Dependent Prepositions: Verbs, Adjectives and Nouns with Prepositions

Some words in English are almost always followed by one particular preposition. We call it a dependent preposition because it depends on the word before it, not on the meaning of place or time. You cannot guess it from logic: in English we are interested in something but good at it, and we depend on people but worry about them.

This is different from prepositions of place and prepositions of time, which follow general rules. Dependent prepositions are more like vocabulary. The best way to learn them is as chunks: learn depend on, not just depend.

After any preposition, English uses a noun, a pronoun or an -ing verb. This is a very important rule. Never put the base form or a to-infinitive directly after a dependent preposition.

Say I'm thinking of moving to Spain, not thinking of move. Say Thank you for helping me, not for help me. Be careful with to: in look forward to, be used to and object to, the word to is a preposition, so it is followed by -ing: I'm looking forward to seeing you. Read more in gerunds vs infinitives.

Some verbs take a preposition before one type of object and none before another. Listen to music, but hear music. Look at a picture, but watch a film and see a friend. Wait for a bus, but expect a bus.

Other common verbs take no preposition at all, even though learners often add one: discuss a problem (not discuss about), enter a room (not enter into), marry someone (not marry with), call or phone someone (not call to), reach a place (not reach to), answer a question, lack experience. Compare talk about and discuss: We talked about the plan and We discussed the plan.

When a verb has both a person and a thing as objects, notice where the preposition goes: Explain the rule to me (not explain me the rule), Thank her for the gift, Remind him of his father.

A few words change their meaning when the preposition changes. These are worth learning in pairs.

Think about means consider or have in your mind; think of means have an idea or an opinion (What do you think of my new haircut?). Angry about a situation, but angry with a person (American English also says angry at a person). Good at a skill, but good for your health, and good to or good with people (She's good with children). Sorry about a situation, sorry for something you did, and feel sorry for a person.

With -ed and -ing adjectives, the dependent preposition goes with the -ed form, which describes how you feel: I'm bored with this game, not I'm boring with this game. See -ed and -ing adjectives.

A verb + preposition like look at is not the same as a phrasal verb like look up. With a dependent preposition, the preposition always comes before its object: Look at the board, Look at it. You cannot say look the board at.

With many phrasal verbs, the particle can move: Look the word up, Look it up. If you are not sure, check a learner's dictionary; it shows the preposition with the example sentences.

In conversation, dependent prepositions often move to the end of questions and relative clauses: What are you talking about? Who is it for? That's the person I was telling you about. This is normal and natural English. Starting with the preposition (About what are you talking?) sounds very formal or wrong in speech.

To learn these pairs, collect them in short personal sentences: I'm good at cooking, I'm afraid of spiders, I depend on coffee in the morning. Review them often, and say them aloud. Spaced review works well for chunks like these; see how to learn English vocabulary.