Prepositions after particular words In English

• Beneficial to

E.g. A good diet is beneficial to health.

• Bad at

E.g. She is so bad at keeping secrets.

• Base on

E.g. What are you basing this theory on?

• Belong to

E.g. The islands belong to Spain.

• Blamed for

E.g. A dropped cigarette is being blamed for the fire

• Bore with

E.g. Has he been boring you with his stories about his trip?

• Busy with

E.g.  Kate’s busy with her homework.

• Capable of

E.g. You are capable of better work than this.

• Characteristic of

E.g. They suffer from many of the environmental problems that are characteristic of inner-city areas.

• Compare to, with

E.g. This school compares with the best in the country

• Confer on, upon, with

E.g. He wanted to confer with his colleagues before reaching a decision.

• Concern in

E.g. Everyone who was directly concerned in the incident has now resigned.

• Concerned with

E.g. The book is primarily concerned with Soviet-American relations during the Cold War.

• Conform to

E.g. He refused to conform to the local customs.

• Consist in, of

E.g. The beauty of the city consists in its magnificent buildings.

• Convenient for, to

E.g. The house is very convenient for several schools.

• Confident of

E.g. I’m 95% confident of success.

• Concentrate on

E.g. We were told to concentrate on a black dot in the middle of the screen.

• Congratulate on

E.g. I congratulated them all on their results.

• Cruel to

E.g. I can’t stand people who are cruel to animals.

• Correspond to, with

E.g. Your account of events does not correspond with hers.

• Count on

E.g. I’m counting on you to help me.

• In danger of

E.g. The building is in danger of collapsing

• Deal in, with

E.g. The company deals in computer software.

• Depend on

E.g. He was the sort of person you could depend on.

• Deprived of

E.g. They were imprisoned and deprived of their basic rights.

• Desire for

E.g. She felt a surge of love and desire for him.

• Desirous of

E.g. At that point Franco was desirous of prolonging the war.

• Devoid of

E.g. The letter was devoid of warmth and feeling.

• Devoted to

E.g. He devoted a lifetime to working with disabled children.

• Differ about, from, with

E.g.  French differs from English in this respect.

• Different from, than

E.g. American English is significantly different from British English.

• Disagree with

E.g. I disagree strongly with this idea.

• Disdain for

E.g. Judges sometimes show great disdain for the law.

• Distaste for

E.g. Joe had a profound distaste for violence.

• Distinguish from

E.g. What was it that distinguished her from her classmates?

• Dreamt about

E.g. I had a vivid dream about my old school.

• Dream of

E.g. She had this romantic dream of living in a windmill.

• Disappointed with

E.g. I was very disappointed with myself.

• Empty of

E.g. The room was empty of furniture.

• Envious of

E.g. They were envious of his success.

• Expert in/at

E.g. He’s an expert at getting his own way.

• Expose to

E.g.  He did not want to expose his fears and insecurity to anyone.

• Excited about

E.g. The children were excited about opening their presents.

• Foreign to

E.g. Dishonesty is foreign to his nature.

• Familiar to

E.g. The name sounded vaguely familiar to her.

• Famous for

E.g. He became internationally famous for his novels.

• Fed up

E.g. People are fed up with all these traffic jams.

• Fond of

E.g. Over the years, I have grown quite fond ofher.

• Good at

E.g. Nick has always been good at finding cheap flights.

• Grateful to

E.g. I am extremely grateful to all the teachers for their help.

• Harmful to

E.g. Fruit juices can be harmful to children’s teeth.

• Hear about

E.g. I was sorry to hear about your accident.

• Hear of

E.g. I’ve never heard of the place.

• Identical with

E.g.  The number on the card should be identical with the one on the chequebook.

• Infer from

E.g. Much of the meaning must be inferred from the context.

• In/with regard to

E.g. The company’s position with regard to overtime is made clear in their contracts.

• Independent of

E.g. The police force should be independent of direct government control.

• Infer from

E.g. Much of the meaning must be inferred from the context.

• Inseparable from

E.g. Our economic fortunes are inseparable from those of Europe.

• Interested in

E.g.  I’m very interested in history.

• Increase by

E.g. The budget has increased by more than a third in the last year.

• Insist on

E.g. She insisted on his/him wearing a suit.

• Involved in

E.g. How many vehicles were involved in the crash?

• Jealous of

E.g. They are very jealous of their good reputation

• Keen on

E.g.  I wasn’t too keen on going to the party.

• Kind of

E.g. I’ll never have that kind of money

• Laugh at

E.g. You never laugh at my jokes!

• Look at

E.g. I haven’t had time to look at the papers yet.

• Married to

E.g. She’s married to John.

• Oblivious of

E.g.  He drove off, oblivious of the damage he had caused.

• Pleased with

E.g.  She was very pleased with her exam results.

• Polite to

E.g. Please be polite to our guests.

• Popular among/with

E.g. I’m not very popular with my parents at the moment.

• Proud of

E.g. He was proud of himself for not giving up.

• Prevent from

E.g. He is prevented by law from holding a licence.

• Proficient in

E.g. She’s proficient in several languages.

• Prohibit from

E.g. Soviet citizens were prohibited from travelling abroad.

• Prone to

E.g. Working without a break makes you more prone to error.

• Protest against

E.g. The workers staged a protest against the proposed changes in their contracts.

• Reason with

E.g. I tried to reason with him, but he wouldn’t listen.

• Recover from

E.g. He’s still recovering from his operation.

• Sensitive to

E.g. She is very sensitive to other people’s feelings.

• Separate from

E.g. Raw meat must be kept separate from cooked meat.

• Short of

E.g. She is not short of excuses when things go wrong.

• Similar to

E.g.  My teaching style is similar to that of most other teachers.

• Speak to, with

E.g. This is the third time I’ve had to speak to him about being late.

• Substitute for

E.g. Paul’s father only saw him as a substitute for his dead brother.

• Succeed in

E.g. He succeeded in getting a place at art school.

• Superior to

E.g. This model is technically superior to its competitors.

• Sympathize with

E.g. I find it very hard to sympathize with him.

• Sick of

E.g. I’m sick of the way you’ve treated me.

• Spend on

E.g.  She spent £100 on a new dress.

• Succeed in

E.g. He succeeded in getting a place at art school.

• Suitable for

E.g. This programme is not suitable for children.

• Take care of

E.g. Who’s taking care of the children while you’re away?

• Think about

E.g. Don’t you ever think about other people?

• Used to

E.g. I used to live in London.

• Worry about

E.g. Don’t worry about me. I’ll be all right.