PREPOSITIONS
VERBS WITH PREPOSITIONS
1. Many verbs that are used without an object are normally followed by a prepositional phrase. Some verbs take a particular preposition:
| belong to hint at lead to qualify for sympathize with |
consist of hope for listen to refer to |
happen to insist on pay for relate to |
2. With other verbs that are used without an object, the choice of a different preposition may alter the meaning of the clause.
| agree on/with appeal to/for conform to/with result from/in think about/of complain to somebody about/of |
apologize for/ to care about/of remind about/of suffer from/with |
3. With verbs that are used without an object, different prepositions are used to introduce different types of information.
‘about’ indicates the subject matter
| care explain talk |
complain hear think |
do know write |
dream speak |
‘at’ indicates direction
| glance look smile |
glare pointstare | grin shoot | laugh shout |
‘for’ indicates purpose or reason
| apologiz looke |
apply search |
ask wait |
leave |
‘into’ indicates the object involved in a collision
| bump | crash | drive | run |
‘of’ indicates facts of information
| hear think |
know | speak | talk |
‘on’ indicates confidence or certainty
| congratulate | count | depend | plan | rely |
‘to’ indicates the listener or reader
| complain speak |
explain talk |
listen write |
say |
‘with’ indicates someone whose opinion is the same or different
| agree | argue | disagree | side |
4. Some verbs have an object, but are also followed by a preposition.
EXERCISES
Put in the correct prepositions (to, about, at, from, for, in, into, of, on, with):
1. I want to talk ___ the group ___ their exams.
2. All last winter he suffered ___coughs and colds.
3. When will you write ___ Bill ___your plans?
4. If you don’t understand any of these words, you could refer ___ a dictionary.
5. The accident sadly result ___ the death of a man.
6. The police are appealing ___ witnesses to come forward.
7. It wasn’t his car, in fact I don’t know who it belongs ___ .
8. Nurses are very badly paid, I think they should insist ___ higher rates of pay.
9. The poor driver – I really sympathize ___ him, it wasn’t his fault.
10. The buses are often late, so you can’t depend ___ them.
11. Do you qualify ___ a state pension when you are 55?
12. Keep enough money to pay ___ your ticket.
13. Have you heard ___ what had happened ___ him? Oh, I don’t care ___ him.
14. I said ___ you I was thinking ___ going to America. I actually dreamt ___ it.
15. She listened ___me and then told me ___ her problems.
16. The bus ran ___ the wall of a house.
17. People started to shout ___the driver.
18. Who was the boy you were all laughing ___ ?
19. I saw somebody staring ___me from the other side of the road.
20. He was always arguing ___ his brother.
21. I bumped ___ an old friend the other day.
22. I agree ___you that we should wait a bit longer ___her.
23. She never apologizes ___ arriving late.
24. I thought we should look ___someone else to do the job.
25. If you want to travel, that would be a good job to apply ___ .
26. The land belongs ___ a rich man.
27. She then referred ___ the Minister’s report.
28. I congratulate her ___ her success in the exams.
29. The boss disagreed ___ me.
30. The match resulted ___ a draw.
31. His failure resulted ___ lack of attention to details.
32. Tonight I’m going to talk ___ engines.
33. You can count ___ me.
34. You can rely ___ him to be polite.
35. They complained ___ me about the noise.
36. Mary turned her head to speak ___ him.
37. The daughters sided ___ their mothers.
38. Can I speak ___ Jane, please?
39. Can you explain this word ___ me?
40. Can you explain ___ me what you mean?
41. He told me his name but I can’t think ___ it now.
42. This house reminds me ___ the one I lived in when I was a child.
43. We called the doctor because Nick was complaining ___a pain in his stomach.
44. That’s a good idea. Why didn’t I think ___ that?
45. Look at this photograph of Ann. Who does she remind you ___ ?
46. She left Boston ___ Paris when she was 19.
47. If something is wrong, why don’t you do something ___ it?
48. Peter likes his job but he doesn’t talk ___ it much.
49. I like to listen ___ the radio while I’m having breakfast.
50. Please don’t shout ___ me!
KEYS:
| 1. to, about 2. from 3. to, about 4. to 5. in 6. to, for 7. to 8. on 9. with 10. on 11. for 12. for 13. about, to, about 14. to, about, about 15. to, about 16. into 17. at 18. at 19. at 20. with 21. into 22. with, for 23. for 24. for 25. for 26. to 27. to 28. on 29. with 30. in 31. from 32. about 33. on 34. on 35. to 36. to 37. with 38. to 39. to 40. to. 41. of 42. of 43. of 44. of 45. of. 46. for 47. about 48. about 49. to 50. at. |
ADJECTIVES WITH PREPOSITIONS
1. When you use an adjective after a link verb, you can often use the adjective on its own or followed by a prepositional phrase.
2. Some adjectives cannot be used alone after a link verb, if they are followed by a prepositional phrase, it must have a particular preposition:
| aware ofunaware of different from /or to/ sorry about/ for |
accustomed tounaccustomed to | fond ofused to |
3. Some adjectives can be used alone or followed by a particular
preposition:
Used alone or with ‘of’ to specify the cause of a feeling:
| afraid envious scared |
ashamed frightened suspicious |
convinced jealous terrified |
critical proud tired |
Used alone or with ‘of’ to specify the person who has a quality:
| brave good polite thoughtful unreasonable |
careless intelligent sensible unkind |
clever kind silly wrong |
generous nice stupid |
Used alone or with ‘to’, usually referring to:
similarity:
| close | equal | identical | related | similar |
marriage:
| married | engaged |
loyalty:
| dedicated | devoted |
loyal and their opposites
rank:
| junior | senior |
Used alone or followed by ‘with’ to specify the cause of a feeling:
| bored dissatisfied pleased |
content impatient satisfied |
displeased impressed |
Used alone or with ‘at’, usually referring to:
strong reaction:
| amazed shocked |
astonished surprised |
ability:
| bad hopeless |
excellent useless |
good |
Used alone or with ‘for’ to specify the person or the thing that quality relates to:
| common difficult important unnecessary |
easy necessary unusual |
essential possible usual |
4. Some adjectives can be used alone or with different
prepositions.
Used alone or with an impersonal subject and ‘of’ and the subject of
the action, or with a personal subject and ‘to’ and the object of the action:
| cruel kind polite |
friendly mean rude |
generous nasty unfriendly |
goodpolite nice unkind |
Used alone, with ‘about’ to specify a thing or ‘with’ to specify a person:
| angry fed up |
annoyed furious |
delighted happy |
disappointed upset |
EXERCISES
Put in the correct prepositions /of, to, with, at, about, for, from/:
1. He was afraid ___ his enemies.
2. I’ve always been terribly fond ___ you.
3. He is unaccustomed ___ the heat.
4. They may feel jealous ___ your success.
5. I was terrified ___ her.
6. That was clever ___ you.
7. I turned the job down, which was stupid ___ me.
8. My problems are very similar ___ yours.
9. He was dedicated ___ his job.
10. I could never be bored ___ football.
11. He was very pleased ___ her.
12. He was shocked ___ the hatred they had shown.
13. She had always been bad ___ languages.
14. It’s difficult ___ young people on their own.
15. It was unusual ___them to go away at the weekend.
16. It was rude ___him to leave so suddenly.
17. She was rude ___him for no reason.
18. She was still angry ___ the results.
19. They’re getting pretty fed up ___ him.
20. If you continue to support someone who is in trouble you are loyal ___ them.
21. If two things are almost the same one is similar ___ the other.
22. Someone who is a fine athlete is good ___ games.
23. I was proud ___ my brother.
24. I’m very surprised ___ you. I can’t understand the way you behave.
25. Life is very different ___ what it used to be.
26. Who is responsible ___ this mess?
27. I’m delighted ___ the result. It’s exactly what I wanted.
28. In the army, a sergeant is senior ___ a corporal.
29. If two things are exactly the same one is identical ___ the other.
30. If something makes you very unhappy, you are very upset ___ it.
31. If someone makes you very angry, you are furious ___ them.
32. If you feel that you do not trust someone, you are suspicious ___ them.
33. If you treat someone very well, you are being kind ___ them.
34. If you have agreed to marry someone, you are engaged ___ him/her.
35. Everyone was very critical ___ the way he behaved.
36. We were very happy ___ the way they treated us.
37. I was very displeased ___ the way they looked.
38. I feel sorry ___ Nick. He has a lot of problems.
39. I’m sorry ___ the noise last night. We were having a party.
40. That was not very polite ___ you.
41. Why are you always so rude ___ your parents?
42. Were you disappointed ___your exam results?
KEYS:
| 1. of 2. of 3. to 4. of 5. of 6. of 7. of 8. to 9. to 10. with 11. with 12. at 13. at 14. for 15. for 16. of 17. to 18. about 19. with 20. to 21. to 22. at 23. of 24. at 25. from 26. for 27. with 28. to 29. to 30. about 31. with 32. of 33. to 34. to 35. of 36. about 37. with 38. for 39. about 40. of 41. to 42. with. |
Compiled by Kisunko Helen
Moscow, School No. 651