Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
phrase in order to demonstrate what they relate to. They cannot just stand by
themselves. There is usually only one possibility of preposition which must be used after
a particular noun. Occasionally alternatives are possible. But in either event it is a
matter of learning which prepositions can be used with which nouns.
Here are some of the most common noun plus preposition combinations, but there is space here
only for a few of them. If you are in doubt as to which preposition to use, always check with a
good dictionary.
Nouns followed by 'to'
allusion to
answer/reply/
response to
contribution to damage to
devotion to
reference to
relevance to
solution to
threat to
access to
addiction to
resistance to
The court ordered that access to his children would be restricted to alternate Sundays.
It was his contribution to molecular biology that won him the Nobel prize.
The damage caused to his house was colossal after the hurricane.
Although there are thousands of squirrels in the wood, they are no threat to the
environment.
Note that the verbs and adjectives that these nouns are related to are often followed by
the same preposition:
He is no longer addicted to alcohol and is devoted to his friend who weaned him off it.
Nouns followed by 'for'
admiration for
bid for
respect for
cure for
demand for
recipe for
search for
thirst for
I have nothing but admiration for the way he handled a very difficult situation.
There is no known cure for this type of snake bite.
The demand for this new generation of mobile phone cannot be satisfied.
I have a wonderful recipe for a simple pasta dish that I must give you.
She is a thoroughly spoilt child and has no respect for her parents.
The search for the missing teenager was called off as darkness fell.
It is sometimes the case that nouns with a similar meaning are followed by the same
preposition. Thus appetite, craving, hankering, hunger, desire, longing,
passion are all synonyms of thirst and they are all followed by the preposition for:
I had a craving/longing/appetite/hunger/hankering foroysters when I was
pregnant.
date with
involvement
with
link with
quarrel with
sympathy with
I've got a dinner date with Tommy on Saturday. ~ That's nice. How
romantic!
I've got a meeting with the architects this afternoon, so I shall be
home late.
His dealings with Grenville Engineering were suspended and all links /
connections with the organisation were severed.
I have no quarrel with his teachers. I think they did all they could to
deter him.
I have every sympathy with his family. They must be so upset that he
is now in prison.
Note that all of these nouns imply some sort of relationship with people or
things and they all have the linking preposition with.
Other nouns - other prepositions
ban on
grudge
against
anger at
awareness of
grasp of
control over
authority overhold on
His anger at the way the refugees were being treated was clear to see.
The bond between mother and child is one that can never be broken.
There was an excerpt from Verdi's Aida on the Radio Three last night.
She has some sort of authority over him and he has ahold on her.
debate about / on
decision about / on
difficulty with / in
love of / for
need of / for
transition from / to
reason for / to
arguments for /
against
His love of / for tennis is such that he queued all night for a ticket for
the tournament.
Although the case against him was strong, his lawyer put up a
good case for leniency.