English Prepositions You MUST Know - English Lesson With Anna

Do you know what preposition comes after

LISTEN

SPEAK

AGREE

WAIT

and

DEPEND?

Hello everyone Anna here  from englishlikeanative.co.uk

In this lesson we're going  to look at PREPOSITIONS. 

Prepositions are small words like ‘at’, ‘up’, ‘on’ and ‘between’,  

that usually come before a noun or pronoun  and show the relationship between the words.

My students tell me that prepositions are one  of the most difficult things about English.

I know they're a real pain  to remember, but fear not.

I'm here to help.

As always, I've put together a useful worksheet  covering all the important points of this lesson  

along with a quiz. To further test your knowledge.  I will email this free PDF directly to you.  

All you have to do is click on the link  below and sign up to my mailing list. 

Once you're on the list, I will  send you all future notes as well.

Now, when learning any language,  

it's important to remember that certain  words are usually said or written together.

Prepositions are no exception. 

Specific prepositions often come  after certain verbs and adjectives.

So next time you're SPEAKING TO a native speaker  

or reading something in English, try to take  note of what prepositions go with which words.

Do you see what I did there?

I just use the verb SPEAK. I said,

“The next time you're  speaking __ a native speaker.” 

Which preposition did I use after it?

I said TO.

“The next time you're SPEAKING  TO a native speaker...”

You can also say WITH after speak,

“The next time you're SPEAKING  WITH a native speaker...”

They’re used in almost the exact same  way but there is a small difference,  

which I will talk about at the end of this video.

So, let's start with prepositions  

after adjectives. First up, we've got

INTERESTED IN

“I'm interested in DIY.”

or

“I'm interested in working at your company.”

So, when you say ‘interested’ remember ‘in’.

INTERESTED IN

INTERESTED IN

INTERESTED IN

Like one word, you've got it?

What are you interested in?

Next up is

GOOD AT

“I'm GOOD AT my job.”

“I'm GOOD AT playing the piano.”

“She is GOOD AT finding practical solutions.”

When we talk about how well we can do  something – we use the preposition ‘AT’.

We also say BAD AT.

For example,

“He's BAD AT keeping secrets.”

or “They're not too BAD AT cooking.”

Next, we have

AFRAID OF

“He's AFRAID OF dogs.”

or

“She's AFRAID OF spiders.”

AFRAID OF

AFRAID OF

Do you want to know what I am deeply AFRAID OF?

I will reveal all later.

We also use OF with PROUD’.

You can be PROUD OF what you've done.

For example,

“We are PROUD OF our progress in English.”

or

“I'm PROUD OF getting a ‘B’ in my exam.

PROUD OF

PROUD OF

The last adjective I'm  going to talk about today is

RESPONSIBLE. 

Do you know the preposition  that comes after ‘responsible’?

RESPONSIBLE FOR

“She's RESPONSIBLE FOR the finance department.”

“He is RESPONSIBLE FOR making the shopping list.”

RESPONSIBLE FOR

Now let's test your memory.

Listen to Doreen and see if  you can fill in the blanks.

“I have terrible news, I'm  afraid. This morning your father,  

was speaking __ me and unfortunately,  he has a rare bowel disease.

He's been given 6 months.  

We've spoken __ the specialist who believes  that his only hope is a clinical trial of an  

experimental treatment that he can put your father  down for if he's interested __ giving it a go. 

There are risks of course,  but he has limited options.

Now your dad isn't very good  __ talking about his feelings.

So, when you do see him tonight,  just keep the conversation light.  

He actually asked me not to tell you, but we  all know how bad I am __ keeping secrets, so...

Are you okay?

You know, your father and I are both very  proud __ you and what you have achieved. 

The last thing we want is for this  illness to become your burden. 

Your dad said that he was  afraid __ letting you down,  

not being there for you. So, remember,  

you don't need to do anything, just enjoy the  time we have together and look after yourself. 

I'll be responsible __ your dad and if  I need any help, I will let you know.”

Did you manage to fill in all blanks?

Here are the answers.

“I have terrible news, I'm afraid. This  morning your father, was SPEAKING TO me and  

unfortunately, he has a rare bowel disease.

He's been given 6 months. We've SPOKEN  WITH the specialist who believes that his  

only hope is a clinical trial of  an experimental treatment that  

he can put your father down for if  he's INTERESTED IN giving it a go. 

There are risks of course,  but he has limited options.

Now your dad isn't very GOOD AT  talking about his feelings. So,  

when you do see him tonight, just keep the  conversation light. He actually asked me  

not to tell you, but we all know how  BAD I am AT keeping secrets, so...

Are you okay?

You know, your father and I are both very  PROUD OF you and what you have achieved. 

The last thing we want is for this  illness to become your burden. 

Your dad said that he was  AFRAID OF letting you down,  

not being there for you. So, remember, you don't need to do  

anything, just enjoy the time we have  together and look after yourself. 

I'll be RESPONSIBLE FOR your dad and if  I need any help, I will let you know.”

Next let's take a look at some common  verb and preposition combinations.

I'm not talking about phrasal verbs here.

These are just verbs that  commonly take a preposition  

(especially when there is an object after them).

First up, we've got

LISTEN TO.

“This morning I LISTENED TO  Bach while making breakfast.” 

“They usually LISTEN TO the radio on long drives.”

I often hear students making  a mistake with this... 

They forget to say TO after  LISTEN, but if you're saying what  

you are LISTENING TO, then you  have to use the preposition.

You can just say LISTEN, if you want  someone to do the action, but if you say  

what you want them to listen TO after, it's  only correct if you have the preposition.

“LISTEN TO this!”

“Hey, LISTEN TO me!”

or just

“LISTEN!”

We also use the preposition  TO with the verb BELONG.

For example,

“This book BELONGS TO Caspian.”

or

“Who does this jacket BELONG TO?”

BELONG TO

BELONG TO

Another verb students often miss  the preposition after is WAIT.

We have to say what you're WAITING FOR.

Like the song, “What you waiting FOR?”

Now this is another tip I have  to help you learn prepositions. 

Try to actively search for prepositions used in  your favourite songs, especially if they're used  

after a verb or adjective because then you'll  know which prepositions to use after that word.

Remember that songs aren't always grammatically  correct, but they're still a fun way to learn.

So,

“What are you waiting for?”

“What are you waiting for?”

Next up is

DEPEND ON

We can say,

“The salary DEPENDS ON your previous experience.”

or

“I am so happy I can DEPEND ON my friends.”

DEPEND ON

We also use ON with SPEND.

We SPEND money or time ON something.

“I SPENT 20 pounds ON this!”

Or you might say,

“I don't have a lot to SPEND ON this jacket.”

And from the context, we will understand  that you're talking about money.

We could also say,

“I don't want to SPEND too long ON this decision.

And we will understand that  you're talking about time.

Or your boss might ask,

“How long did you SPEND ON this report?”

SPEND ON

SPEND ON

Can you guess how long I  SPENT ON making this video?

When we use dependent prepositions,  prepositions that go after specific  

adjective or verbs they are usually  found together in the sentence.

But in this example,

“I don't want to SPEND too long ON this decision.”

TOO LONG comes between SPEND and ON.

We still need the preposition  because we say WHAT afterwards.

You could say, “I don't want to SPEND too long.”

But if we add THIS DECISION, then we need ON.

“I don't want to spend too long ON this decision.”

For certain words, we sometimes use  a preposition and sometimes we don't.

Here are some common words that can be confusing.

MARRY

When we talk about the action of getting  married, we don't use a preposition directly  

after the verb. For example,

“She MARRIED him on June 27 1998.”

But when we say WHO you're MARRIED  TO, then we do use the preposition. 

After MARRIED we use TO.

For example,

“She's MARRIED TO my brother.”

or

“I'm MARRIED TO my work.”

It's true.

Next up

ASK

We don't use a preposition after ASK  when we don't say WHO we're asking.

For example, “Can you ASK the price of this?”

But we do use a preposition when  we say, WHO and WHAT we're asking.

For example,

“She ASKED him FOR a pen.”

We use ASK + PERSON + FOR + NOUN.

“They ASKED ME FOR a loan of £100.”

And we use ASK + the INFINITIVE when we say  

what we're asking someone to do. For example,

“She ASKED HIM TO WRITE his name.” Another example is,

“I ASKED MY SON TO SING with me.”

Now, there are also some words  that take multiple prepositions.

For example,

AGREE

You AGREE WITH someone.

We say AGREE WITH when we want to say  that you think the same as another person.

For example,

“Hm, I AGREE WITH Miss Brown  on many points in her talk.”

We also use AGREE WITH to talk  about a thing or situation. 

“I didn't AGREE WITH what you did.”

or

“I AGREE WITH the ruling.”

We can also use TO after AGREE.

When you AGREE TO DO something,  you mean that you will take action.

Here's an example, 

“She AGREED TO change the  start time of the meeting.”

or

“I know they want to AGREE TO the new terms.”

Finally, as promised, I'll tell you the  difference between SPEAK TO and SPEAK WITH.

They are almost the same except  when we SPEAK TO someone.

It's probable that it's less of a  conversation and more of a monologue.

One person speaking.

“She SPOKE TO the crowd with great skill.

However, when we SPEAK WITH someone,  it's more likely to be a dialogue.

“They SPOKE WITH the child's parents  to make sure everything was okay.”

It’s a small difference. That isn't always true. You can also say,

“They SPOKE TO the child's parents, of course.”

But sometimes there is this  small difference in meaning  

and it's about who's doing  the majority of the talking.

With SPEAK TO it's one side, doing more  talking. And with SPEAK WITH it's more equal.  

And that's one of the reasons why  prepositions are so difficult.

Sorry!

Okay, so what am I most AFRAID OF?

I am most afraid of being trapped.

It's a fear I've had since being a young girl.

So, I avoid busy trains and lifts  where I can and I always check  

the locks work on a public toilet  door before I close and lock it.

What are you most afraid of?

Let me know in the comments. 

Now to work your preposition knowledge  harder, check out this video right here  

and I will drop some useful links for  you also in the description below.

I'll see you in the next lesson.