Verb + Prepositions Collocations
Collocations are things that very often belong together – these verb/preposition collocations are NOT the same as phrasal verbs – the verb contains the meaning and the prepositions indicates the ‘direction’ of the verb.
A
to accuse of The scary man is accused of stealing.
to agree with Do you agree with me?
to apologize for Please apologize for being unkind to your sister!
to apply to (somewhere) Mary applied to California University.
to apply for (something) Steve applied for a job.
to approve of I don't approve of smoking.
to argue with Jack always argues with Jill.
to argue about They always argue about which TV show to watch.
to arrive in The plane arrived in New York.
to arrive at The passengers arrived at the gate at 8:00.
B
to believe in Do you believe in space aliens?
to blame for Sara is to blame for this broken window.
to borrow from My sister borrowed 15 pounds from me.
C
care for / about I care for you.
cater for They don’t cater for foreign students.
choose between I can’t choose between staying here or going home.
comment on The MP didn’t comment on education.
collide with The bicycles collided with each other.
communicate with Language helps us communicate with each other.
compare with / to You shouldn’t compare yourself to anyone.
compete with I can’t compete with the noise outside.
complain about He complained about his broken TV.
compose of The course is composed of three elements.
concern about / with They were concerned about their son’s grades.
concentrate on Let’s concentrate on She was cured of her fear of spiders.
D
decide on / against We decided against playing cricket in the rain.
dedicate to The statue was dedicated to the country by France.
depend on You can’t depend on him to do anything.
despair of I despair of that boy’s behaviour.
deter from The camera is there to deter thieves from stealing.
differ from How does your country differ from this one?
disagree with We never disagree with each other.
disapprove of Does he disapprove of your friendship?
discuss with I need to discuss something with you.
devote to ` He is devoted to his children.
dream of / about I dream of being King one day.
dress in At Halloween children dress in costumes.
drink to Let’s drink to his health!
demand something from somebody The bank are demanding money from me.
derive something from something English is derived from Germanic languages.
discourage somebody from something I discouraged him from trying bungee jumping.
distinguish somebody from somebody You can’t distinguish her from her sister.
distract somebody from something Don’t distract me from my work!
E
elaborate on Can you elaborate on your story?
emerge from The swimmer emerged from the water.
escape from No-one can escape from this prison!
experiment on Experiment with new phrases on your friends.
excuse somebody for something I was excused from attending the course.
exchange something for something Can I exchange my broken pen for a new one?
exclude something from something Our son was excluded from school for his behaviour.
expel somebody from something Our son was expelled from school for his behaviour.
explain something to somebody Can you explain this to me?
F
face with We were faced with a difficult decision.
feel like I don’t feel like eating chicken tonight.
feel about How do you feel about the President?
fight against/with/for You have got to fight for your right to freedom.
forget about Has she forgotten about me?
forgive someone for something I can forgive her for her bad memory.
G
guess at Have a guess at the answer.
get married to I am getting married to my fiancée next month.
get rid of You should get rid of your fiancé!
get tired of Do you get tired of studying?
grumble about Don’t grumble about the weather.
H
hear of / about Have you heard about the new Ferrari?
hide from I am hiding from my boss.
hope of / for He is hoping for a better day tomorrow.
help somebody with something Can you help me with this exercise?
hinder somebody from something You won’t hinder me from getting better.
I
impress on Meeting her impressed on me.
insist on I insist on meeting her again.
insure against Are you insured against fire and flood?
interfere with / in Don’t interfere with my cooking.
invest in We should invest in a new business.
involve somebody in something They won’t involve us in their business.
J
joke about Don’t joke about it!
K
know about What do you know about rocket science?
L
laugh at/about They are laughing at me.
listen to I won’t listen to them!
long for We long for a holiday.
lend something to somebody I lent my book to Eduardo and never got it back.
M
meet with Let’s meet with our boss tomorrow.
mistake for Don’t mistake friendship for love.
O
object to I object to your behaviour.
operate on The doctor operated on my leg.
P
participate in We must all participate in the class.
pay for Will you pay for my lunch?
persist in Persist in your studies and you will succeed!
pray for Let’s pray for nice weather.
prepare for Are you preparing for your exam?
prohibit from We were prohibited to leave.
praise somebody for something Praise you children for their accomplishments.
present somebody with something The champion was presented with the cup.
prevent somebody from something Please don’t prevent me from going.
provide somebody with something They will provide you with a pen.
provide something for somebody Will they provide pens for everybody?
punish somebody for somebody You will be punished for your actions.
Q
quarrel about something The kids always quarrel about what to watch on TV.
quarrel with somebody She has quarrelled with her mother.
R
react against / to Don’t react to his teasing.
reckon on I don’t reckon on getting home tonight.
recover from I have recovered from my illness.
refer to What are you referring to?
rely on You can always rely on him to help.
reply to Did they reply to your letter?
resign from I have resigned from my job.
respond to He won’t respond to my calls.
result in Driving fast can result in an accident.
retire from In two years I’ll retire from my job.
remind somebody of something Does she remind you of the Queen?
rob somebody of something Chuck was robbed of his money.
S
search for We need to search for the perfect example.
see to Dr. Jones saw to my skin problem.
shout at Never shout at children.
smile at He’s smiling at you!
specialise in Prof. Roberts specialises in linguistics.
speak to You should speak to them about it.
stand for I won’t stand for his rudeness.
stare at Why does she stare at the wall in that way?
stem from American English stems from middle English.
subscribe to I subscribe to a gardening magazine.
substitute for My German teacher was substituted for a student.
succeed in You will succeed in your studies.
suffer from I suffer from tinnitus.
save somebody from something They saved the boy from making the wrong decision.
sentence somebody to something The killer was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
share something with somebody I will share my birthday cake with you.
subject somebody to something Don’t subject us to more exercises.
suspect somebody of something He was suspected of cheating.
T
talk to Can I talk to you alone for a moment?
talk about Let’s talk about your assignments.
think of/about I’ve never thought about getting married.
turn to Please turn to page 45 in your textbooks.
tell somebody about something Tell me about your father.
thank somebody for something Thank you for your help.
translate something into something Try not to translate English into your own language.
trust somebody with something I don’t trust her with my secrets.
U
use for A pen is used for writing.
V
vote for Vote for change!
W
wait for Could you wait for me?
wonder at At night I wonder at the stars.
work on Let’s work on collocations.
worry about Do you worry about the environment?
write to / about I wrote to my MP about the litter in the streets.
warn somebody about/against They should have warned me about you!
Task
Write sentences using verb/preposition collocations that will be useful to you.
