Use of prepositions after verbs & adjectives – part 1
PREPOSITIONS AFTER VERBS
This is the most commonly used verbs after the preposition:
apologise FOR | I apologised for my rudeness. |
apply FOR | I applied for the job and got it. |
believe IN | Do you believe in ghost? |
care FOR | Would you care for a cup of tea? |
consist OF | The book consists of 20 chapters. |
depend ON | My future depends on that company. |
die OF | She died of tuberculosis |
dream ABOUT | Last night I dreamt about a trip to Africa. |
dream OF | He dreams of living in America. |
happen TO | What happened to your old bike? |
hear ABOUT | Have you heard about their divorce? |
laugh AT | Don’t laugh at me. I know I look silly. |
listen TO | When I arrived she was listening to classical music. |
look AT | Look at those clouds! They remind me of sheep. |
pay FOR | I’ll pay for dinner. |
remind OF | He reminds me of his father. |
shout AT | Don’t shout at me. |
smile AT | She smiled at me and left the room. |
spend ON | I spent all my money on CDs. |
think ABOUT | What are you thinking about? |
think OF | What do you think of my haircut? |
throw AT | The boy threw the ball at me, but I failed to catch it. |
wait FOR | I’ve been waiting for him all morning. |
VERBS WITHOUT PREPOSITIONS
In English, there is a group of verbs that we use without prepositions.
The most commonly used are:
answer | She didn’t answer my question. |
discuss | We need to discuss our problems. |
enter | He entered the building through the main entrance. |
leave | I left the room as soon as she came in. |
call / phone | Ryan phoned me earlier that morning. |
reach | We reached Madrid on 7th of July. |
PREPOSITIONS AFTER ADJECTIVES
These are the most popular prepositions used after adjectives:
angry WITH (sb) FOR (sth) | I’m angry with you for doing that! |
afraid/scared OF | I’m afraid/scared of spiders. |
bored/ fed up WITH | I’m fed up/ bored with watc.hingTV all night. |
disappointed WITH | His parents were disappointed with him. |
famous FOR | The city is famous for its museums. |
full OF | This sentence is full of mistakes. |
good/bad AT | Ken is very good at languages. |
interested IN | Are you interested in photography? |
jealous OF | She’s so jealous of her husband that she doesn’t even allow him to meet with his colleagues. |
proud OF | She’s very proud of her children. |
responsible FOR | We are all responsible for what happened last night. |
shocked AT/ BY | I was shocked at the news of her death. |
similar TO | You are very similar in appearance to your mother. |
sorry ABOUT / FOR doing | I’m sorry about the accident. I’m sorry for breaking your favourite cup. |
surprised AT / BY | Are you surprised by the news? |
tired OF | She was tired of doing the same thing every day. |
worried ABOUT | I’m worried about you, Max. You look ill. |