3 Verbs That Take Different Prepositions 🤔 How to choose?

Hi everyone. I'm Jennifer from English with Jennifer. Do you know what a

love-hate relationship is? It's when you love something part of the time, and you

hate it all the other times. I think many students have a love-hate relationship

with grammar. We know it's a good thing, but it makes us feel very frustrated

sometimes. Right? Well, the solution is to study a little bit of grammar at a time.

Don't try to overload your brain with too many rules and patterns. That's why

in this lesson we're going to look at only three verbs and the prepositions

they take. The list is short enough to study and practice all in one day.

Remember to subscribe to my channel and then we can study another topic on

another day.

Let's start with the verb "talk." It's something we do every day. Right? When we

get together with friends, we have conversations. Use "talk about" to name the

topic of the conversation. For example: What were you and Carlos talking about?

Marina doesn't like to talk about her childhood. Use "talk with" when both people

or all people are speaking and contributing to the conversation. For

example: I was talking with my classmates the other day about different health

care systems. I saw you talking with Greg. I didn't know you two were friends. Use

"talk to" when one person is giving a message or information to another. For

example: The teacher talked to the class about the upcoming test. We can also use

"talk to" when someone is in trouble, meaning they did something bad. For

example: The teacher asked Ryan to stay after class so she could talk to him.

The teacher talked to Ryan about the test he failed. And we can use "talk to"

when someone needs information or advice. You should talk to a doctor about the

headaches you've been having. Finally, we use "talk in" for the manner in which we

speak. In the library, we talk in quiet voices. You shouldn't talk to anyone in a

rude way or in a rude tone. So let's put these patterns into practice. Give some

thought to these questions.

What do old friends talk about after not seeing each other for many years? Do you

like talking with friends over the phone or in person?

Who can you talk to when you have a problem? Is it rude to talk in another

language so that others around you don't understand? Next, let's look at the verb

"compare." Compared to the last one, this one is a little easier. We have two

possibilities: compare to and compared with. Some sources say that "compare to"

is preferred when we see only similarities, and "compare with" is for

when we see both similarities and differences, especially those differences.

But again, I'll tell you it often doesn't matter.

The phrase "compared to" is more common than "compared with" in American English,

but both are acceptable. Compared to me, you're like an Olympic swimmer. I can

barely swim. Compared with other sports, hockey requires an extremely high level

of coordination and balance because the game is played on ice. However, we use

"compare to" when we want to make a direct comparison, meaning we're saying

that two things or two people are alike.

Hector wrote Julia a poem and he compared her eyes to the stars in the

sky. Some leaders today like to compare themselves to great leaders of the past,

such as Gandhi, Abraham Lincoln, and Winston Churchill. Again, let's pause for

some practice. Can you answer these questions? Have you ever lived in two

different places (different houses, cities, or countries)? How do those two places

compare to each other? Compared to other members of your family, are you more

introverted or extroverted?

All right. Last verb: provide. When you provide something, you give it or make it

available. Schools provide an education. Hospitals provide medical care. Companies

provide job opportunities. We can provide someone with something. It's about giving

something needed. Public schools provide children with a basic education.

Hotels provide guests with soap, towels, and other basic necessities. We can also

provide something for someone or to someone. This is about making something

available. If people want it, they can use it. Airports provide special services for

those in wheelchairs. Some airports also provide play areas for small children.

Local governments should provide extreme weather warnings to the public. In those

three examples, my choices were guided by the idea that services or facilities are

designed for people and information is given to people. Here's a final set of

questions for practice. On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest, how

would you rate the quality of the education your

elementary school provided you with? Name something a hospital should provide for

all patients. Can you remember all the patterns we studied? I'll provide you

with the review list and some tips. Use "talk about" to name the topic of

conversation. Use "talk with" to explain who contributed to the conversation. Use

"talk to" when giving information or a message, when giving or seeking advice, or

when giving a reprimand, meaning telling someone that they did something wrong.

Use "talk in" for the manner in which you speak. With "compare," we can compare one

thing or one person to another or compare one thing or one person with

another. We can use the phrase "compared to X, Y is..." "Compared with" is also okay, but

it's less common. And remember that "compared to" is our only choice for

direct comparisons.

Finally, use "provide someone with something" when giving things that are

needed and use "provide something for someone or to someone" when making things

available. And yes, sometimes I think there's overlap and meaning. Look and

listen for these grammar patterns. You'll see them in news articles. You'll hear

them in podcasts, news reports, and movies. I'll list some useful tools in the video

description to help you find examples in real contexts. That's all for now. Please

like and share this video with others. As always, thanks for watching

and happy studies!

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