VERBS WITH 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, consist of, happen to, hint at, hope for, insist on, lead to, listen to, pay for, qualify for, refer to, relate to, sympathize with.

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, apologize for/to, appeal to/for, care about/of, complain to somebody about/of, conform to/with, remind about/of, result from/in, suffer from/with, think about/of.

3. With verbs that are used without an object, different prepositions are used to introduce different types of information:

a. ‘about’ indicates the subject matter:

care, complain, do, dream, explain, hear, know, speak, talk, think, write

b. ‘at’ indicates direction:

glance, glare, grin, laugh, look, point, shoot, shout, smile, stare

c. ‘for’ indicates purpose or reason:

apologize, apply, ask, leave, look, search, wait

d. ‘into’ indicates the object involved in a collision:

bump, crash, drive, run

e. ‘of’ indicates facts of information:

hear, know, speak, talk, think

f. ‘on’ indicates confidence or certainty:

congratulate, count, depend, plan, rely

g. ‘to’ indicates the listener or reader:

complain, explain, listen, say, speak, talk, write

h. ‘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.

EXERCISE 1

EXERCISE 2