English Lesson: The Power of Learning Adjective & Preposition Combinations (Common Examples)

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- Hello, this is Jack from ToFluency.com.

Now today we are going to talk about adjective

and preposition combinations.

Now before I give you an example,

these are important because when we use

an adjective, we often want to use

a preposition as well.

And there are certain prepositions

that go with certain adjectives.

And you can think about these in terms of collocations.

And I've talked about the importance of collocations before

and this is just going to show you why it's so important

that you learn English through sentences.

Now to learn more about that, go to the description

because I have a video on that.

But enough about that, let's talk about an example now.

Listen to this, I'm afraid, I'm afraid.

Now that's just an adjective, to be afraid.

And you obviously know what this means, to be scared.

But if you want to talk

about what you are afraid of,

then you're going to need a preposition.

And I've already given you the preposition.

I'm afraid of the dark, I'm afraid of the dark.

Okay, so when we use afraid,

we use the preposition of.

Now we can often use

a verb after this, too.

Are you ready for this?

I'm afraid of going outside when it's dark.

I'm afraid of going outside when it's dark.

In this example, we're using afraid,

plus the preposition of, then the gerund.

The gerund, the I-N-G, going, being, seeing, et cetera.

The good news is in English, after you use a preposition,

you always use a gerund.

This is a rule without any exceptions,

which is very rare in the English language.

So today we're going to learn all about this,

things like interested in,

okay, succeed in.

We're going to learn adjective and preposition pairs.

Now if you really want to internalize this,

then it's important that you learn sentences

because it's all about getting to the stage

where you can use adjective and preposition combinations

without thinking about rules.

Because there aren't rules about which preposition you use

after which adjective, so it's important

that you just learn them from heart.

And you can do this by learning sentences.

Now I'm going to include these sentences

in the To Fluency Program

so that you can download the audio phrases

and the memory cards.

If you want to learn more about that,

there is a link in the description.

And if you don't want to join the program,

for whatever reason, do this instead.

Get a notebook and write down the sentences

from this lesson and then think about ways

that you can repeat these sentences over the next few weeks

so that you can just internalize them.

The first one is interested in.

To be interested in something.

Now here's an example.

I'm really interested in photography at the moment.

So I'm really interested in photography at the moment.

This is a topic that interests me.

I'm interested in photography at the moment.

And I've got a new camera for this lesson.

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Here's an example using the gerund.

I'm not really interested in watching any more of that show.

I'm not really interested in watching any more of that show.

So we're talking about a TV show here.

I'm saying that TV show doesn't interest me.

I'm not interested in watching any more of that show.

And a business example, he didn't seem that interested

in what we proposed.

He didn't seem very interested in what we proposed.

Number two is angry about, to be angry about something.

Now again, you can just say "I'm angry"

to describe your emotion, that you're

not feeling very good at the moment, that you're upset.

I'm angry, I'm angry.

And then someone might ask you, "What are you angry about?"

What are you angry about?

So we're using the preposition about

with the adjective angry.

Here are some more examples.

I'm angry about what you did.

I'm angry about what you did.

And he's angry about not being able to see his friends.

He's angry about not being able to see his friends.

Now what we're doing here is we're using

the word can and using then

to be able, okay.

Now we're using the gerund again.

He's angry about not being able to see his friends.

Not being able to see his friends.

That one is more of an advanced sentence.

The next one is ashamed of.

I'm ashamed of what I did.

I'm ashamed of what I did.

Or I'm ashamed of what the company is doing at the moment.

I'm ashamed of what the company is doing at the moment.

The next one is aware of, to be aware of something.

Now here's a good example.

If somebody asks you a question like,

"Are there any shows going on this weekend?"

You can say, "Not that I'm aware of."

Not that I'm aware of.

So this not that I'm aware of is like an expression

that we use a lot, not that I'm aware of.

Can also use this when we're talking about danger.

So if you go downtown at night,

be aware of your surroundings.

When you go downtown at night,

be aware of your surroundings.

So be aware of what is happening around you

because it might be dangerous.

Or a doctor might say, "Are you aware of the side effects

"if you take this medication?"

Are you aware of the side effects

if you take this medication?

The next one is good or bad at.

Or fantastic at or terrible at or amazing at something.

Here's a sentence that I think is a great one to know.

Try and get good at speaking to strangers

to help you improve your English.

Try and get good at speaking to strangers

to help you improve your English.

So try and get, this is another type of collocation

that we use in English all the time.

Try and get, try and get good at.

So try to become good at speaking to strangers.

Here's a quick question.

Do you feel comfortable

when you speak to strangers in English?

Is this something you're comfortable with?

Leave your comment below.

Another example is I'm bad

at keeping in touch with people at the moment.

So again, we're using the gerund.

I'm bad at keeping in touch with people at the moment.

And to keep in touch with somebody

means to stay in contact with them.

So I'm bad at keeping in touch with people at the moment.

Another example is he's really good

at listening to people when they speak.

He's really good at listening to people when they speak,

which is a good skill to have.

And if you come across a good teacher, you can say,

"She's amazing at explaining things in a simple way."

She's amazing at explaining things in a simple way.

The next one is certain about, certain about.

When you're completely sure about something.

For example, I've never been

so certain about something in my entire life.

This is when you're really confident about your position.

I've never been so certain about something

in my entire life.

But somebody might ask you, "Are you certain about that?"

Are you certain about that?

Are you sure this is true, are you certain about that?

And you could say, "I'm not completely certain about it,

"but let's just do it anyway."

I'm not completely certain about it,

but let's just do it anyway.

The next one is content with.

For example, I'm not content with the state

of our house at the moment.

I'm not content with the state of our house at the moment.

It's too messy for my liking.

Another example is it's Friday night,

you're a little bit tired and you say to your housemate

or your wife or your husband,

"I'm content with staying in tonight."

I'm content with staying in tonight.

We don't need to go out.

The next one is busy with.

And I find these days a lot of people say,

"I'm so busy at the moment, I'm so busy at the moment."

But if you want to be more specific

about what you are busy with, then use with.

For example, I'm so busy with work right now.

I'm so busy with work right now.

Or they seem really busy

with their new restaurant at the moment.

They seem really busy

with their new restaurant at the moment.

This is a good one, smart or stupid of.

Smart or stupid of.

For example, that's not very smart of you.

That's not very smart of you.

Now often in British English we will say not very,

we use the negative to say

that's stupid of you.

That is so stupid of you.

But we often say, "That's not very smart of you" instead.

Another example, it was stupid of him to say that.

It was stupid of him to say that.

And how stupid of you, what were you thinking?

How stupid of you, what were you thinking?

The next one is addicted to.

Now listen to this, I think I am addicted to coffee.

I think I'm addicted to coffee

because I need two cups of coffee

just to get going in the morning.

So I think I'm addicted to coffee.

Another example is kids are addicted to screens these days.

They're always on iPads and phones.

Kids are addicted to screens these days.

Excited about, this is one of my favorites

and I've been using this as an example

to show the importance

of learning English through sentences.

So I often say things like,

"She's so excited about going to the party later."

And that sentence can give you so much information

about English grammar.

Again, learn English through sentences.

She's so excited about going to the party later.

Another example is he's not that excited about it.

He's not that excited about it.

Or he doesn't seem that excited about it.

He doesn't seem that excited about it.

And to use this in the past, imagine that

we had plans to go to the pool,

but there's a thunderstorm. (thunder rumbling)

I could say, "Uh, I was really excited

"about going to the pool."

I was really excited about going to the pool.

The next one is sad or happy about something.

For example, I'm so happy about reaching

300,000 subscribers here on YouTube.

I'm so happy about reaching 300 subscribers here on YouTube.

And on the other end of the emotional spectrum,

I can say, "We're so sad about what happened."

We're so sad about what happened.

And if you're asking someone a question, you can ask them,

"Are you happy about your new job?"

Are you happy about your new job?

The next one, teachers and parents

often use with their children.

Disappointed with or pleased with.

For example, I'm really disappointed

with how you are acting at the moment.

I'm really disappointed with how

you are acting at the moment.

Now acting in this case means something like your behavior,

how you are behaving at the moment.

On the other hand, you might say, "I'm so pleased with you."

I'm so pleased with you.

And I often ask English learners, like yourself,

"Are you pleased with your progress?"

Are you pleased with your progress this year?

And the last one is overwhelmed with or by.

So you can use both here.

For example, I'm overwhelmed with all the work

I have to do right now.

I'm overwhelmed with all the work I have to do right now.

And using this in the past, I was overwhelmed

by all the cleaning I had to do, but I did it.

So those are all the examples I have for you

on adjectives plus prepositions

plus gerunds, okay.

And this type of structure is important to learn

bed it's going to allow you to talk freely

when speaking with others.

Now speaking with is actually a verb

plus prepositional phrase.

And we might have a lesson on that soon.

But for now, definitely go to the description.

If you don't have my book yet,

"The 5-Step Plan for English Fluency,"

it's free to download,

just click the link and enter your details.

While you're down there, check out

the phrases from this lesson.

I'll leave some of them in the YouTube description.

And go to my website to see all the phrases.

If you want to get the audio and the memory cards,

then join the To Fluency Program.

And either way, I just recommend

that you write down these sentences and learn them.

So take some time to repeat these sentences

so that you commit them to your memory

and then you're going to find

that you can use them in a flexible way.

So when you learn things like

I was excited about seeing her,

then you'll be able to say, "I'm excited about seeing her,"

or, "I'm excited about going there."

Once you see these patterns over and over again,

you'll be able to use them flexibly,

which is where you want to be.

Okay, if you've enjoyed this,

then please like and share it.

And again, check out the description.

Or click on your screen now

to watch another one of my lessons.

Okay, thank you for being here, bye-bye.

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