Dependent prepositions
Fixed prepositions after verbs, adjectives and nouns (depend on, good at, afraid of, the reason for).
Dependent prepositions are the fixed prepositions that English requires after particular verbs, adjectives and nouns, and they must be learned as whole chunks because they almost never match the Azerbaijani equivalent word for word. After certain verbs the preposition is fixed: depend on, rely on, listen to, belong to, apologise for, succeed in, insist on, accuse someone of, congratulate someone on, remind someone of. After many adjectives the preposition is also fixed: good/bad at, afraid/scared of, interested in, proud of, keen on, fond of, similar to, responsible for, worried about, famous for, full of. Even nouns have favourite prepositions: the reason for, a solution to, an increase in, the cause of, an answer to, interest in. The tricky part is that one English word can take different prepositions with different meanings (good at maths vs good for you; agree with a person vs agree to a plan), so context decides the choice. Note also that after any preposition a verb must be in the -ing form. For example: 'She is very good at chess and never gets bored of practising.'
Rules
- 1Verbs with fixed prepositions: depend/rely ON, listen/belong TO, wait/apologise FOR, succeed/believe IN, agree WITH, accuse someone OF.
- 2Adjectives with fixed prepositions: good/bad AT, afraid/proud/fond OF, interested IN, keen ON, worried/anxious ABOUT, responsible FOR, similar TO.
- 3Nouns with fixed prepositions: the reason FOR, a solution/answer TO, an increase/interest IN, the cause OF, an advantage OF.
- 4Always use the -ing form of a verb after a preposition: 'interested in learning', 'afraid of failing', 'good at cooking'.
- 5Watch meaning-based pairs: agree WITH a person but agree TO a proposal; good AT a skill but good FOR your health.
Practice
15 easy · 15 medium · 15 hard