Dependent prepositions: depend on, interested in, a reason for – preposition exercises after verbs, adjectives and nouns

This B2 drill lesson gives dependent prepositions exercises on the word that follows a verb, adjective or noun: rely on, fluent in, a solution to, looking forward to hearing.

Grammar: Fixed pairs after verbs, adjectives and nouns, -ing after a preposition, verbs that take none (discuss, contact, marry), and pairs that change meaning: apply for / apply to, good at / good with.
Topic: A job hunt: an invented animal rescue's ad for a volunteer coordinator, Renata's cover letter, a recruiter friend's corrections, the director's message and a chat with Renata.
Activities: True or false, sorting, choices, gap-fills, matching, tables, word order, find-the-mistake quizzes, drag-and-drop texts, a memory game and a chat.

What's inside

Chapter 1The rule
- PictureUnlock
- Study the scheme: dependent prepositionsGrammar schemeTry it
- Is the sentence correct? Mark true or falseTrue or falseUnlock
- Sort the phrases: which preposition is missing?Sort into columnsTry it
- Choose the right prepositionChoose the optionUnlock
- Write the missing prepositionFill in the gapsUnlock
Chapter 2Verbs + prepositions
- Fill in the gaps: verbs and their prepositionsFill in the gapsTry it
- Choose the right preposition after the verbChoose the optionUnlock
- Match the beginnings and the endingsMatchUnlock
- Fill in the gaps: verb + preposition + -ingFill in the gapsUnlock
- Sort the phrases: with or without a preposition?Sort into columnsUnlock
- Find the mistake and choose the right wordsQuizUnlock
- Read the coach's message and drag the words into the gapsDrag and dropUnlock
Chapter 3Adjectives + prepositions
- Choose the right preposition after the adjectiveChoose the optionTry it
- Fill in the gaps: adjectives and their prepositionsFill in the gapsUnlock
- Fill in the table: say it with an adjectiveFill in the tableUnlock
- Sort the phrases: about, of or with?Sort into columnsUnlock
- Read Shirin's profile and drag the words into the gapsDrag and dropUnlock
- Put the words in the right orderUnjumbleUnlock
- Which sentence is correct? Choose the right oneQuizUnlock
Chapter 4Nouns, and tricky pairs
- Fill in the gaps: nouns and their prepositionsFill in the gapsUnlock
- Choose the right preposition after the nounChoose the optionUnlock
- Match the beginnings and the endings: nounsMatchTry it
- Choose the right preposition: one word, two meaningsChoose the optionUnlock
- Sort the phrases: in, on, for or to?Sort into columnsUnlock
- Read the bakery's newsletter and drag the words into the gapsDrag and dropUnlock
- Find the mistake and choose the right words: nouns and pairsQuizUnlock
Chapter 5Real life: The perfect application
- Read the job adReal-life documentUnlock
- Read the ad again: true or false?True or falseUnlock
- Read Renata's cover letter and fill in the gapsFill in the gapsUnlock
- Read Obinna's notes on the first draft and drag the words into the gapsDrag and dropUnlock
- Read Birgit's message and choose the right wordsChoose the optionUnlock
- Choose the right replies: Renata texts youChatTry it
- Test yourself: choose the right answerQuizUnlock
Chapter 6Homework
- Choose the right preposition: at workChoose the optionUnlock
- Fill in the gaps: verbs and prepositions around the houseFill in the gapsUnlock
- Fill in the gaps: adjective + preposition + -ingFill in the gapsUnlock
- Find the matching pairs: the word and its prepositionMemory gameUnlock
- Match the beginnings and the endings: adjectivesMatchUnlock
- Sort the phrases: at, to, from or with?Sort into columnsUnlock
- Put the words in the right order: sentencesUnjumbleUnlock
- Fill in the table: from verb to nounFill in the tableUnlock
- Find the mistake and choose the right words: everyday EnglishQuizUnlock
- Is it correct English? Mark true or falseTrue or falseUnlock
- Drag the words into the gapsDrag and dropUnlock
- Choose the right preposition: two meanings againChoose the optionUnlock
- Read the reference letter and fill in the gapsFill in the gapsUnlock
- Read Nkechi's post and choose the right wordsChoose the optionUnlock
- Choose the right sentence for the situationQuizUnlock

Grammar: prepositions that go with verbs, adjectives and nouns

Many verbs, adjectives and nouns take a fixed preposition: It all depends on your budget. I'm interested in the job. Each pair is learned as one chunk, the way the scheme presents them, and a verb that follows the preposition takes -ing.

Dependent prepositions: depend on, interested in, a reason for

Many verbs, adjectives and nouns take a fixed preposition. Learn them together, as one chunk.

Verbs + preposition

Depend, rely and insist take on; succeed and specialize take in; apply and apologize take for; belong and listen take to; suffer and recover take from: We rely on our volunteers.

Preposition	Verbs	Example
on	depend, rely, insist, concentrate, focus, spend (money)	We rely on our volunteers.
in	succeed, believe, specialize, participate, invest, result	He succeeded in fixing the old car.
for	apply, apologize, pay, wait, search, ask	She apologized for the mistake.
of	consist, approve, dream (or: dream about)	The test consists of three parts.
to	belong, listen, contribute, object, reply, look forward	I listen to podcasts on the bus.
with	deal, cope, agree (with a person)	Who deals with complaints?
from	suffer, recover, benefit, protect	He's recovering from the flu.
about	complain, worry, care, talk	Don't worry about it.

Adjectives + preposition

Afraid, aware and proud take of; responsible and famous take for; good and bad take at; similar, married and allergic take to: I'm bad at drawing. Is she similar to her mom?

Preposition	Adjectives	Example
of	afraid, aware, capable, fond, proud, tired, jealous, full	My cat is afraid of the vacuum cleaner.
in	interested, involved, fluent	Are you interested in art?
for	responsible, famous, suitable, ready, eligible	The hotel is famous for its views.
at	good, bad, great, terrible	I'm bad at drawing.
with	familiar, satisfied, patient, fed up	We're satisfied with the results.
on	keen	She's keen on sports.
about	worried, excited, passionate, curious, crazy	I'm excited about the trip.
to	similar, married, kind, allergic	Is she similar to her mom?

Nouns + preposition

Nouns have partners too: an increase in prices, the reason for her visit, a bad effect on sleep, a solution to the problem, a lack of time, a problem with my phone and the difference between A and B.

Preposition	Nouns	Example
in	increase, rise, drop, interest	an increase in prices
for	reason, demand, need, cure, request	the reason for her visit
on	effect, impact, ban, tax	a bad effect on sleep
to	solution, access, reply, threat	a solution to the problem
of	lack, knowledge, cause, example	a lack of time
with	relationship, problem	a problem with my phone
between	difference	the difference between A and B

After a preposition: -ing

A noun, a pronoun or a verb ending in -ing comes after the preposition: Thank you for coming! In look forward to, object to and be used to, to is a preposition, so I look forward to meeting you.

word + preposition + noun or -ing

verb · adjective · nounprepositionnoun · pronoun · verb-ing

It all depends on your budget.

I'm interested in the job.

Thank you for coming!

After a preposition: -ing

After a preposition, a verb takes -ing: She succeeded in finding a job. Thanks for helping! In look forward to, object to and be used to, to is a preposition, so: I look forward to meeting you. (Not: I look forward to meet you.)

One word, two prepositions

Some pairs change meaning: apply for a visa but apply to a university, good at math but good with animals, hear from a person but hear about news. Others mean the same, like dream of and dream about.

The meaning changes

apply for a job, a visa · apply to a company, a university
good at math, cooking · good with people, animals, your hands
hear from a person (a call, a message) · hear about news
an increase in prices (what changes) · an increase of 10% (how much)
agree with a person · agree to a request · agree on a plan (decide together)
responsible for a task · responsible to a boss

Both are correct

different from / different than (both common in the US)
dream of / dream about · think of / think about
bored with / bored of · excited about / excited for
angry with / angry at someone
a solution to / a solution for
depend on / depend upon (more formal)

Common mistakes

Watch for It depends of the price, interested about the course and married with a doctor. Discuss, enter, contact, answer, reach and marry take no preposition at all: We discussed the plan.

It depends of the price.
It depends on the price.
depend, rely, insist + on
Are you interested about the course?
Are you interested in the course?
interested in
She's married with a doctor.
She's married to a doctor.
married to a person
We discussed about the plan.
We discussed the plan.
no preposition after discuss, enter, contact, answer, reach, marry

Examples

We rely on our customers.verb + on
She's responsible for the website.adjective + for
Hospitals have a huge demand for nurses.noun + for
Thanks for inviting me!preposition + -ing
Lily is good at tennis and good with kids.good at / good with
We heard about the fire on the news.hear about = get news

More lessons on this grammar: Prepositions lessons and exercises

Try the dependent prepositions exercises

Try them yourself: these are the same exercises your students do in edio.

What's in the lesson

43 auto-checked exercises
3 games
1 real-life document
1 grammar scheme
1 picture

The main objectives of this lesson are to:

use the right preposition after a verb: Kids, please listen to your teacher. Our company specializes in solar panels. My aunt finally recovered from her operation.
use the right preposition after an adjective: Ali is fluent in three languages. Are you allergic to nuts? This movie isn't suitable for young children.
use the right preposition after a noun: There's a huge demand for cheap apartments in the city. Plastic is a serious threat to sea animals.
put -ing after the preposition and add none where none belongs: I'm looking forward to seeing you; We discussed the plan, not discussed about
choose by meaning in tricky pairs: applying for a student visa but applied to four universities; great with kids but terrible at chess

Grammar:: dependent prepositions · verb + preposition · adjective + preposition · noun + preposition · preposition + -ing
Topic:: grammar practice · jobs · cover letters · animal rescue

Teaching tips

Call out half a pair: say proud, rely or a lack, and the next student answers with the preposition and a short example before naming a word for a classmate.
Fix Renata's first draft before Obinna does: write her slips (familiar to your work, good in solving problems) on the board, and pairs correct them before opening his notes.
Answer the job ad in four sentences: students describe themselves with responsible for, good at, interested in and look forward to + -ing, then swap and check a partner's prepositions.

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The whole course: English Grammar Practice · B2

English Grammar Practice · B2 has 24 drill lessons, one grammar point each: the future perfect and continuous, the third and mixed conditionals, wishes, past modals, the impersonal passive, have something done, participle clauses, reporting verbs and verb patterns. Each has the rule as a scheme, 43 to 47 exercises that check themselves, 15 of them for homework, and no new words.See the course

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What's inside

Grammar: prepositions that go with verbs, adjectives and nouns

Verbs + preposition

Adjectives + preposition

Nouns + preposition

After a preposition: -ing

word + preposition + noun or -ing

One word, two prepositions

Common mistakes

Examples

Try the dependent prepositions exercises

What's in the lesson

The main objectives of this lesson are to:

Teaching tips

Teach the whole lesson in edio

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Open the lesson

Teach it live or as homework

The whole course: English Grammar Practice · B2

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