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Verbs and prepositions
English is a language that is very disorganised. Although there are some rules, there are a lot of exceptions. Incorrect use of prepositions in English is very common for non-native speakers. And this has two main reasons:
1.Learners focus more on the main parts of a sentence: It is very normal when learning English to concentrate on learning the big words in a sentence (i.e. the verb, the nouns, the adjectives etc..) rather than on the smaller parts of a sentence, like prepositions.
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2.Learners translate the verb and preposition from their own language to English: Some languages don't have as many prepositions as English does. In addition, the preposition after a verb is often different in the learner's language to what is used in English (or sometimes no preposition is used at all with verb).
Unfortunately, there is no easy solution. Like learning a phrase or an expression, you need to learn and remember each verb and preposition. Like native speakers of English you will have to learn them through practice and exposure.
Examples of verbs and prepositions
Below are a number of examples of verbs and their prepositions which are often different in other languages:
'to thank somebody'
Dvd flash back 92 download mp3. When we use this in English and want to give the reason why you are thanking them, you need to use the preposition 'for' before you say the reason:
'I thank you for coming to the meeting.'
'to attend'
Like many verbs in English, 'to attend' has different meanings. When we use it to mean 'to go to something' (e.g. 'I'm going to a party'), it doesn't use a preposition before you say where you went or are going to:
'I attended a meeting in Scotland last week.'
'to complain'
In some cases, the use of different prepositions after a verb changes the meaning of the sentence. For example, think about the difference in meaning between the following two uses of the verb 'to complain':
![List Of Verbs With Prepositions Pdf Exercises List Of Verbs With Prepositions Pdf Exercises](http://www.tefl.net/images/ebooks/english-prepositions-list-350.png)
'He complained to the receptionist in the hotel.'
'He complained about the receptionist in the hotel.'
![List Of Verbs With Prepositions Pdf Exercises List Of Verbs With Prepositions Pdf Exercises](/uploads/1/2/7/3/127380687/771631900.png)
In the first sentence by using the preposition 'to', it means that the man told the receptionist about something he was not happy about in the hotel.
But by changing the preposition to 'about' in the second sentence, it now means that the receptionist was the thing he wasn't happy about and he told another person about the problem he had with him or her.
As you can see from the last example, using the correct preposition after a verb is very important. So now do the below quiz to make sure you are using the right prepositions with verbs when you write or speak in English.
1. Examples of Phrasal Verbs
Phrasal Verbs consist of verb + adverb or verb + preposition. The meaning of these combinations is mostly very different from the verb and the adverb or preposition alone.
Let's inspect the verb look. Together with adverbs or prepositions the phrases have new meanings. Study the following examples:
- lookafter – He often looks after his brother. (to take care of sb/sth)
- lookback – My grandfather likes to look back on his childhood. (to think about sth in the past)
- lookdown – They look down on her because she didn't study at a university. (to think that sb is not as good as others)
- lookfor – I'm looking for my watch. (to try to find sb/sth)
- lookforward to – She always looks forward to meeting him. (to be excited about sth that is going to happen)
- lookin – Could you look in on Peggy when you are in town? (to make a short visit)
- lookout (for) – Look out for George while you are in the club. (to try to spot sb/sth)
- lookover – Could you look over my report, please? (to review sth )
- lookup – You should look up the word in a dictionary. (to look for information – online or offline)
1.1. Phrasal Verbs
These verbs consist of verb + adverb. Phrasal Verbs can stand alone (intransitive verbs) or they can be used together with an object.
- Watchout. There is a bike coming.
If there is an adverb in the sentence the phrasal verb can be put before or after the object.
- He pickedthe broken carup. or
- I pickedupthe broken car.
If you use the pronounit for the phrase the broken car, the pronounhas to go between theverb and the adverb.
- I pickeditup.
1.2. Prepositional Verbs
These verbs consist of verb + preposition. The object has to go after the preposition. The object must not go between the verb and the preposition. Prepositional Verbs cannot be separated.
- He often looksathis photos.
- incorrect: He often looks his photos at.
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