EXERCISE 1. Put in the correct preposition.

1. It was very nice ___ you to do my shopping for me. 2. There has been an increase ___ the amount of traffic recently. 3. I’ sorry ___ the smell of paint in this room. 4. Are you excited ___ going on holiday next week? 5. I don’t think she is capable ___telling a lie. 6. He is totally dependent ___ his parents. 7. Nobody knew the reason ___ the train delay. 8. Money isn’t the solution ___ every problem. 9. The city centre was crowded ___ tourists. 10. Our house is similar ___ yours. 11. Jane is very fond ___ her younger brother. 12. Ann is married ___ an American.

Verb + preposition

accuse of apply to for approve of ask smb for believe in blame for care about/for complain to about congratulate on consist of depend on

die of divide into dream about/of explain to fill in with forgive for happen to insist on invite smb to laugh at leave for

listen to live on point at prevent smb from protect from/against provide with rely on remind about/of run into search for shoot at

specialize in spend on succeed in suffer from take care of talk to thank for throw at/to translate from/into wait for warn smb of/about

EXERCISE 2. Complete the sentences with one of the following verbs and the correct preposition.

Warn ask explain wait search point blame take care live suffer

1. Have a nice holiday! ___ yourself! 2. Can you ___ this rule ___ me? 3. I have been ___ you for 20 minutes already. 4. Everybody ____ me ___ the accident. 5. My salary is not enough to ____. 6. She ____ very bad headaches. 7. Before you go into the house, I must ____ you ___ the dog. 8. Don’t ___ the knife ___ me. It’s dangerous. 9. When I finished my meal, I ____ the waiter ____ the bill. 10. Police are ____ the man who escaped from prison.

 

EXERCISE 3. Use your own ideas to complete these sentences. Use a preposition.

1. I spend quite a lot of money _____.

2. Dave’s got his birthday today. I am going to congratulate ______.

3. His parents don’t approve ______.

4. Sue accused me ______.

5. We complained ______.

6. He’s very selfish. He doesn’t care ______.

 

Prepositions and Prepositional Adverbs as Idioms

EXERCISE 4. Study the examples and compose your own sentences with the prepositional phrases.

Inside out

She turned this place inside out looking for her keys.

Up and out

Why are you still sleeping? You’ll be late. Up and out of bed now.

On and on

That record plays on and on. I wish they would change it.

In and out

We won’t stay long at the party; just a quick in and out.

To and fro

The dog ran to and fro across the lawn.

For and against

Give me the arguments for and against this case.

Down and out

Nobody loves you when you haven’t got any money and you’re down and out.

8. ‘round about

I dropped my keys in the sand ‘round about here somewhere, but I don’t know exactly where.

THE VERB – Present Forms: Level B

	1	2	3	4
	Present Simple	Present Cont.	Present Perfect	Present Perf ect Cont.
a	Permanent situations or states She works as a nurse. He owns a large shop.	Temporary situations They are staying at the Park Hotel at present.	Recently completed actions She has tided her room (She has finished tiding her room. You can see it is tidy now – evidence in the present)	Actions started in the past and continuing up to the present He’s been writing a letter for two hours. (He started two hours ago and he’s still writing it.)
b	Repeated/habitual actions (especially with frequency adverbs: often, usually, etc) I usually get up at 7.30.	Actions happening at or around the moment of speaking She is looking for a better job.	Actions which happened at an unstated past time and are connected with the present He has lost his keys. (He is still looking for them.)	Past action of certain duration having visible results or effects in the present She’s been crying. (Her eyes are red.)
c	Permanent truths or laws of nature Money doesn’t buy happiness. Water freezes at 0°C.	Repeated actions with “always” expressing annoyance or criticism She’s always interrupting me!	Personal experiences/changes which have happened I’ve lost 10 kilos.	Actions expressing anger, irritation, annoyance, explanations or criticism Who has been using my toothbrush? (annoyance)
d	Timetables/programmes (future meaning) The plane leaves at 6.10.	Fixed arrangements in the near future The Browns are visiting us tonight (It’s all arranged.)	Emphasis on number She’s written three letters since this morning.	Emphasis on duration (usually with for, since, how long) She’s been calling on clients since this morning.
e	Reviews/sports commentaries/dramatic narrative Meryl Streep acts brilliantly in this film.	Changing or developing situations His English is getting better.

Time expressions used with:

Present Simple	every day/week/month/year, usually, often, always, rarely, never, sometimes, in the morning/evening/afternoon, at night, on Mondays, etc
Present Cont.	now, at the moment, at present, nowadays, today, tonight, always, still
Present Perfect	just, ever, never, already, yet, always, how long, so far, recently, since, for, today, this week/month, etc
Present Perfect Cont.	how long, for, since

NOTE: live, feel and work can be used either in the Present Perfect or the Present Perfect Continuous with no difference in meaning.

I’ve been leaving / I’ve lived in Rome for a year.

State verbs

Verbs describing a permanent state (state verbs) do not normally have continuous forms. These are:

(1) verbs of the senses: see, hear, smell, feel, taste, etc

(2) verbs of opinion: agree, believe, consider, etc

(3) verbs of emotions: feel, forgive, hate, like, love, etc

(4) other verbs: appear (=seem), be, belong, fit, have (possess), know, look (=appear), need, prefer, require, want, weigh, wish, etc

The verbs look, watch, listen express deliberate actions and can be used in continuous forms.

 

See, smell, taste, feel, think, have, etc have continuous forms but there is a difference in meaning:

verb	STATE	ACTION
think	I think she is rich.	I’m thinking about your plan.
taste	The milk tastes awful.	He is tasting the sauce; it might need some salt.
have	He has a pet dog.	He’s having dinner now.
feel	This cloth feels like velvet.	She’s feeling her way in the dark.
see	I see you are in trouble.	I’m seeing my lawyer tonight.
smell	The kitchen smells of burnt meat.	Why are you smelling your food?
come	He comes from Spain.	He’s coming from Spain.
love	I love holidays.	I’m loving this holiday.
look	Your hair looks great.	She is looking at some old photographs.
weigh	The baby weighs 5 kilos.	I’m weighing myself on my new scales.
be	Ann is very tall.	Ann is being very kind to me these days.