The use of English verbs with prepositions, according to the situation, can change the meaning of the whole sentence. Prepositions are needed either to add a complement in cases where direct joining is impossible, or to redefine the meaning of the verb itself.
As a complement to a simple or verb predicate
Due to its peculiarities, it is not typical for some verbs to directly attach a supplement. That is, they cannot directly transfer their action to the object without indicating the nature of the connection. The rules for using English verbs with examples and pictures are presented below. They explain in which cases verbs need a particular preposition.
Regulated preposition
The rules for using English verbs are reduced in many respects to their grouping in accordance with permissible prepositions. There are verbs that require a certain preposition, for example, belong to, consist of, hint at, hope for, insist on, lead to, listen to, pay for, qualify for, refer to, relate to, sympathize with.
- The land belongs to a rich family.
- She then referred to the Minister's report / Then she turned to the ministerial report.
There are verbs with which the choice of different prepositions can affect the meaning of the whole sentence: agree on / with, appeal for / to, appologize for / to, conform to / with, result from / in, suffer from / with.
- They agreed on a plan of action.
- You agreed with me that we should buy a car / You agreed with me that we should buy a car.
- His failure resulted from lack of attention to details / His failure was due to insufficient attention to detail.
- The match resulted in a draw / The match ended in a goalless draw.
With some verbs used without addition, the choice of a preposition may affect the meaning of the whole sentence.
The rules for using English verbs used without a direct object imply different prepositions in order to open different types of information.
The preposition 'about' after, for example, the verbs care, complain, dream, explain, hear, know, speak, talk, think, write indicates the subject of the action.
- We will always care about freedom.
- Tonight I'm going to talk about engines / I'm going to talk about engines tonight.
The phrase with 'at' after glance, glare, grin, laugh, look, shout, smile, stare contains the direction in which the action takes place, the end point.
- I don't know why he was laughing at that joke / I don't know why he laughed at this joke.
- 'Hey!' she shouted at him / “Hey!” she screamed at him.
'For' helps express purpose or reason after the verbs apologize, apply, ask, look, wait.
- He wanted to apologize for being late / He wanted to apologize for being late.
- I'm going to wait for the next bus / I'm going to wait for the next bus.
The preposition 'into' after actions such as bump, crash, drive, run, points to the object involved in the process.
- His car crashed into the wall / His car crashed into a wall.
- She drove into the back of a lorry / She drove into the back of a truck.
'Of' promotes the transfer of facts and information when it comes after the verbs hear, know, speak, talk, think.
- I've heard of him but I don't know who he is / I heard about him, but I do not know who he is.
- Do you know of the new plans for the sport center? / Do you know about new plans for the sports center?
'On' indicates trust or degree of confidentiality for a character or object, standing, for example, after count, depend, plan, rely.
- You can count on me. You can count on me.
- You can rely on him to be polite / You can rely on him in terms of politeness.
The preposition 'to' follows the verbs complain, explain, listen, say, speak, talk, write to indicate the addressee - the listener, reader or viewer.
- They complained to me about the noise / They complained about the noise.
- Mary turned her head to speak to him / Mary turned her head to speak with him.
The character named after 'with' is a supporter or opponent in the case of the verbs agree, argue, disagry, side.
- Do you agree with me about this? / Do you agree with me about this?
- The daughters sided with their mothers / Daughters took the position of mothers.
Addition and prepositional phrase
Some verbs may attach a direct complement to a prepositional phrase that begins with a specific preposition.
- The police accused him of murder / The police accused him of murder.
- They borrowed some money from the bank / They borrowed some money from the bank.
Either an addendum or a prepositional phrase
Some verbs attach either a direct complement or a prepositional phrase, while the meaning does not change.
- He had to fight them, even if it was wrong / He had to fight them, even if it was wrong.
- He was fighting against history. He fought against history.
Prepositions in Phrasal Verbs
Perhaps a very diverse use of verbs in the English language due to the abundance of phrasal verbs. Phrase Ch. is a combination of a verb and an adverb or preposition, which in this case are called simply particles. For example, 'down', 'in', 'off', 'out', or 'up'.
- She turned off the radio / She turned off the radio.
- Mr. Knight offered to put him up / Mr. Knight ordered to put him.
The standard meaning of the verb, which he had in a single version, in this case, as a rule, changes, and a new semantic unit is created. For example, 'break' means breaking something, while 'break out of place' means hiding from the scene, disappearing.
- They broke out of prison on Thursday night / They escaped from prison on Tuesday night.
- The pain gradually wore off.
Four basic types of phrasal verbs
The rules for using English verbs with prepositions as an integral structural particle share four basic models of alternating prepositions and additions. In the first verb is accompanied by a particle (adverb or preposition), the complement is absent. Examples: break out, catch on, check up, come in, get by, give in, go away, grow up, look in, ring off, start out, stay up, stop off, wait up, watch out, wear off.
- War broke out in September / War broke out in September.
- You'll have to stay up late tonight.
In the second structure, the verb is accompanied by both. That is, the phrasal verbs fall for, feel for, grown on, look after, part with, pick on, set about, take after are also followed by additions.
- She looked after her invalid mother / She looked after her disabled mother.
- Peter takes after his father but John is more like me / Peter went to father, but John looks more like me.
According to the third structure, in combinations such as, for example, answer back, ask in, call back, catch out, count in, invite out, order about, tell apart, the complement is wedged between the verb and the particle.
- I answered him back and took my chances / I answered him and took advantage of my chances.
- He loved to order people about.
The rules for using English verbs allow that some phrasal verbs can be used in both the second and third structures - that is, the sequence of additions and particles can alternate, for example, with add on, bring up, call up, fold up, hand over, knock over, point out, pull down, put away, put up, rub out, sort out, take up, tear up, throw away, try out. However, if the complement is expressed by a pronoun, it must go in front of the particle.
- It took ages to clean up the mess / It took ages to eliminate the mess.
- It took ages to clean the mess up / It took ages to put things in order.
- There was such a mess. It took ages to clean it up / There was such a mess. It took a lot of time to clean it.
According to the principle of the fourth structure, the verb is first put the particle, expressed in the adverb or preposition, behind it is another preposition with the addition. The use of English verbs can be as follows: break out of, catch up with, come down with, get on with, go down with, keep on at, look forward to, make off with, miss out on, play around with, put up with , run away with, stick up for, talk down to, walk out on.
- You go on ahead. I'll catch up with you later. I will intercept you later.
- Children have to learn to stick up for themselves / Children must learn to stand up for themselves.
A small number of verbs, such as do out of, put down to, put up to, take out on, talk out of, are accompanied by a complement, a particle and a prepositional phrase.
- Kroop tried to talk her out of it / Krup tried to dissuade her from this.
- I'll take you up on that generous invitation / I catch your word and accept this generous invitation.