I.
NOUNS AND ADJECTIVES
Nouns and adjectives
can be followed with specified prepositions.
Be careful : these
prepositions are often different from the French one.
A. Nouns
Some examples :
- the reason for
...
- it is time for
...
- There is no need for
...
- His interest in
...
- Cruelty to
animals
Sentences :
- The reason for
my worries is that I won’t have enough time to write my
dissertation.
- There is no need
for panic : you will spend your Christmas Holidays
typing it anyway.
B. Adjectives
Some examples :
- to be angry with
- to be pleased with
- to be surprised at
- to be good at
- to be interested in
- to be keen on
- to be afraid to
Sentences :
- We are all keen
on our dissertation, which will be for sure a master piece.
- I am furious with
my dog which has just eaten my floppy disk.
II.
VERBS
Prepositions can follow
verbs :
- they can be linked
with the verbs
- they can just be added
to change the meaning
Examples :
you can see how different are the following sentences :
- driving in England
can be dangerous if you are not used to.
- driving in a
nail can be dangerous if you are left- handed.
A. Prepositions which
are linked to verbs
In this first case, you
always need to have a preposition with the verb.
Examples :
- to believe in
- to call on
- to deal with
- to wait for
- to refer to
Sentences :
- We are sure you are
all waiting for the end of the grammar exposé.
- If you don’t
listen to what we are saying, we will kick you out.
You have to learn them,
they are like idioms.
It is impossible to guess
the appropriate preposition.
B. Prepositions which
are added to verbs
They can be added for
three reasons :
1. They can go
with a verb without any precise meaning
For instance, a action
described with ‘to get’ is precise if you use a preposition
:
- Example : to get up
, to get away, to get together...
- It is difficult to
get up for my English lesson in the morning.
- She wants to get
away from the IEP .
- to bring back, to
grow up, to stand up...
Here you can guess the
meaning of the verb thanks to the prepositions.
Most of the time they
indicate the movement, the direction...
- Away, Back, Down,
Up, In, Out, Through, Over, ........
2. They can explain the
way the action is carried out
For instance : She could
not afford a plane ticket to fly to London, that’s why she
decided to swim across the Channel.
3. They can completely change
the meaning of the verb
Examples :
- To put off to postpone
- to bring out to cause
- to make out to understand
- to keep on to continue
- to put up with to
tolerate
- to make up for to
compensate
Sentences :
- We all get on well
with Mr Hutchinson
- She keeps on
biting her nails even though her parents tell her not to.
Be careful :
- you have to learn
them, you can not guess them.
- They are more common
in spoken English.
- As far as written
English is concerned, it is better to write ‘to continue’
instead of ‘to keep on’
IF
YOU WANT TO DO SOME EXERCISES ABOUT THIS GRAMMAR POINT,
CLOSE
THIS APPLICATION, GO TO "DEMARRER", "PROGRAMMES", "GRAMSTER"
