Fixed Expressions — Verb/Adjective + Preposition
Prepositional Collocations are fixed combinations of verbs or adjectives + a specific preposition. The preposition cannot be changed without making the sentence wrong or unnatural.
What is it?
Fixed Expressions — Verb/Adjective + Preposition
Verb + Preposition Collocations:
| Expression | Example |
|---|---|
| listen to | "Listen to the teacher." |
| arrive at (specific location) | "We arrived at the airport." |
| arrive in (city/country) | "We arrived in Abuja." |
| depend on | "It depends on the weather." |
| look at | "Look at this photo." |
| look for | "She is looking for her keys." |
| look after | "He looks after his younger sister." |
| wait for | "We waited for over an hour." |
| apologise for | "She apologised for being late." |
| agree with | "I agree with you." |
| belong to | "This coat belongs to me." |
| consist of | "The team consists of five people." |
| suffer from | "He suffers from headaches." |
| insist on | "She insisted on paying." |
| result in | "The mistake resulted in a delay." |
Adjective + Preposition Collocations:
| Expression | Example |
|---|---|
| good at | "She is good at maths." |
| bad at | "He is bad at cooking." |
| interested in | "I am interested in history." |
| afraid of | "He is afraid of spiders." |
| proud of | "She is proud of her son." |
| responsible for | "You are responsible for this." |
| different from | "This is different from that." |
| similar to | "This style is similar to hers." |
| married to | "He is married to a teacher." |
| angry with/at | "She is angry with him." |
| famous for | "Nigeria is famous for its music." |
| capable of | "She is capable of more." |
| excited about | "I am excited about the trip." |
[!NOTE]
There is no rule for which preposition — you must memorize these as whole phrases. Native speakers use them automatically.