Blog about English
Verbs followed by specific prepositions.
A prepositional verb consists of a verb followed by a preposition that introduces its object.
The verb and preposition function together as a lexical unit, but the preposition still has an object.
We depend on our parents for support.
Мы зависим от наших родителей в плане поддержки.
"Depend on" is a prepositional verb: the preposition "on" introduces the object "our parents".
She listens to music every evening.
Она слушает музыку каждый вечер.
"Listen to" forms a lexical unit, but the preposition "to" is followed by its object "music".
I believe in you.
Я верю в тебя.
"Believe in" is a prepositional verb followed by the object "you".
Many English verbs require a specific preposition.
Examples include depend on, believe in, apologize for and belong to.
It depends on the weather.
Это зависит от погоды.
"Depend" is normally followed by the preposition "on".
She believes in hard work.
Она верит в усердную работу.
"Believe" takes the preposition "in" when it means to have faith in something.
I apologized for being late.
Я извинился за опоздание.
"Apologize" takes the preposition "for" before the thing or action being apologized for.
This book belongs to my sister.
Эта книга принадлежит моей сестре.
"Belong" is followed by the preposition "to".
The object follows the preposition rather than the verb.
For example: depend on your friends, listen to music, believe in yourself.
I depend on my friends.
Я завишу от своих друзей.
The object "my friends" follows the preposition "on", not the verb "depend".
She listens to music while she works.
Она слушает музыку, пока работает.
The object "music" follows the preposition "to".
You can believe in yourself.
Ты можешь верить в себя.
The pronoun "yourself" is the object of the preposition "in".
He talked to his manager about the problem.
Он поговорил со своим менеджером о проблеме.
In "talk to his manager", the noun phrase "his manager" is the object of "to".
Certain prepositions frequently occur with particular verbs.
Examples include to, for, on, in, at, about, with, from and of.
She talked to her teacher.
Она поговорила со своим учителем.
"Talk" commonly takes the preposition "to" when introducing the person addressed.
He apologized for his mistake.
Он извинился за свою ошибку.
"Apologize" commonly takes "for" before the thing that caused the apology.
We agreed on a price.
Мы договорились о цене.
"Agree" can take "on" when referring to something that people reach an agreement about.
I'm interested in photography.
Я интересуюсь фотографией.
"Interested" is commonly followed by the preposition "in".
She is good at mathematics.
Она хорошо разбирается в математике.
"Good" is followed by "at" when describing someone's ability in an activity or subject.
Are you worried about the exam?
Ты беспокоишься об экзамене?
"Worried" commonly takes the preposition "about" before the thing causing concern.
After a preposition, the following verb normally takes the gerund form.
Examples include apologize for being late and insist on paying.
She apologized for arriving late.
Она извинилась за то, что опоздала.
After the preposition "for", the verb "arrive" takes the gerund form "arriving".
He insisted on paying the bill.
Он настоял на том, чтобы оплатить счёт.
After the preposition "on", the verb takes the gerund form "paying".
They succeeded in finding a solution.
Им удалось найти решение.
After "in", the verb "find" appears as the gerund "finding".
She is thinking about changing her job.
Она думает о смене работы.
The preposition "about" is followed by the gerund "changing".
We apologized for not calling earlier.
Мы извинились за то, что не позвонили раньше.
The negative gerund "not calling" follows the preposition "for".
Many prepositional verbs can be used in passive constructions.
For example: The children were looked after by their grandparents.
The children were looked after by their grandparents.
За детьми присматривали их бабушка и дедушка.
"Look after" can be used in the passive because it takes an object.
He was laughed at by the other students.
Другие студенты смеялись над ним.
"Laugh at" can form a passive construction with its former object as the subject.
The proposal was agreed on by everyone.
Все согласились с предложением.
"Agree on" can be used in the passive, although the active construction is also common.
She is often spoken to by her manager.
Её менеджер часто разговаривает с ней.
"Speak to" can form a passive construction when the person spoken to becomes the subject.
Some verb-preposition combinations have multiple meanings depending on context.
For example, look at may describe physical sight or careful consideration.
Look at that beautiful painting.
Посмотри на эту красивую картину.
"Look at" describes directing your eyes toward something.
The committee will look at the proposal tomorrow.
Комитет рассмотрит предложение завтра.
Here "look at" means to examine or consider something carefully.
She ran into an old friend at the station.
Она случайно встретила старого друга на вокзале.
"Run into" means to meet someone unexpectedly.
The car ran into a tree.
Машина врезалась в дерево.
Here "run into" has a literal meaning of colliding with something.
Prepositional verbs differ from phrasal verbs in grammar.
Unlike particles in phrasal verbs, the preposition always introduces an object and cannot normally be separated from it.
She looked after her younger brother.
Она заботилась о своём младшем брате.
"Look after" is a prepositional verb because "after" introduces the object "her younger brother".
She turned off the television.
Она выключила телевизор.
"Turn off" is a separable phrasal verb, unlike an inseparable prepositional verb such as "look after".
She looked at the painting.
Она посмотрела на картину.
In "look at", the preposition "at" introduces the object "the painting" and cannot be separated from it.
He picked up the book.
Он поднял книгу.
"Pick up" is a phrasal verb whose particle "up" can be separated from the verb when the object is a noun.
Many verb patterns include fixed prepositions.
Learning complete verb patterns is more effective than memorizing isolated prepositions.
She depends on her parents.
Она зависит от своих родителей.
The complete pattern is "depend on something/somebody", not simply "depend something".
He apologized to his colleague for the mistake.
Он извинился перед коллегой за ошибку.
"Apologize to somebody for something" contains two fixed prepositions with different functions.
We are waiting for the results.
Мы ждём результатов.
The complete pattern is "wait for something/somebody".
She is responsible for managing the team.
Она отвечает за управление командой.
"Responsible for" is followed by a noun phrase or gerund, giving the pattern "responsible for doing something".
Some prepositional verbs are characteristic of formal English, while others are more common in conversation.
Register influences verb choice in different contexts.
We need to deal with this issue immediately.
Нам нужно немедленно решить этот вопрос.
"Deal with" is common in both spoken and written English and is natural in professional contexts.
The report refers to several previous studies.
В отчёте упоминается несколько предыдущих исследований.
"Refer to" is relatively formal and is particularly common in academic and professional writing.
The new policy concerns all employees.
Новая политика касается всех сотрудников.
"Concern" is often more formal than the conversational expression "be about".
The new policy is about all employees.
Новая политика касается всех сотрудников.
"Be about" is much more conversational and less formal than "concern" in this context.
Dictionaries indicate which preposition follows each verb.
Consulting dictionary patterns helps learners avoid common errors.
It depends on the situation.
Это зависит от ситуации.
A dictionary entry for "depend" typically shows the pattern "depend on somebody/something".
She succeeded in solving the problem.
Ей удалось решить проблему.
A dictionary entry for "succeed" shows the pattern "succeed in doing something".
He apologized to me for being late.
Он извинился передо мной за опоздание.
The dictionary pattern for "apologize" distinguishes "apologize to somebody" from "apologize for something".
Verb-preposition combinations vary considerably across languages.
Learners should memorize English combinations instead of translating directly.
I'm waiting for the bus.
Я жду автобус.
English requires the preposition "for" in "wait for", even though some languages express the same meaning without an equivalent preposition.
She listens to music every morning.
Она слушает музыку каждое утро.
English uses "listen to", so the preposition "to" must be included before the object.
We discussed the problem yesterday.
Мы обсуждали эту проблему вчера.
"Discuss" is followed directly by its object in English; learners may incorrectly add "about" by analogy with languages where a preposition is required.
She explained the problem to me.
Она объяснила мне проблему.
"Explain" has the pattern "explain something to somebody"; the preposition "to" introduces the person receiving the explanation.
Use the preposition required by each verb.
Common mistakes include choosing the wrong preposition, omitting required prepositions, adding unnecessary prepositions and confusing prepositional verbs with phrasal verbs.
It depends on the weather.
Это зависит от погоды.
Use "depend on", not "depend of". The preposition "on" is part of the required verb pattern.
She listens to music every day.
Она слушает музыку каждый день.
Do not omit "to" after "listen". The correct pattern is "listen to something".
We discussed the problem.
Мы обсудили проблему.
Do not add "about" after "discuss" when it has a direct object. "Discuss something" is the standard pattern.
He apologized to his teacher.
Он извинился перед своим учителем.
Use "apologize to somebody" when identifying the person receiving the apology.
She is interested in learning languages.
Она интересуется изучением языков.
After the preposition "in", use the gerund "learning", not the infinitive.
I'm looking forward to seeing you.
Я с нетерпением жду встречи с тобой.
In "look forward to", "to" is a preposition, so it is followed by the gerund "seeing", not "see".