prepositions

PREPOSITIONS

Adjective + of

An adjective paired with the preposition of can identify causes of mental and physical states (e.g., fear, exhaustion, anxiety, etc.) or offer descriptions for actions and people.

afraid of, frightened of, scared of, terrified of

“Sam is afraid of dogs.” “Many kids are frightened of clowns.” “Are you scared of airplanes?”

“The poor baby was terrified of her crib.”

kind of, nice of, sweet of, thoughtful of

“How kind of you to come early.” “That was nice of your sister to treat us to dessert.”

“It’s very sweet of John to send a gift.” “It is thoughtful of passengers to thank their drivers.”

odd of, strange of

“How odd of that man to wear sunglasses inside.” “It’s strange of you to change your mind like that.”

proud of “Mom told me she is proud of my accomplishments.”

rude of “I thought it rude of her to interrupt me.”

smart of “That’s very smart of you.”

sick of, tired of

“I am so sick of doing laundry every week.” “Olivia confessed that she is tired of dating Mike.”

silly of , stupid of        “It was silly of me to assume I was right.”  “How stupid of that boy to drop out of high school.”

Adjective + to

When paired with an adjective, the preposition to can describe behaviors, states, or connections between things and people.

accustomed to “He quickly became accustomed to city life.”

addicted to “I think I'm addicted to action movies.”

committed to, dedicated to, devoted to

“She is committed to the art of dance.” “How dedicated to your studies are you?”

“Lucy is devoted to her family.”

friendly to, good to, kind to, nice to

“Henry is friendly to everyone.” “Was she good to you?” “You should always be kind to others.”

“Mrs. Roberts was nice to the cashier.”

Married/engaged  to “Cassie is married to Nick.”

mean to, rude to, unfriendly to

“Don’t be mean to your classmates.” “The couple was rude to the waitress.”

“A lot of cats are unfriendly to humans.”

opposed to “I am opposed to these changes.”

similar to “His idea is similar to mine.”

Adjective + about

The preposition about typically accompanies emotive adjectives in regards to specific situations or events.

angry about, furious about, mad about

“My neighbor is angry about the loud music we played last night.”

“That woman is furious about having to wait in line.”

“You’re always mad about something.”

anxious about, nervous about, stressed about, worried about

“Joe is anxious about studying abroad next semester.”

“She seemed nervous about the test.”

“Rachel is stressed about finding a job.”

excited about “I am excited about a new book that’s coming out soon.”

happy about “Aren’t you happy about the way things turned out?”

sad about, depressed about

“She might be sad about her grades.” “Bobby was depressed about his parents’ divorce.”

sorry about “I’m sorry about yesterday.”

upset about “He’s probably upset about losing the soccer match.”

Adjective + for

For can be used with adjectives to demonstrate purpose or reason.

“Texas is famous for rodeos.”

“Australia is known for its large kangaroo population.”

“Coach Brown is responsible for the football team.”

For may also be used to emphasize someone’s feelings toward a specific event, thing, or person. This combination follows the basic form feel/be + adjective + for + someone/something. For example:

“Marianne feels bad for her coworker.” “Kyle is happy for his brother.”

“The company felt hopeful for the future.”

Adjective + withprepositions

When used with an adjective, the preposition with can indicate the cause of an emotional state or a connection between things or people.

angry with, furious with

“Nicole is angry with her mother.” “I heard he’s furious with you!”

annoyed with, fed up with, bored with

“I’m annoyed with this traffic.” “She’s fed up with having to clean toilets all day.”

 “It’s hard not to be bored with long lectures.”

content with, fine with, OK with ,pleased with

“Taylor was content with moving to Chicago.” “I’m fine with having to rewrite the introduction.”

“Are you sure you’re OK with this?” “We are very pleased with the number of donations we received.”

disappointed with, displeased with

“Molly seems disappointed with her performance.” “The boy’s parents are displeased with his behavior.”

 With may also be employed in passive sentences to describe the states of people or things:

“Paris is especially crowded with tourists in the summertime.”

“The cake is filled with fresh blueberries.”

“The piñata is stuffed with hundreds of pieces of candy.”

Adjective + at/by

Most adjectives that take the preposition at can also take the preposition by. When combined with adjectives, these prepositions illustrate causes for specific reactions or emotional responses. By can be used in place of at only because these sentences require passive voice.

“The man was amazed at/by the number of people offering to help him.”

“She was astonished at/by the movie’s poor ratings.”

“I’m shocked at/by his behavior.”

“Flight attendants were surprised at/by the plane’s abrupt landing.”

At can also describe skills and abilities when paired with positive and negative adjectives, such as good/bad and wonderful/terrible. In this case, by cannot be used in place of at, as the sentences are not passive. For example:

✔ “James is good at playing the guitar.” (correct)

✖ “James is good by playing the guitar.” (incorrect)

✔ “I’m terrible at golf.” (correct)

✖ “I’m terrible by golf.” (incorrect)

Adjective + in

Some adjectives can be paired with the preposition in to show connections or relationships between people and things. “Bernard is interested in joining the school band.”

“Is she involved in politics?”

Adjective + from

Adjectives taking the preposition from can emphasize a point of opposition or the result of an action. For example:

“Turquoise is different from blue.” (point of opposition)

“We were protected from the storm.” (point of opposition)

“I became tired from studying all night.” (result of an action)

Adjectives with multiple prepositions

Many adjectives can be paired with multiple prepositions. While some prepositions may change the meaning of a sentence, others can behave interchangeably

(such as at and by). Here are some sentence pairs that use different prepositions but have identical meanings:

“She’s very sorry about the mistake.”

“She’s very sorry for the mistake.”

“Mark is disappointed with the decision.”

“Mark is disappointed in the decision.”

In some cases, however, the prepositions are not interchangeable and can only be used to describe specific nouns or gerunds. For example, when paired with  adjectives, with and for generally refer to people, whereas about usually refers to things, events, or gerunds:

“I’m so happy for them.” (people)

“I’m so happy about the wedding.” (thing/event)

“Dad is angry with Elizabeth.” (person)

“Dad is angry about Elizabeth’s sneaking out.” (gerund)