VERBS AND PREPOSITIONS THAT WORK TOGETHER

Sometimes you will find that some verbs need to work with a preposition. The combination of a verb plus a preposition is known as prepositional verbs.

Here you will find some of the most common prepositions that you will find with verbs.

• for
• to
• about
• with
• of
• in
• at
• on
• from

These prepositional verbs need to have an object after them (it can be a noun or a gerund). The verb and the preposition cannot be separated.

We use the preposition "FOR" in order to emphasize a purpose or reason. Here is a list of common verbs followed by the preposition "FOR".

apologize, ask, beg, care, fight, hope, long, play, provide, search, wait, wish, work.

• You need to apoligize for you rude behavior.

• I guess, I will need to ask for a loan.

• We need to fight for our right to a free election.

• Steve suffer a serious accident, his family is begging for a miracle.

We use the preposition "TO" in order to refer to direction (literal or metaphorical) or a connection between people or things.

adjust, admit, belong, travel, listen, go, relate, response, talk, turn

• Brian will need to adjust to his new job.

• The kid mentioned that the book belong to his sister.

• I couldn't listen to the teacher's instrutions.

• If you have a problem go and talk to the teacher.

We use the preposition "ABOUT" with the following verbs, when refering to things, events or gerunds,

ask, care, complain, forget, hear, joke, know, laugh, learn, talk, think, worry, write

• Do you know what the client complain about?

• George always jokes about how he met Steve.

• My parents are worried about getting sick during their trip to Mexico.

• My sister wrote about her experience leaning a foreign language in Brazil.

• Did you hear about the new project for the cafeteria?

We use the preposition "WITH" point of connections and relationships between people or things.

agree, argue, begin, start, collide, compare, compete, cope, disagree, interfere, meet

• My dad usually doesn't agree with my points of view.

• The manager argued with the president of the board about

• My sister finds it difficult to cope with failure.

• Do you happen to know when we will meet with the new coordinator?

• My dad say that he only competes with himself.

We use the preposition "OF" with different verbs.

approve, consist, dream, hear, take care, think

• The program consist of three different modules.

• Have you heard of this new tv program?

• Never stop thinking of succeeding in all your proyects.

• Joan dreams of traveling the world.

We use the preposition "IN" with different verbs and it expresses involment or connections between people or things.

believe, engage, invest, live, participate, result, specialize, succeed

• Most of the children in my country believe in Santa Claus.

• Do you think it is a good time to invest in the stock market?

• George succeeded in getting a raise at his job.

• The manager lives in a small house downtown.

We use the preposition "AT" in order to talk about places, skills, and reactions.

arrive, balk, excel, laugh, look, nod, shout, smile, stare

• What time will the material arrive at our premises?

• My cousin excels in music and the arts.

• We couldn't stop laugh at his joke, it was really good.

• I don't feel well when people stare at me.

• Could you take a look at my report before I give it to the manager.

We use the prepopsirion "ON" with different verbs. 

agree, bet, comment, concentrate, decide, depend, elaborate, experiment, insist, operate, plan, rely

• The commitee couldn't agree on a solution last night.

• I would not bet on that project, I guess it mght not work for us.

• You will have to decide on who to hire for the position of general manager.

• We all agree not to experiment on animals.

• My dad insisted on taking us to the party.

• It is not a good idea to rely on the new secretary, she was just hired last week.

We use the preposition "FROM" with verbs to identify a point of origin, a connection or disconnection between people or things.

benefit, come, differ, escape, recover, refrain, resign, retire, suffer

• We can benefit from this merge and have a sucessful outcome next year for both companies.

• Many of the new products that we now import come from Asia.

• Our dog escape from our house last night.

• I am sure the company will recover from all its problems.

• My dad plans to retire from his job next year.

PREPOSITIONS

 A preposition is a word or a group of words that is used before a noun, a pronoun, or a phrase. Prepositions can show direction, time, place, location, spatial relationships, or they can be used to introduce an object.some common prepositions are: "in, on, at, of, to, and with

Most of the time you will find that prepositions have a highly idiomatic usage, but there are some rules that you will find helpful, but it would be better for you to memorize how they function rather than memorizing its individual use.

Prepositions of time

 IN,  AT and ON

Use "in" with parts of the day is you do not mention a specific time, with months of the year, years, and seasons of the year.

e.g.:

• Joan likes to read in the evening.

• Marias birthday is in october.
• My dad was born in July.
• Alekxander was born in 1993
• The weather is really nice in the summer in Guadalajara.

Use "at" with the times of day and with the following words: noon, night, and midnight.

• My dad starts work at 9:00 am

• We usually have a break at noon

• Steve loves going hiking at night.

• My mom says I can go to bed at midnight.

If you want to refer to days of the week, use ON.

• Marks party was on Saturday.

• The tennis match will be on sunday.

If you want to refer to an extended period of time, you may use the pepositions "SINCE", "BY", "FROM", "DURING", "FROM .... TO", "FROM ....UNTIL", "WITH", AND WITHIN".

• My son has lived in Puerto Vallarta since 2019.  (He moved there in 2019 and he still lives there)

• Maria will stay in Mexico city for 1 week. (She will stay there for a week)

• I will be here by 10 o'clock. (I will be here sometime between now and 10 o'clock)
• Many of my friends at school have part time jobs during the summer. (a period of time through the summer)
• My sister will take an online course from July to August. (The beginning and end of a period of time)
• The meeting will be from 10 am until 1 pm. (The beginning and the end of a period of time)
• You may get test results within three week days.

Prepositions of Direction

TO, INTO, and ONTO

When we refer to directions, we use the prepositions, TO, INTO, and ONTO.

• Mr. Smith walks to the convenience store every morning.
• The kids came into the kitchen when we call them.
• You cannot drive onto the grass, you are not allowed to.

Prepositions of Place

when you want to refer to a place, you will use the prepositions "IN", "AT", and "ON".

• All the students are going to meet in the cafeteria. (the point itself)
• My sister said, she was waiting at the corner. (general vicinity)
• I guess, I left my phone on the desk. (surface)

If you want to refer to an object higher than a point, use the prepositions "OVER" and "ABOVE".

If you want to refer to a point lower than a point, use the prespositions "BELOW", "UNDER".

• While we were walking down the plaza, the pigeons were flying over our heads.
• Please get the the cups, they are on the self above the microwave oven.
• Basements are dug below the grown.
• Your pencil is under your desk.

If you want to refer to an object close to a point, you may use ny of the following prepostions; "BY", "NEAR", "NEXT TO", BETWEEN", "AMONG" AND "OPPOSITE".

• The drugstore is by the stationary store.
• My house is near a Japanese restaurant.
• Mario's house is next to the car wash.
• Sam always sits between Steve and Susan
• There is a red apple among all the pears.
• La borra de cafe is opposite my language school.

Prepositions of Location

If you want to refer to a location, you may use the following prepopsitions; "IN", "AT" and "ON"

• My parents have a house in the country.

• They agreed to meet at the shopping mall.

• There is a box of cookies on the fridge.

Prepositions of spatial Realtionships

When refering to spatial relationship you may use the following prepositions: "ABOVE", "ACROSS", "AGAINST", "ALONG", "AMONG", "AROUND", "BEHIND", "BELOW", "BESIDE", "BETWEEN", "FROM", 

• The cafe is across from the language school.

• You can put the ladder against the wall.

• There is a shopping mall around the corner.

• My car is the parking lot, behind Brenda's car.