Dependent prepositions

Reference lists: the preposition after common verbs, adjectives and nouns, from rely on and proud of to a reason for.

Not sure B1 is your level? Find out in 8–40 questions, no account needed.

Many verbs, adjectives and nouns take a fixed preposition: depend on, afraid of, a reason for. The preposition often isn't the one your own language would use, so learn the word and its preposition together. After any of these prepositions, a verb takes -ing: I'm afraid of flying. This page is the list; the page on verbs and adjectives with prepositions explains the rule, with the common mistakes.

Verb + preposition

Preposition	Verbs
on	depend on, rely on, concentrate on, insist on, spend (money) on
to	listen to, belong to, write to, reply to, talk to
for	wait for, pay for, look for, ask for, apply for
about	think about, worry about, complain about, care about
of	think of, consist of, hear of, dream of
at	look at, laugh at, shout at, arrive at (a building)
in	believe in, succeed in, arrive in (a city), take part in
with	agree with, deal with, argue with
from	suffer from, recover from, borrow from

Some verbs take a person and then a preposition: thank someone for, apologise to someone for, explain something to someone, remind someone of.

Incorrect: The answer depends of the price.
Correct: The answer depends on the price.
Incorrect: Can you explain me this word?
Correct: Can you explain this word to me?
Explain takes the thing first, then to + the person.

Verbs with no preposition

These verbs take their object directly, with no preposition: answer, call, phone, discuss, enter, marry, reach, tell.

We reached the hotel at midnight. (not reached to)
Incorrect: I'll phone to you tomorrow.
Correct: I'll phone you tomorrow.

Adjective + preposition

Preposition	Adjectives
of	afraid, aware, fond, full, jealous, proud, scared, tired
at	good, bad, brilliant, terrible, surprised
in	interested, involved
about	worried, excited, nervous, upset, sorry
with	angry (a person), bored, busy, fed up, pleased
to	kind, nice, polite, rude, married, similar
for	famous, late, ready, responsible, sorry
on	keen
from	different

Different to is also common in British English. Surprised by is as common as surprised at.

Incorrect: She's very proud about her son.
Correct: She's very proud of her son.
Incorrect: I'm not interested about football.
Correct: I'm not interested in football.

Noun + preposition

Preposition	Nouns
for	reason, need, demand, recipe
in	increase, rise, fall, change, interest
of	example, cause, advantage, photo
to	answer, reply, solution, invitation, key, damage
with	problem, trouble, relationship
on	advice, effect, information (or about)
between	difference

What's the reason for the delay?
There has been a big increase in prices.
Incorrect: I can't find a solution of this problem.
Correct: I can't find a solution to this problem.

One word, two prepositions

Word	With a person	With a thing
angry	angry with Tom	angry about the noise
sorry	feel sorry for him	sorry about (or for) the mess; sorry for being late
talk	talk to Anna	talk about the film

Think about is "have in your mind"; think of is often "have an opinion" or "have an idea": What do you think of it? Arrive in goes with a city or a country, arrive at with a building or a station.

Practise this rule

Where this rule sits

All B1 rules Reference: all rules