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Verbs + Prepositional Phrases

Stressed out man
He talks about leaving.

With gerunds as objects of the phrases

 

 

 

Verbs complemented by prepositional phrases
VERB + PREP + NOUN VERB + PREP + GERUND CLAUSE

Specific verbs are complemented (completed) by specific prepositions.   The object of the prepositional phrase could be a noun or a noun phrase, as shown below.  

Or the object of the prepositional phrase could be a gerund clause, as shown below. (A gerund is called a "gerund-participle" in current linguistic descriptions.) 

Jack talked about his job. (noun phrase)   He talked about work. (noun)

Jack talked about leaving his job.

Jack objects to his work load.

Jack objects to working overtime.

Jack doesn't care for accountant work.

Jack doesn't care for doing the accounting work.

Jack puts off his vacation.

Jack puts off taking a vacation.

complement – a word, phrase or clause which is necessary in a sentence to complete its meaning
Related page Gerund Objects 

 

 

 

Verb & Preposition List

ABOUT

IN

ON

agree about  We agreed about ending the matter.

believe in  She believes in being well-educated.

agree on  We agreed on renting the condominium.

argue about  We argued about spending money.

interest in   He is interested in being a scientist.

concentrate on  I concentrate on getting experience.

care about  We care about recycling things.

succeed in  He succeeded in winning the race.

specialize in  He will specialize in making wine.

congratulate on  We congratulated them on getting married.

continue on  He continued on sleeping all day.

complain about  He complains about getting old.

forget about  She forgets about calling us.

give in/into I won't give into his complaining.

depend on  We depend on getting help.

talk about  He talks about getting married.

 

go on   Will you go on working?

think about   We are thinking about joining them

LIKE

insist on  He insists on coming too.

worry about  She worried about getting lost.

feel like  Do you feel like going out?

keep on   We keep on working.

dream about  He dreams about playing ball.

 

plan on   She plans on taking a course.

   

rely on   We rely on their assisting us.
 

AGAINST

OF

TO

decide against  We decided against buying a car.

accuse of   He was accused of lying.

adjust to  I adjusted to living in the U.S.

warn against  They warn against giving out info.

approve of  They approved of doing that.

agree to   They agreed to leaving earlier.

 

dream of  He dreams of playing ball.  Solution - lightbulbPop-Q "Dream"

get used to/ be used to  We are used to hearing traffic. Solution - lightbulbPop-Q "Use to"

AFTER

in charge of  He is in charge of collecting tickets.

look forward to  I look forward to seeing you.   Solution - lightbulbPop-Q "Look forward"

look after  I will look after buying the tickets.

take care of   I took care of making reservations.

object to  I object to doing all the work.

 

think of   We thought of a new way to fix that.
 

 

FOR

OFF

WITH

apologize for  I apologized for being late.

put off  He put off going to business school. 

agree with  He agrees with exercising daily.

blame for  I was blamed for losing the game.

 

cope with  She copes with working long hours.

care for  I don't care for wearing shorts.
 

   

FROM

OVER

 

refrain from   I refrained from saying anything.

think over   He is thinking over moving away.

 

stop from  He was stopping from going in.
 

talk over  We talked over buying a new home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Commonly Confused Verb Expressions
VERB PHRASE   VERB PHRASE  

CARE ABOUT 

I care about helping people to help themselves. (be concerned)

CARE FOR 

Do you care for watching game shows? (like, enjoy)

FEEL GUILTY ABOUT 

I feel guilty about not calling home. (I am regretful.)

BE GUILTY OF 

He was guilty of stealing other people's credit card numbers. (He was convicted of it.)

THINK ABOUT
THINK OVER
 

 

You should think about your future. (consider)
Take some time to think over the problem. (consider)
He thought it over and then decide to buy the car. (consider)

THINK OF 

I didn't think of the possible problems at that time.  (predict)
I couldn't think of his name. (come easily to the mind)

THINK ABOUT 

Try not to think about your problems right now. (focus on)
She is the only thing that he can think about(focus on)

THINK OF
THINK ABOUT
 

What did you think of that movie. (have an opinion)
We think very highly of that director.  (regard)  Solution - lightbulbPop-Q "Think of"
What did you think about that movie.
 

Also see Phrasal Verbs.  (think up, think over, think of)

 

 

Common Mistakes
ERROR FIX

He depends and worries about losing financial aid.

He depends on and worries about losing financial aid.   (Do not omit the preposition when coordinating two verbs.)

They took charge and succeeded in building safeguards for women's rights.

They took charge of and succeeded in building safeguards for women's rights.

 

 

 

Resources

 

Huddleston, Rodney and Geoffrey K. Pullum. "Syntactic uses of grammaticised preositions." A Student's Introduction to English Grammar. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005 Print. (653-61)

_______________ "Coordination of Grammatical Words." (1329)

Swan, Michael. "Prepositions (2): after particular words and expressions." Practical English Usage. 4th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009. Print. (449)

 

 

  

Job interviewPractice 1

Job Search

 

  1. Select the preposition that best completes each sentence (about, against, after, for from, in, like, of, off, on, over, to, with)
  2. Compare your response to the answer by clicking the "check" button to the right.

 

# YOUR RESPONSE CHECK ANSWER
1.  
2.  
3.  
4.    rely (v.) – depend
5.  
6.
7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12. For now, he is coping