Do you know what preposition comes after
LISTEN
SPEAK
AGREE
WAIT
and
DEPEND?
Hello everyone Anna here from englishlikeanative.co.uk
In this lesson we're going to look at PREPOSITIONS.
Prepositions are small words like ‘at’, ‘up’, ‘on’ and ‘between’,
that usually come before a noun or pronoun and show the relationship between the words.
My students tell me that prepositions are one of the most difficult things about English.
I know they're a real pain to remember, but fear not.
I'm here to help.
As always, I've put together a useful worksheet covering all the important points of this lesson
along with a quiz. To further test your knowledge. I will email this free PDF directly to you.
All you have to do is click on the link below and sign up to my mailing list.
Once you're on the list, I will send you all future notes as well.
Now, when learning any language,
it's important to remember that certain words are usually said or written together.
Prepositions are no exception.
Specific prepositions often come after certain verbs and adjectives.
So next time you're SPEAKING TO a native speaker
or reading something in English, try to take note of what prepositions go with which words.
Do you see what I did there?
I just use the verb SPEAK. I said,
“The next time you're speaking __ a native speaker.”
Which preposition did I use after it?
I said TO.
“The next time you're SPEAKING TO a native speaker...”
You can also say WITH after speak,
“The next time you're SPEAKING WITH a native speaker...”
They’re used in almost the exact same way but there is a small difference,
which I will talk about at the end of this video.
So, let's start with prepositions
after adjectives. First up, we've got
INTERESTED IN
“I'm interested in DIY.”
or
“I'm interested in working at your company.”
So, when you say ‘interested’ remember ‘in’.
INTERESTED IN
Like one word, you've got it?
What are you interested in?
Next up is
GOOD AT
“I'm GOOD AT my job.”
“I'm GOOD AT playing the piano.”
“She is GOOD AT finding practical solutions.”
When we talk about how well we can do something – we use the preposition ‘AT’.
We also say BAD AT.
For example,
“He's BAD AT keeping secrets.”
or “They're not too BAD AT cooking.”
Next, we have
AFRAID OF
“He's AFRAID OF dogs.”
or
“She's AFRAID OF spiders.”
AFRAID OF
Do you want to know what I am deeply AFRAID OF?
I will reveal all later.
We also use OF with PROUD’.
You can be PROUD OF what you've done.
For example,
“We are PROUD OF our progress in English.”
or
“I'm PROUD OF getting a ‘B’ in my exam.
PROUD OF
The last adjective I'm going to talk about today is
RESPONSIBLE.
Do you know the preposition that comes after ‘responsible’?
RESPONSIBLE FOR
“She's RESPONSIBLE FOR the finance department.”
“He is RESPONSIBLE FOR making the shopping list.”
RESPONSIBLE FOR
Now let's test your memory.
Listen to Doreen and see if you can fill in the blanks.
“I have terrible news, I'm afraid. This morning your father,
was speaking __ me and unfortunately, he has a rare bowel disease.
He's been given 6 months.
We've spoken __ the specialist who believes that his only hope is a clinical trial of an
experimental treatment that he can put your father down for if he's interested __ giving it a go.
There are risks of course, but he has limited options.
Now your dad isn't very good __ talking about his feelings.
So, when you do see him tonight, just keep the conversation light.
He actually asked me not to tell you, but we all know how bad I am __ keeping secrets, so...
Are you okay?
You know, your father and I are both very proud __ you and what you have achieved.
The last thing we want is for this illness to become your burden.
Your dad said that he was afraid __ letting you down,
not being there for you. So, remember,
you don't need to do anything, just enjoy the time we have together and look after yourself.
I'll be responsible __ your dad and if I need any help, I will let you know.”
Did you manage to fill in all blanks?
Here are the answers.
“I have terrible news, I'm afraid. This morning your father, was SPEAKING TO me and
unfortunately, he has a rare bowel disease.
He's been given 6 months. We've SPOKEN WITH the specialist who believes that his
only hope is a clinical trial of an experimental treatment that
he can put your father down for if he's INTERESTED IN giving it a go.
There are risks of course, but he has limited options.
Now your dad isn't very GOOD AT talking about his feelings. So,
when you do see him tonight, just keep the conversation light. He actually asked me
not to tell you, but we all know how BAD I am AT keeping secrets, so...
Are you okay?
You know, your father and I are both very PROUD OF you and what you have achieved.
The last thing we want is for this illness to become your burden.
Your dad said that he was AFRAID OF letting you down,
not being there for you. So, remember, you don't need to do
anything, just enjoy the time we have together and look after yourself.
I'll be RESPONSIBLE FOR your dad and if I need any help, I will let you know.”
Next let's take a look at some common verb and preposition combinations.
I'm not talking about phrasal verbs here.
These are just verbs that commonly take a preposition
(especially when there is an object after them).
First up, we've got
LISTEN TO.
“This morning I LISTENED TO Bach while making breakfast.”
“They usually LISTEN TO the radio on long drives.”
I often hear students making a mistake with this...
They forget to say TO after LISTEN, but if you're saying what
you are LISTENING TO, then you have to use the preposition.
You can just say LISTEN, if you want someone to do the action, but if you say
what you want them to listen TO after, it's only correct if you have the preposition.
“LISTEN TO this!”
“Hey, LISTEN TO me!”
or just
“LISTEN!”
We also use the preposition TO with the verb BELONG.
For example,
“This book BELONGS TO Caspian.”
or
“Who does this jacket BELONG TO?”
BELONG TO
Another verb students often miss the preposition after is WAIT.
We have to say what you're WAITING FOR.
Like the song, “What you waiting FOR?”
Now this is another tip I have to help you learn prepositions.
Try to actively search for prepositions used in your favourite songs, especially if they're used
after a verb or adjective because then you'll know which prepositions to use after that word.
Remember that songs aren't always grammatically correct, but they're still a fun way to learn.
So,
“What are you waiting for?”
Next up is
DEPEND ON
We can say,
“The salary DEPENDS ON your previous experience.”
or
“I am so happy I can DEPEND ON my friends.”
DEPEND ON
We also use ON with SPEND.
We SPEND money or time ON something.
“I SPENT 20 pounds ON this!”
Or you might say,
“I don't have a lot to SPEND ON this jacket.”
And from the context, we will understand that you're talking about money.
We could also say,
“I don't want to SPEND too long ON this decision.
And we will understand that you're talking about time.
Or your boss might ask,
“How long did you SPEND ON this report?”
SPEND ON
Can you guess how long I SPENT ON making this video?
When we use dependent prepositions, prepositions that go after specific
adjective or verbs they are usually found together in the sentence.
But in this example,
“I don't want to SPEND too long ON this decision.”
TOO LONG comes between SPEND and ON.
We still need the preposition because we say WHAT afterwards.
You could say, “I don't want to SPEND too long.”
But if we add THIS DECISION, then we need ON.
“I don't want to spend too long ON this decision.”
For certain words, we sometimes use a preposition and sometimes we don't.
Here are some common words that can be confusing.
MARRY
When we talk about the action of getting married, we don't use a preposition directly
after the verb. For example,
“She MARRIED him on June 27 1998.”
But when we say WHO you're MARRIED TO, then we do use the preposition.
After MARRIED we use TO.
For example,
“She's MARRIED TO my brother.”
or
“I'm MARRIED TO my work.”
It's true.
Next up
ASK
We don't use a preposition after ASK when we don't say WHO we're asking.
For example, “Can you ASK the price of this?”
But we do use a preposition when we say, WHO and WHAT we're asking.
For example,
“She ASKED him FOR a pen.”
We use ASK + PERSON + FOR + NOUN.
“They ASKED ME FOR a loan of £100.”
And we use ASK + the INFINITIVE when we say
what we're asking someone to do. For example,
“She ASKED HIM TO WRITE his name.” Another example is,
“I ASKED MY SON TO SING with me.”
Now, there are also some words that take multiple prepositions.
For example,
AGREE
You AGREE WITH someone.
We say AGREE WITH when we want to say that you think the same as another person.
For example,
“Hm, I AGREE WITH Miss Brown on many points in her talk.”
We also use AGREE WITH to talk about a thing or situation.
“I didn't AGREE WITH what you did.”
or
“I AGREE WITH the ruling.”
We can also use TO after AGREE.
When you AGREE TO DO something, you mean that you will take action.
Here's an example,
“She AGREED TO change the start time of the meeting.”
or
“I know they want to AGREE TO the new terms.”
Finally, as promised, I'll tell you the difference between SPEAK TO and SPEAK WITH.
They are almost the same except when we SPEAK TO someone.
It's probable that it's less of a conversation and more of a monologue.
One person speaking.
“She SPOKE TO the crowd with great skill.
However, when we SPEAK WITH someone, it's more likely to be a dialogue.
“They SPOKE WITH the child's parents to make sure everything was okay.”
It’s a small difference. That isn't always true. You can also say,
“They SPOKE TO the child's parents, of course.”
But sometimes there is this small difference in meaning
and it's about who's doing the majority of the talking.
With SPEAK TO it's one side, doing more talking. And with SPEAK WITH it's more equal.
And that's one of the reasons why prepositions are so difficult.
Sorry!
Okay, so what am I most AFRAID OF?
I am most afraid of being trapped.
It's a fear I've had since being a young girl.
So, I avoid busy trains and lifts where I can and I always check
the locks work on a public toilet door before I close and lock it.
What are you most afraid of?
Let me know in the comments.
Now to work your preposition knowledge harder, check out this video right here
and I will drop some useful links for you also in the description below.
I'll see you in the next lesson.