verb+Prepositions Combinations with Examples

Lists
Verb+Prepositions Combinations with Examples
Phrasal verbs are verbs and prepositions in an association
so close that they have new meanings that cannot be easily
inferred from the individual parts. But not all verb
preposition combinations act in this way. In many
combinations, the transitive meaning of the verb can only be
expressed in association with a particular preposition, but the
preposition does not modify the meaning of the verb as is the
case with two-word verbs.

These verb-prepositions associations cannot be changed without changing the meaning. We

have to memorize them, to understand and speak English.
Some of these verbs may take an indirect object as well as a direct one. In such case one or
both objects may require a particular preposition.
Since all the verbs in this list carry one or another of their usual dictionary definitions, they have
not been defined, except where the same compound has several meanings, or where the
students might find difficulty in deciding which of the dictionary definitions to apply in to given
case.

Verb and Preposition combinations with

examples
abstain from The doctor advised me to abstain from the use of alcohol and tobacco.
(explain)How do you account for the unusually cold weather we’ve been
account for
having lately?
accuse (someone) of
He accused me of taking some important papers from his desk.
(something)
When you travel you have to adapt to the habits and customs of the country
adapt to
you visit.
adhere to This glue will not adhere to glass or leather.
agree on They couldn’t agree on the subject of foreign policy.
agree with I don’t agree with a word you say, but I’ll defend to the death your right to say
 it.
I have to apologize for the way this room looks. I haven’t gotten around to
apologize for
cleaning it.
approve of She doesn’t approve of alcohol in any form.
argue with I won’t argue with you; I can see your mind’s made up already.
arrive at (a place) He arrived at my house just at supper time.
arrive in (city,
They arrived in New York last Tuesday.
country)
ask about We asked about the condition of the roads between there and the Capital.
ask for I asked for a quite room on the second floor of the hotel.
assure of I assured him my willingness to help him.
bargain with
I bargained with the dealer for more than two hours for that old sofa. He
(someone) for
finally let me have it for eight dollars.
(something)
(accept as real or true, or morally desirable)Do you believe in Darwin’s Theory
believe in of Evolution?He doesn’t believe in letting the children have money unless
they have earned it.
(be a possession of)This book doesn’t belong to me. It’s a library book.(be a
belong to
member of a group or organization)What clubs do you belong to, if any?
beware of My father told me to beware of strangers, women, and mad dogs.
blame(someone) for
I blame myself for all that happened yesterday.
(something)
break (someone) of
I’m trying to break myself of the habit of biting my nails when I’m nervous.
(some) habit
buy from (a person) I bought it from a salesman who came to the door.
but at (a shop or
I bought it at a department store.
store)
buy in (a city or
He bought it in Rome.
country)
(take care of)Who cares for the children when you go out of town?(enjoy, be
care for fond of… usually in negative)I don’t care much for hillbilly music or western
ballads.
caution (someone)
I want to caution you against believing everything he says. He is not always
against
to be trusted.
(something/one)
complain about What are you complaining about? You got your share.
consent to Her parents wouldn’t consent to her marriage to a man almost twice her age.
The student body of this school consists of students from nearly fifty
consist of
countries.
This student’s present grades contrast very favorable with those he made
contrast with
when he entered the school.
contribute to Do you want to contribute a dollar to the Red Cross?
convict of sentence to He was convicted of murder and sentenced to death.
correspond with This signature does not correspond with the one on his ID card.
count on (relay on)Can I count on your cooperation in this matter?
He claims he was cured of dysentery by a diet of peanuts and bananas. Do
cure of(an illness or
you think that’s possible?Demosthenes cured himself of stammering by taking
bad habit)
with his mouth full of pebbles.
deal in He deals in diamonds and precious stones.
a. (do business with)I don’t like to deal with that store: they’re overcharged me
deal with
too many times.b. (handle, control)How you deal with a situation like that?c.
 (treat)My next lecture will deal with the so-called “law” of supply and demand.
We thought for a while of buying a large house, but we’ve decided against it,
decide against
at least for the present.
decide on We haven’t yet been able to decide on a name of the baby.
The city is well defended from (against) attack by land or sea but not, of
defend from (against)
course, from the air.
delight in He delights in telling jokes about Texas and Texans.
a. (relay on)You can depend on him to do a good job.b. (be contingent on)My
depend on going to the movies with you tonight depends on how soon I can finish my
homework.
deprive of We were deprived of a great many luxuries during the war.
die of (a disease)He died of a heart attack.
die from (cause other than disease)He died from falling off the roof.
a. (have a different size, shape, color, etc)He differs from his brother in both
differ from his appearance and his manner.b. (hold a different opinion)I differ from him
on a few minor details; but we agree on all the basic issues.
disagree with I disagree with you completely.
(delegate responsibility to someone)I’m afraid to entrust anything valuable to
entrust to (intrust)
him.
(delegate responsibility for something)I’m afraid to entrust him with anything
entrust with (intrust)
valuable.
excel in He is not much of a student, but he excels in all outdoor sports.
excuse from Can I be excused from class this afternoon?
fall in love with He fell in love with her at first sight.
Their house is furnished in Southern Colonial Style, all except the kitchen,
furnish in
which is strictly modern.
furnish with They furnished him with all that was necessary for his trip.
(foresee and prevent)In this work you have to guard against letting your
guard against
feelings influence your judgment.
guess at The gauge is broken; we’ll just have to guess at the amount of gas in tank.
(receive information from.. by various means)We haven’t heard from him
hear from
since he moved to California.
a. (know existence of)There may be such a place, but I’ve never heard of
hear of (about) (about) it.b. (receive information concerning)Have you heard about (of) Joe’s
trip to South America?
hinder from Don’t let me hinder you from doing your work. (obstaculizar, entorpecer)
He couldn’t tell us the real story behind the headlines, but he hinted at
hint at
it. (nos dio pistas)
hope for I’ve been hoping for an answer to the letter I wrote him.
The weather is so bad you’d better spend the night here.You’re very kind, but
impose on
I’m afraid I’d be imposing on you.
I don’t want to inflict my troubles on you any longer. (that is, burden you with
inflict on
having to hear about my troubles)
I don’t like to inform against anybody, but it’s my duty to report this to the
inform against
authorities.
The committee is going to inquire into the possible misuse of public funds in
inquire into
this case.
insist on I insist on an answer to my question.
(take an active but unwanted part in a situation)I’m not going to interfere in
interfere in
their quarrel. It’s no business of mine.
interfere with (disturb)Don’t let me interfere with your work.
 a. (deride) – mofarseIt’s better to have people laugh with you than laugh at
laugh at
you.b. (laugh because of)My wife often laughs at my jokes.
(share laughter sympathetically)When we studied a new language we laugh
laugh with
with each other at our mistakes.
lecture on What subject is the professor going to lecture on today?
During the war we used to sit in the shelter, listening for all –clear signal to tell
listen for
us we could go back to work.
listen to I’d rather listen to music than watch TV.
live for We should learn to live for other people, not for ourselves.
look at Would you like to look at these photographs of my children?
look alike (resemble)Look at that man over there! Doesn’t he look like my brother?
I don’t object to people having fun, but you’re keeping the whole
object to
neighborhood awake!
pay for How much did you pay for that overcoat?
prefer_ to _ I prefer swimming to fishing.He prefers John to his brother.
present
(someone)with When he retired, they presented him with a gold watch. (entregaron)
(something)
prevent
(someone/thing) with I tried to prevent the dog from following me, but it was no use.
(something)
There are certain parts of the city that military personnel are prohibited from
prohibit from
visiting. They’re off limits.
protect
(someone/thing) from Put on this coat, it’ll protect you from rain.
(someone/thing)
punish for He was punished for a crime he didn’t commit.
quarrel with
(someone) about (or I won’t quarrel with you about (over) a nickel.
over something)
quote from The teacher likes to quote long passages from Shakespeare.
reason with You can’t reason with an angry man.
rebel against I’m beginning to rebel against this quite life I’ve been leading.
reconcile to
I’m not reconciled to being without a car here.
(something)
reconcile with
He’d like to be reconciled with her, but she refuses to speak to him.
(someone)
recover from He has just recovered from a serious illness.
All personnel are expected to refrain from talking during briefings. (abstenerse
refrain from
de)
rely on Can I relay on you to close the window when you leave?
a. (recall by resemblance to)She reminds me of my mother. She looks so
remind of much like her.b. (recall attention to)May I remind you of your obligations to
your country?
reply to That remark was in bad taste and I don’t intend to reply to it!
That course is too easy. It doesn’t require anything of (from) the student
require of (from)
except his presence in class.
result from (be the result of)Most of my difficulties resulted from my lack of money.
(cause a result)His bad behavior resulted in his losing weekend privileged for
result in
a month.
reward (someone) for He was rewarded for his heroism with a medal.
(something) with
(something)
He was robbed of fifty dollars in some border town.Nothing ever fobs him of
rob of
his self assurance.
scoff atburlarse, The townspeople used to scoff at his ideas and call him a crackpot, but he
mofarse knows more than any of them.
sentence to He was sentenced to five years in prison.
stare at He stared at me as though he ware seeing a ghost.
start on We’re starting on our trip early tomorrow morning.
struggle against In his youth he had to struggle against poverty and prejudice.
struggle with I’ve been struggling with this problem for fifteen minutes.
speak on (speak about)He will speak on the necessity of international cooperation.
speak to Dr. Hartman will speak to our group on Monday.
a. (pay for regular delivery of newspaper, magazine, etc)I subscribe to two
daily papers and several magazines.b. (assent to the ideas, opinions,
subscribe to
policies, etc. of)I don’t subscribe to all of his ideas by any means, but I voted
for him.
substitute for Miller is substituting for Brown in tomorrow’s game.
He succeeded quite well in business but not so well in his personal life.I
succeed in
succeeded in persuading him to come on the trip with us.
surrender to The Rebels still refuse to surrender to the central Government.
sympathize with I can sympathize with your point of view, but, frankly, I don’t share it.
You should take advantage of his offer; you may never have such an
take advantage of
opportunity again.
a. (give advise or reproof)You’ll have to talk to Willy; you’re his father, and he
talk to won’t listen to me!b. (make an informal speech)Mr. Brown will talk to the new
students at 10:00 in Room 312.
think about I’ll think about it tonight and let you know tomorrow.
We have to trust in the integrity of our leaders.In God we Trust (Motto on U.S.
trust in
coins)
trust with I’d trust him with my last dollar!
vote against (in opposition to)I voted against amendment No. 3, but for all the others.
vote for (in favor of)Who are you going to vote for?
wait for I’ll wait for you on the corner of 6th Av. and 8th St.
wish for If you had three wishes, what would you wish for first?
wonder at I wonder at the way some people act in public.
(work intermittently toward a goal that is not taken very seriously)I hear you’re
work at working on a novel.Not really. I just work at it, when I have a little spare time,
or feel in the mood.
(do serious work of some duration, toward a particular goal)What are you
work for
working on there?This? This is going to be a chair, if I ever finish it.
If you’re the kind of person who yearns for peace and quite and plenty of
yearn for
sunshine, this is the place for you!

VERB PLUS PREPOSITION LISTS

VERB PREPOSITION
A
absorb in
account for
add to
adjust to
admit to
agree with
apply for
appeal to
argue with
argue about
arrange for
arrive in / at (büyük mekanlarda in ,küçük mekanlarda at)
apologize for
approve of
ask for
accuse smb of smt
arrest smb for smt

B
base on
beg for
begin with
benefit from
believe in
belong to
boast about
borrow from
blame smb for smt
blame smt on smb

C
care for / about
cater for
choose between
comment on
collide with
communicate with
compare with / to
compete with
complain about
compose of
concern about / with
concentrate on
confess to
confuse with
congratulate on
consist of
contribute to
cope with
correspond with
count on
cover with
crash into
charge smb with smt (suçlamak)
charge smb for smt (para tahsil etmek)
convict smb of smt
convince smb of smt
cure smb of smt

D
decide on / against
dedicate to
depend on
despair of
deter from
differ from
disagree with
disapprove of
discuss with
devote to
dream of / about
dress in
drink to
demand smt from smb
derive smt from smt
discourage smb from smt
distinguish smb/smt from/between smb/smt
distract smb from smt

E
elaborate on
emerge from
escape from
experiment on
excuse smb for smt
exchange smt for smt
exclude smt from smt
expel smb from smt
explain smt to smb

F
face with
feel like
feel about
fight against/with/for
forget about
forgive someone for something

G
guess at
get married to
get rid of
get tired of
grumble about

H
hear of / about
hide from
hope of / for
help smb with smt
hinder smb/smt from smt

I
impress on
insist on
insure against
interfere with / in
invest in
involve smb/smt in smb/smt

J
joke about

K
know about

L
laugh at/about
listen to
long for
lend smt to smb

M
meet with
mistake for
get married to

O
object to
operate on

P
participate in
pay for
persist in
pray for
prepare for
prohibit from
praise smb for smt
present smb with smt
prevent smb from smt
provide smb with smt
provide smt for smb
punish smb for smb

Q
quarrel about smt
quarrel with smb

R
react against / to
recon on
recover from
refer to
rely on
reply to
resign from
respond to
result in
retire from
room for
remind smb of smt
rob smb of smt

S
search for
see to
shout at
smile at
specialise in
speak to
stand for
stare at
stem from
subscribe to
substitute for
succeed in
suffer from
save smb from smt
sentence smb to smt
share smt with smb
subject smb to smt
suspect smb of smt

T
talk to
talk about
think of/about
turn to
tell smb about smt
thank smb for smt
translate smt into smt
trust smb with smt

U
use for

V
vote for

W
wait for
wonder at
work on
worry about
write to / about
warn smb about/against