USEFUL EXPRESSIONS WITH PREPOSITIONS

USEFUL EXPRESSIONS WITH PREPOSITIONS

to accuse sb. of doing sth.

They accused him of stealing the chickens.

to be accustomed to doing sth.

She isn't accustomed to having a lot of money.

to advise sb. to do sth.

I advise you to work harder in future.

to advise sb. against doing sth.

He advised his son against studying abroad.

to agree to do sth.

He has agreed to help us.

to agree with sb. about sth.

I agree with you about the new decisions.

to allow sb. to do sth.

My father doesn't allow me to go out at night.

to be angry / annoyed with sb. for doing sth.

He was annoyed with me for not coming to the meeting yesterday.

to be anxious about sb. / sth.

I'm very anxious about her health. She looks so tired these days.

to be anxious to do something

He is anxious to meet you

to apologize to sb. for doing sth.

I must apologize to them for not answering their letter.

to appeal to sb. for / against sth.

The hospital appealed to the local population for financial help.

The players appealed against the referee's decision.

to apply to sb. for sth.

She has applied to the bank for a job as cashier.

to approve of sb. / sth.

He doesn't approve of their marriage.

to argue with sb. about sth.

You're always arguing with me about what I should wear.

to be aware / unaware of sth.

Are you aware of the dangers of smoking?

to beg for sth.

They were so poor that they had to beg for all their food.

to beg sb. to do sth.

They begged me to help them.

to believe in sb. / sth.

He believes in God.

to blame sb. for sth.

They blamed the child for breaking the clock.

to boast about sth.

They're always boasting about their children's successes.

to borrow sth. from sb.

I borrowed this jacket from my uncle,

to cheer sb. up

I was feeling very sad, but your visit has cheered me up.

to complain to sb. about / of sth.

He has complained to me about your bad behaviour.

I'll give her an aspirin. She's complaining of a headache.

to concentrate on (doing) sth.

Let's concentrate on finding a solution.

to congratulate sb. on (doing) sth.

We congratulated her on her success.

to convince sb. of sth.

He has convinced me of his honesty.

to be cruel to sb.

Young children are often cruel to animals.

to differ from

How does Arabic differ from French?

to be disappointed at sth / in / with sb / sth.


I was disappointed at not finding you at home.

He is disappointed in / with his new car.

to discourage sb. from doing sth.

Some people have discouraged me from studying law.

to be doubtful about sth.

I'm very doubtful about what I should do next year.

to dream of doing sth.

I've always dreamt of living on a desert island.

to dream about sb. / sth.

I dreamt about you last night.

to be eager to do sth.

She's always eager to help.

to encourage sb. in sth. / to do sth.

Teachers should encourage their pupils in their studies / to work hard.

to excuse sb. for doing sth.

Please excuse me for being late.

to excuse sb. from doing sth.

I'll excuse you from playing tennis today if you don't feel well enough.

to expect sb. to do sth.

We expect him to write next week.

to be famous for sth.

Khemisset is famous for its « brochettes ».

to feed sb. on sth.

We feed our dog on raw meat.

to be fond of sb / sth / (doing) sth.

Little girls are fond of playing with dolls.

to forgive sb. for doing sth.

Please forgive me for not doing my homework.

to be good at sth.

He's very good at languages.

to be grateful to sb. for sth.

I'm very grateful to them for helping us.

to haggle with sb. about / over sth.

Some tourists enjoy haggling with shopkeepers about prices.

to inquire about sth.

I must inquire about trains to Fes.

to inquire after sb.

Bill wasn't at work today. I must inquire after him.

to be interested in sb. / sth.

I'm very interested in music.

to introduce sb. to sb.

May I introduce you to my wife?

to insist on sth.

They insist on coming with us.

to be jealous of sb.

The little boy is very jealous of his baby sister.

to be kind to sb.

We should be kind to animals.

to be kind of sb. to do sth,

It was very kind of you to help us.

to laugh at sb. / sth.

You shouldn't laugh at people who are in trouble.

to laugh over sb. / sth.

We laughed over the funny letter we received from you.

to lend sth. to sb. / sb. sth.

I've only a few books. I can't lend one to everybody.

to long for sth. / to do sth.

I'm longing for next year to come.

I'm longing to leave school.

to manage to do sth.

Although it was dark, he managed to find his way.

to operate on sb. (for sth.)

The surgeon has operated on her for appendicitis.

to be overjoyed at sth.

I was overjoyed at the good news.

to pay sb. for sth.

We paid them 2.000 DH for this old car.

to be pleased with sb. / sth.

She's very pleased with your progress.

to praise sb, for sth.

They praised him for his courage.

to prevent sb. from doing sth.

Bad weather prevented us from visiting the whole region.

to promise sb. sth. / to do sth.

I promise you a present if you win.

I promise to be there on time.

to protest against sth.

The children protested against going to bed early.

to be proud of sb. / sth.

She's proud of her husband's success.

to provide sb. with sth.

Parents provide their children with food and clothes.

to punish sb. for (doing) sth.

We must punish them for getting such low marks.

to quarrel with sb. about sth.

Her son often quarrels with his sister about silly things.

to rely on sb.

He is very conscientious. You can rely on him to do the job well.

to remember sb. to sb.

Please remember me to your parents when you write.

to remind sb. of sb.

That woman reminds me of my aunt.

to remind sb. to d© sth.

Please remind me to buy some milk; otherwise I might forget,

to be responsible for sth.

Who is responsible for that noise?

to reward sb. for sth.

We shall reward you for your good work.

to rob sb. of sth.

They robbed him of his watch.

to be rude to sb.

Children mustn't be rude to their parents.

to scold sb. for (doing) sth.

She scolded her son for being lazy.

to send for sb. / sth.

I feel ill. You'd better send for the doctor.

to smell / to taste of sth.

This meat smells of garlic.

This cake tastes of lemon.

to. be sorry about sth.

I'm very sorry about that mistake.

to be / to feel sorry for sb.

I feel sorry for people who have to work in the hot sun.

to stop sb. from doing sth.

They stopped us from going near the blazing hut.

to steal sth. from sb.

Somebody stole my wallet from me yesterday.

to succeed in doing sth.

They have succeeded in finding a nice house.

to suffer from sth.

He is suffering from shock.

to suspect sb. of (doing) sth.

We suspected him of telling lies.

to thank sb. for (doing) sth.

Please thank your father for lending me his hammer.

to translate from x into y

We must translate this letter from Spanish into English.

to be used for sth.

Wood is used for making furniture.

to be used to doing sth.

He is used to working hard. He has done it all his life.

to worry about sb. / sth.

Don't worry about your future.