Verb + Prep Phrase
Commenting on activities
Verbs complemented by prepositional phrases
| VERB + PREP + NOUN | |
|---|---|
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. |
|
| SUBJ + VERB + PREP | NOUN PHRASE |
Jack talked about |
his job. |
Jack objects to |
his work load. |
Jack doesn't care for |
accountant work. |
Jack puts off |
his vacation. |
| VERB + PREP + GERUND CLAUSE | |
|---|---|
Or the object of the prepositional phrase could be a gerund clause, as shown below. (A gerund is called a "gerund-participle" in linguistic descriptions.) |
|
| SUBJ + VERB + PREP | GERUND CLAUSE |
Jack talked about |
leaving his job. |
Jack objects to |
working overtime. |
Jack doesn't care for |
doing the accounting work. |
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
Gerunds
Verbs + Preposition Combinations
Verb & Preposition List
ABOUT |
agree about We agreed about ending the matter. |
argue about We argued about spending money. |
care about We care about recycling things. |
complain about He complains about getting old. |
forget about She forgets about calling us. |
talk about He talks about getting married. |
think about We are thinking about joining them |
worry about She worried about getting lost. |
dream about He dreams about playing ball. |
AGAINST |
decide against We decided against buying a car. |
warn against They warn against giving out info. |
AFTER |
look after I will look after buying the tickets. |
AT |
delight at She was delighted at seeing him again. |
excel at He excels at playing chess. |
laugh at We laughed at walking a cat on a leash |
rejoice at They rejoiced at hearing the news. |
FOR |
apologize for I apologized for being late. |
blame for I was blamed for losing the game. |
care for I don't care for wearing shorts. |
stand for They won't stand for having such nonsense. |
IN |
believe in She believes in being well-educated. |
deal in He deals in selling real estate. |
engage in He engages in starting up new businesses |
give in/into I won't give into his complaining. |
interest in He is interested in being a scientist. |
participate in They will participate in running the race. |
result in Distraction can result in an accident. |
specialize in He will specialize in making wine. |
succeed in He succeeded in winning the race. |
LIKE |
feel like Do you feel like going out? |
FROM |
keep from They tried to keep him from leaving. |
suffer from He suffers from not having Vitamin C. |
refrain from I refrained from saying anything. |
stop from He was stopping from going in. |
OF |
accuse of He was accused of lying. |
approve of They approved of doing that. |
dream of He dreams of playing ball. |
in charge of He is in charge of collecting tickets. |
take care of I took care of making reservations. |
think of We thought of a new way to fix that. |
OFF |
call off He called off playing the game in the rain.. |
put off He put off going to business school. |
OVER |
think over He is thinking over moving away. |
talk over We talked over buying a new home. |
ON |
agree on We agreed on renting the condominium. |
concentrate on I concentrate on getting experience. |
congratulate on We congratulated them on winning. |
continue on He continued on sleeping all day. |
depend on We depend on getting help. |
go on Will you go on working? |
insist on He insists on coming too. |
intent on They were intent on waging war. |
keep on We keep on working. |
plan on She plans on taking a course. |
rely on We rely on their assisting us. |
TO |
adjust to I adjusted to living in the U.S. |
agree to They agreed to leaving earlier. |
devote to A dog is devoted to working on your behalf. |
get used to/ be used to We are used to hearing traffic. |
look forward to I look forward to seeing you. |
object to I object to doing all the work. |
WITH |
agree with He agrees with exercising daily. |
charge with They charge him with embezzling. |
mess with They don't want to mess with hiring lawyers. |
trust with I wouldn't trust them with doing this correctly.. |
ON |
agree on We agreed on renting the condominium. |
concentrate on I concentrate on getting experience. |
congratulate on We congratulated them on winning. |
continue on He continued on sleeping all day. |
depend on We depend on getting help. |
go on Will you go on working? |
insist on He insists on coming too. |
intent on They were intent on waging war. |
keep on We keep on working. |
plan on She plans on taking a course. |
rely on We rely on their assisting us. |
TO |
adjust to I adjusted to living in the U.S. |
agree to They agreed to leaving earlier. |
devote to A dog is devoted to working on your behalf. |
get used to/ be used to We are used to hearing traffic. |
look forward to I look forward to seeing you. |
object to I object to doing all the work. |
WITH |
agree with He agrees with exercising daily. |
charge with They charge him with embezzling. |
mess with They don't want to mess with hiring lawyers. |
trust with I wouldn't trust them with doing this correctly.. |
(CaGEL 7 §6.2)
Pop-Q "Dream of", "Use to" and "Look forward"
Verb + Preposition Combinations
Commonly Confused
Commonly Confused Verb Expressions
| VERB PHRASE | SENTENCE |
|---|---|
CARE ABOUT |
I care about helping people to help themselves. |
FEEL GUILTY ABOUT |
I feel guilty about not calling home. |
THINK ABOUT |
You should think about the problem. |
THINK
OVER |
He thought it over before buying the car. |
THINK ABOUT |
She is the only thing that he can think about. |
| VERB PHRASE | SENTENCE |
|---|---|
CARE FOR |
Do you care for watching game shows? (like, enjoy) |
BE GUILTY OF |
He was guilty of stealing other people's credit card numbers. |
THINK OF |
I didn't think of the possible problems at that time. / I couldn't think of his name. |
THINK OF
|
What did you think of that director. |
THINK ABOUT |
What did you think about that movie. |
Also see Phrasal Verbs. (think up, think over, think of)
Pop-Q "Think of"
Common Mistakes
Errors and Solutions
| ERROR | SOLUTION |
|---|---|
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.
|
Pop-Q "Took charge"
Grammar Notes
Traditional and Linguistic Description
Advanced
| TRADITIONAL DESCRIPTION | LINGUISTIC DESCRIPTION |
|---|---|
Prepositional expressions folllowed by gerunds (UUEG 14-2) Prepositions after particular words and expressions (PEU 449)
verb + to – "to" as a preposition (not as part of an infinitive) Looking forward to… (PEU 298.2) |
Grammaticised prepositions (CaGEL 7 §6) "Some prepositions have become grammaticised in the sense of having specific sytactic roles in the language that are not determined by their meaning. He went in. [interior, location] / He is interested in science. [grammaticised] A preposition accepts a gerund-pariticple clause as its complement. He was interested in going to space camp.[gerund-participle clause / nonfinite] |
Categories: NP –noun phrase; N – noun; VP – verb phrase; V – verb; Det – determiner; PP – prepositional phrase; P – preposition; AdvP – adverb phrase; Adv – adverb; AdjP– adjective phrase; Adj – adjective; Subord – Subordinator; Coord – Coordinator; Interj – Interjection
Functions: Subject: Subject, Predicate: Predicator (V) Complement: elements required by the verb: object, indirect object, predicative complement Adjuncts: (optional modifiers) Adj, Adv, clause
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)
Practice 1
Job Search
Read the Context
Jason needs to find a job. He delayed attendance of business school in order to get some work experience first. It is hard for him to become accustomed to the fact that he is unemployed. He is worring that he will not be able to pay the rent on his condominium. Currently, he needs financial help from his parents. Jason would like to find a job in marketing.
He will select "branding" as his specialty. He will continue until he finds employment. His father is trying to help him. Jason desires to be independent. He often fails to thank his parents. Jasaon wishes to do well. For now, he is mentally managing the fact that he is one of the thousands of unemployed college graduates.
Select the verb and preposition expression that completes the sentence.
- Select the response from the list that best completes the sentence.
- Compare your response to the answer by clicking the "Check 1-12" button at the bottom, or click the "Check" button to the left as you go.