a city)

2. I was punished by/from our English teacher

Jigster's answers are correct. Both sentences need a period (full stop) at the end.

 

[emsr2d2]

I've got a feeling your pizza delivery company is going to need a little more information than "I need the pizza delivered to Colombo"! In addition, if you are in Colombo and the pizza delivery company is in a different city, I'm pretty sure they won't deliver.

 

[Chamara Janaka]

Thank you for the reply!

Now i'm pretty much clear about using from/by in a sentence, but still not much clear about the first sentence.

Colombo is not a direction, but a specific location. Presuming that pizza shop is in another city, is the correct sentence "I need the pizza to be delivered to Colombo"?

 

[MikeNewYork]

Thank you for the reply!

Now i'm pretty much clear about using from/by in a sentence, but still not much clear about the first sentence.

Colombo is not a direction, but a specific location. Presuming that pizza shop is in another city, is the correct sentence "I need the pizza to be delivered to Colombo"?

Emsr's comment was not about grammar; it was about practical reality. Pizza places don't deliver from Rome to Colombo. If they did, the pizza would be cold. Your sentence would be possible if you called a store that was in a near suburb of Colombo and you were wondering if they delivered to that area. That would need to be followed up with an actual address.