Improve the underlined part of the sentence, if necessary: "Shall I sit between you at the concert?"

Introduction / Context:
This sentence improvement question focuses on the correct use of prepositions. The speaker is asking where to sit in relation to another person at a concert. The underlined word between sounds odd here, and you must choose the preposition that expresses the intended meaning accurately.

Given Data / Assumptions:
The original sentence is:

• Shall I sit between you at the concert?

The options for replacement are:

• beside
• besides
• next
• No improvement

Concept / Approach:
The preposition between is used when referring to a position separating two or more people or things, for example between two friends. Here, the speaker appears to be addressing a single person. The natural preposition to show adjacency to one person is beside, meaning at the side of. Besides is a different word meaning in addition to. Next alone is incomplete without to. Therefore, beside is the correct choice.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Identify the relationship described. The speaker is asking if they may sit at the side of the listener. Step 2: Examine between. This suggests a position in the middle of two people or things and is not suitable when only one person is mentioned. Step 3: Examine beside. This preposition means at the side of or next to, which matches the intended meaning of sitting by one person at the concert. Step 4: Examine besides. This means in addition to and does not describe physical position. Step 5: Examine next. Used alone, next is an adjective and needs the word to after it to function as a prepositional phrase, as in next to you. Step 6: Therefore, beside is the appropriate word to replace between.

Verification / Alternative check:
Read the improved sentence: Shall I sit beside you at the concert? This sounds natural and clearly states that the speaker wishes to sit next to the listener. If there had been two persons mentioned, for example between you and your friend, between could have been correct. Since only you is mentioned, beside is necessary.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Besides is wrong because it has a completely different meaning related to addition, such as besides you, there were three others. Next is wrong without to, and the sentence would feel incomplete. No improvement is wrong because the original preposition between is not correct when only one person is referred to as the reference point.

Common Pitfalls:
Learners often confuse between and beside because both can describe spatial relationships. Another common mistake is to think that besides is simply another spelling of beside, which is not true. Remember that between usually involves two or more reference points, while beside involves one reference point. Also recall that besides indicates addition, not position. Keeping these distinctions clear helps in preposition based questions.

Final Answer:
The correct improvement is beside.