This list will help you remember English verbs and prepositions. Practise using them as much as possible to feel more confident.
accuse someone of something
"He accused her of stealing."
agree with someone / something
"I agree with you – you are absolutely right."
agree to do something
"She agreed to wait for him."
agree on something
"We've agreed on all the major points."
apply for
"I'm going to apply for a new job."
apologise for something
"She apologised for being late."
ask someone to do something
"She asked him to do the shopping for her."
ask someone for something
"She asked her boss for a day off."
believe in
"I believe in hard work."
belong to
"This pen belongs to me."
blame someone for doing something
"He blamed her for driving too fast."
blame something on someone
"He blamed the accident on her."
borrow something from someone
"He borrowed some money from the bank."
care about something
"I don't care about money."
care for someone
"She really cares for her grandmother."
take care of something / someone
"Please take care of yourself on holiday."
complain to someone (about something)
"He complained to her about the food."
concentrate on something
"The student concentrated on her homework."
congratulate someone on doing something
"He congratulated her on passing her exam."
consist of something
"The department consists of five people."
depend on someone
"She depended on her friends for support."
explain something to someone
"She explained the new system to them."
listen to someone
"The students listened to their teacher."
look at something
"Look at that view – it's wonderful."
look for something / someone
"Will you help me look for my book?"
look after someone
"I need to look after my mother – she's ill."
pay someone for something
"Can you pay me for the shopping later?"
prefer someone / something to someone
"I prefer coffee to tea."
protect someone from something
"A scarf will protect you from the cold."
provide someone with something
"They provide families with housing."
regard someone as
"She regarded her sister as her best friend."
rely on someone / something
"Can I rely on you to get the shopping?"
search for someone / something
"The police searched the building for bombs."
spend money / time on
"I spent all my money on books as a student."
think about someone / something
"I think about you all the time."
think about / of doing something
"I'm thinking about / of buying a new car."
think of something
"I've just thought of a new idea."
"What do you think of the new magazine?"
translate from something into something else
"Don't translate from English into French."
wait for someone
"I waited an hour for him, then went home."
warn someone about
"The doctor warned her about smoking."
58 comments on “English Prepositions and Verbs”
"You are not going to blame me for your being on debt."
The prepositions "for" and "on" in the above frase are correct or not ? I'm confused with verbs and prepositions.
friendly Dennis.
Hi Dennis.
"for" is correct, but you need to say "in debt".
"I hate being in debt".
Is it right to use draw your attention without "to" as in 1 or it should be as in 2?
"I'd like to draw your attention that according to this rule it is not convincing to go there." Or " I'd like to draw your attention to the fact that according to this rule it is not convincing to go there."
"I'd like to draw your attention to …."
"I'd like to draw your attention to the fact that…"
Is it right to use what is due for us?
She didn't give what is due to us.
"She didn't give us what was due to us."
Thanks so much for this useful website!
I have a question according to your example above…
prefer someone / something to someone
"I prefer coffee to tea"
Pls explain about this example…why it is different from structure.
You can prefer something to something:
I prefer coffee to tea.
You can also prefer someone to someone:
I prefer John to David.
Hello,
Please advice which one of the following is correct:
"we are sleeping IN the couch/bed" or
"we are sleeping ON the couch/bed" or
"we are sleeping AT the couch/bed.
We are sleeping in the bed / on the couch.
Hi,
Please I'd like to know if this sentence is correct.
So, it would be a better way for property promoters to invest in those kind of constructions.
To invest in? or to invest on?
"Invest in" is correct.
we say:
congratulations for the engagement?
or: on the engagement?
Congratulations on (your / the) engagement.
we say:
10 minutes before you arrive
or
before you arrive — 10 minutes
The first is correct.
She won nobel prize ( for , in ) literature. Which is correct .( for or in )
"For" is correct.
I apologize to her for being rude.
I want to ensure whether "to" is necessary.
Yes, you need "to" in your sentence.
why do we need"to" in the sentence:
I apologize to her for being rude.
i think we needn't use"to" because apologize is a verb and can be followed by an object"her".
No, with "apologise" you can have either:
for + ing (He apologised for being rude)
or
to + person (He apologised to her / He apologised to her for being rude)
what are the prepositions which follow the verb:to be jealous.thanks for you.
abdallah laliaoui »
She is jealous of…
What do we do with forms?
Should we: fill up/fill out/fill in forms?
Do we focus on/in something?
Leeyo » You can fill in or fill out a form.
You focus on something.
I want to know if i have to add the preposition "to" at the end of this question: "what are you listening?"
thanks
Mery f » Yes, you need "to" at the end.
What is the difference between think about and think of?
Mariscer » Think about = to have an opinion about something
"What do you think about the new shopping centre?"
Think of = the activity of thinking
"What do you think of before you go to sleep?"
is this sentence correct? " i want u to listen TO something"
Is it ok to omit TO?
thanks a lot
gretch » It's correct – don't omit "to".
I have a question,
I had learned the usage of "spend" in a grammar book, it said that "spend money on somthing" and "spend time (in,can omit) Ving(doing something), but this site said"spend money/time on..". I am confused.
Peter » You can spend time on something:
I've spent a lot of time on this exercise.
I've spent a lot of time doing this exercise.
accuse of .please make it sentence
kiran » He accused her of murder.
She accused him of stealing her bag.
Which one is correct? "Does he has …" or "Does he have …"?
Ronaldo » "Does he have…" is correct.
clare,would you explain me about "subjunctive verbs"? i really,really have no idea about it
OK – I'll do a new page on this.
hi clare,
i am little confused how to use the following:-
when i can use DOES with (he,she,they, I and it)
when i can use have with (he,she,they, I and it)
when i can use has / had with (he,she,they, I and it)
when i can use (be-been) / (do-doing) with (he,she,they, I and it)
when i can use with (he,she,they, I and it)
regards,
j,j
1. Use does with he / she / it, and do with I / you / we / they for present simple questions
Do you live here?
Does he work?
2. Use have with I / you / we / they and has with he / she / it for present perfect questions
Have you finished your homework?
Has he ever been to New York?
3. I think this question relates to the present perfect continuous:
Have I / you / we / they + been + present participle
Have you been working on the project?
Has he / she + been + present participle
Has he been living here for a long time?
For more information, see the pages on tenses in the grammar section of the site.
Hi Clara,
Until now…i'm still confuse to use prepositions or word : No, Not, Un, Dis, In
example : Un Fit , No Smoking, Not open, Not only, dislike,Inefficient ,etc
please explain : When and where do we use the word "No, Not, dis, in and Un" ???
Your kind attention and support will be highly appreciated.
There isn't always a concrete rule for this. You can use "no" before an activity, to show that it isn't allowed, as in "No smoking" or "No swimming". For the opposites of adjectives, you need to learn them on a case by case basis. There are some guidelines, however. For example, we often use "im" before adjectives beginning with "p" (improbable, impossible, imperfect etc) and "il" before adjectives beginning with "l" (illegal, illicit, illiterate).
Shall I say: As shown ON or IN or AT drawing??
Regards
As shown in the drawing.
Which is correct?
"Congratualtions FOR completing your course."
OR
"Congratulations ON completing your course."
(I know that when you use this verb the other way, it's always "on," as in "He congrautlated her on…" but I am unsure about the use of "Congrautlations."
I think that "on" is more correct than "for", but I've heard people use both.
hi Claire,
Which one is correct?
She has three kids in her previous marrige.
or She have three kids in her previous marrige.
Thank you
She has three kids from her previous marriage.
This site has been particularly helpful in my English teaching career.
what is the proper preposition to use in these phrases:
1-she suffers from/of depression.
2- they laugh off his long hair.
3- im in/on a bad mood.
4- she hates him and always pray on/against him
5- she called me last night or called me up….
6- she got angry at/with me.
7- I love everything in/on her.
8- it is my turn to pay/pay up the telephone bill.
9-please call me in/on my other phone number.
10- his habit is to mull over before making decision. correct?????
11- what is your impression towards/on/to/ about the new teacher?
12- good luck in/on your trip.
thanks..
1-she suffers from depression.
2- they laugh at / about his long hair.
3- in a bad mood.
4- she hates him and always pray on/against him ?? Don't understand what you want to say here
5- she called me last night or called me up…. Both OK
6- she got angry at/with me. Both OK
7- I love everything about her.
8- it is my turn to pay the telephone bill.
9-please call me on my other phone number.
10- his habit is to mull everything over before making decision. correct????? Yes
11- what is your impression of/ about the new teacher?
12- good luck on your trip.
thank u too much clare,
-can u please clarify how to use " laugh off"? and does it has the same meaning and usage of "mock"
- in my forth example I meant she hates him too much and always wishes bad things for him such as to fall sick, fail in exams, ….etc
I used it as opposite of " pray for" but I dont know what preposition can come with it ON or against..
and finally Is the following expression correct:
" she is going to reply him on/to all the messages he sent hert"
1. If you laugh something off, you make it sound unimportant to you. "Mock" means you try to show that another person's ideas or beliefs are stupid.
2. She wishes him ill
3. reply to
I just want to know what is grammatically correct:
It will help our life gets better; or
It will help our life to get better?
Either "it will help our life to get better" or "it will help our life get better".
Can you tell me list of verbs which will not followed by preposition, like request, discussed..etc.
eg1. i discussed the matter with him.
eg2. i requested his help.
There'd probably be too many to list! It's better to try and learn the prepositions which go with the verbs, rather than learning a list of verbs that don't need prepositions.
Thank you very much at the outset. I need to know about a word "Cramp". In everybody is pronouncing the cramp like "crampt" for example: the road is very 'crampt'. and the space is crampt. i need clarification on this. How do we pronounce the word "cramp" = crampt or cramp.
Cramp = pronounced "cramp".
But in your example, they're using the word "cramped" (the adjective) and it's pronounced "crampt".
Hi, everyone,
I would like a little of your help with this doubt I have.
Is it correct to say: What does your country represent to you?
Or What does your country represents for you?
And the difference between TO and FOR.
Thanks a lot.
Represent (not represents).
Hi Clare! Could you help me (on when, or just when?) to use "result to" and "result in"? Thanks a lot!
I can't think of any situations where I'd use "result to". Use "result in":
"The pay freeze has resulted in a lot more employee dissatisfaction."
i congratulated her for the brilliant success in the examination. is this correct?
I congratulated her on her brilliant success….
Hi Clare,
Is there any situation where we can use "has" with "He / She"
thanks
Not as far as I know.
