Many preposition choices are dictated by a word next to them
HOW PREPOSITIONS CAN BE “TYPICAL”
“Typical” is my word to describe a preposition that is very likely to be chosen whenever a particular other word needs to be used with a preposition. As a result, a speaker who knows it will often be able to predict it before hearing or seeing it. Compare the following:
(a) Nomadic peoples can be found … Europe.
(b) The Mediterranean Sea is bounded … Europe in the north and Africa in the south.
(c) Medical researchers are intent … finding a cancer cure.
In (a), we cannot be sure exactly what the missing preposition is: it could be in, across, outside, near, next to, throughout or beyond. Each of these prepositions expresses a different, equally possible meaning, and does not rely on any other word to do so. This use of a preposition is what I think of as a “pure” rather than “typical” one, with the basic meaning of the preposition involved. For more examples, see 151. Ways of Using Compass Words, 229. Metaphorical Prepositions and 295. Options in Saying Where, #5.
In (b), on the other hand, the preposition is much more predictable: any other possibility than by is hard to think of. However, this is still not a true “typical” preposition: we know what it is not from any other word in the sentence, but from the presence of a particular grammatical structure, the passive voice of the verb is bounded.
This use of a preposition is what I call “grammatical”. Other examples of it are for in purpose sentences (see 60. Purpose Sentences with “for”), with before an “instrument” (see 73. Prepositions for Saying How) and to before an indirect object (see 126. Verbs with an Indirect Object). For more examples of how grammar can dictate the choice of neighbouring words, see 100. What is a Grammar Error?
Sentence (c) above also has a preposition that a skilled English user could predict quite easily: on. The predictability this time, however, does result from the presence of a particular other word: the adjective intent. If you look up this word in a dictionary (taking care to distinguish it from the similarly-spelt noun – see 195. Tricky Word Contrasts 7, #2), you will find that it is nearly always followed by the name of a target, and it has to be linked to that name by the preposition on.
It is this kind of preposition use that the present post is about. It is a subdivision of the much wider vocabulary phenomenon in English known as “collocation” (see 16. Ways of Distinguishing Similar Words, #5). Prepositions determined by collocation are much more numerous, and hence harder to remember, than those determined by grammar or their own meaning. Moreover, not all are as easy to predict as on in (c): some can be replaced by one or two alternatives. However, here I will concentrate on unique possibilities, leaving the question of alternative typical prepositions to the later post 134. Words with a Variable Preposition.
The words that determine collocational prepositions fall into various categories. The sections below illustrate these and indicate some of the associated prepositions that give particular problems to less experienced English users.
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WORDS THAT DETERMINE A PREPOSITION CHOICE
Words that typically make a collocation with a preposition may be verbs, adjectives or nouns.
1. Verbs
Verbs with a typical following preposition are commonly called “prepositional”. Examples are LEAD TO, DEPEND ON, COPE WITH and BELONG TO. Some of the verbs that make a combination like this always have the preposition, while others can be used without one to mean something else. LEAD, for example, can without a preposition mean “be a leader of”.
Further examples of prepositional verbs, along with problems in using them, are presented elsewhere in this blog in the posts 44. Troublesome Prepositional Verbs, 108. Formal and Informal Words and 123. Prepositional Verbs Containing a Noun.
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2. Adjectives
The word intent in (c) above is an adjective. It nearly always needs a following on (+ noun). Other adjectives that typically accompany a particular preposition include averse to, bent on, conducive to, conversant with, devoid of, incumbent upon, prone to, reliant on, subject to and used to. The need for the preposition to be normally present means the adjectives usually follow their noun with a link verb like BE in between – they cannot go directly before it (see 109. Placing an Adjective after its Noun). For more about averse, see 175. Tricky Word Contrasts 6, #6.
After these prepositions, there can be not just a noun or equivalent but a verb instead, fitted to the role by means of -ing, e.g. prone to leaking (see 70. Gerunds). Care is needed when the preposition is to not to confuse it with the to of infinitive verbs, which of course has no following -ing (see 35. Words Followed by “to -ing”).
Another group of adjectives have a single typical preposition but can also be used alone without it, sometimes with a different meaning. Take conscious: by itself it means “awake” but with an of phrase it means “noticing”. Other examples are absent (from), afraid (of), aware (of), capable (of), characteristic (of), close (to), compliant (with), conditional (on), content (with), curious (about), dependent (on), different (from/than), emphatic (about), equal (to), equivalent (to), familiar (with), famous (for), fond (of), frustrated (with), harmful (to), immune (to), inclined (towards), inherent (in), insistent (on), keen (on), key (to), kind (to), liable (to), opposite (to) (= “contrasting”), productive (of), proud (of), ready (for), responsible (for), short (of), similar (to), subsidiary (to), superior (to), supportive (of), susceptible (to), tired (of), typical (of), vulnerable (to), worthy (of).
The adjective opposite is not to be confused with the noun (which needs of) or the preposition (with no other preposition) (see 261. Words with Complicated Grammar 3, #4). Equivalent too can be a noun with of. For examples of similarity / difference adjectives used with and without a preposition, see 149. Saying how Things are Similar and 216. Indicating Differences.
A small difficulty with some of these adjectives (underlined) is that they can have their meaning expanded in other ways than with a preposition, such as with that or a to verb, usually to express a different meaning. For a comparison of the different possibilities, see 203. Expanding an Adjective with Words after it. For a discussion of afraid, see 175. Tricky Word Contrasts 6, #5. For one of capable, see 292. Synonym Pairs with Contrasting Grammar, #7.
Many other adjectives have more than one typical following preposition. Sorry, for example, may go with either for or about depending on meaning (see 48. Tricky Word Contrasts 1, #6). Adjectives of this kind are reviewed in 134. Words with a Variable Preposition.
A possible source of confusion concerning adjectives found only with a single preposition is that even they sometimes precede a different preposition. Consider this:
(d) The supplies became ready after two days.
Superficially, this suggests that ready can combine with after as well as its typical partner for. In reality, however, after is combining with two days instead. This is clear from the fact that after two days makes an obvious separate time phrase saying when the verb action happened. Moreover, a for phrase like for use can easily be added before it.
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3. Nouns
Prepositions always have a partner noun or equivalent, usually placed after them (see 84. Seven Things to Know About Prepositions, #1). Sometimes they also have a noun just in front of them. Both of these noun types are capable of determining what the preposition is:
(e) Air pollution levels can be plotted on a graph.
(f) It was quickly noted that there were problems with the graph.
In (e) the preposition on is necessitated by the noun graph after it, while in (f) with must be used because of the noun problems before it – even though the noun graph is still used after it. The reason for preferring with to on in (f) is that the meaning of on (position-locating) is not being expressed. If it were, problems on the graph would be possible.
Comprehensive lists of noun-preposition and preposition-noun collocations are unfortunately too long to provide in a short piece like this. However, a few indicative examples may be of use.
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NOUN-PREPOSITION COMBINATIONS
One important group in this category involves what I call “action” nouns: derived from verbs and similar to them in meaning (see 14. Noun Countability Clues 1). Those with a typical following preposition tend to be derived from verbs which also have a typical preposition – in other words prepositional verbs. The preposition does not change.
Examples are (an) agreement with, (an) application for, attention to, (a) belief in, (a) benefit from, a complaint about, compliance with, (a) contribution to, correspondence to, dependence on, disposal of, a focus on, indulgence in, an objection to, (a) payment for, (a) reaction to, reliance on, a response to, a search for, a struggle with.
Combinations with other nouns include an alternative to, a clue to, confidence in, enthusiasm for, an exception to, feedback on, an effect on, interest in, the key to, a limit on, an obstacle to, a possibility of, power over, a preliminary to, problems with, a reason for and a substitute for. Nouns that can be followed by one or more other prepositions are considered elsewhere not just in 134. Words with a Variable Preposition but also 78. Infinitive versus Preposition after Nouns, 160. Uses of “of” and 287. Speech and Thought Nouns.
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PREPOSITION-NOUN COMBINATIONS
One whole group of collocations in this category corresponds to common adverbs. For example, with accuracy means “accurately” and in depth means “deeply”. A full examination of this area is in the post 85. Preposition Phrases & Corresponding Adverbs. Outside of this group, the following are of interest. For more, see 164. Fixed Preposition Phrases.
With on: (a) computer, film, a graph, a map, an occasion, an overhead projector, a page, paper, a screen, the radio, the telephone, TV, video, a website, the way, a journey, a course, a bus, a plane, a ship (see 73. Prepositions for Saying How).
With in (1): a diagram, a table, a picture, a photograph, a chapter, a book, a text, a description, a story, a program, a video, a film, the distance, the middle.
With in (ii): a fashion, a manner, a mode, a respect (not aspect – see 81. Tricky Word Contrasts 2, #4), a style, a way (see 73. Prepositions for Saying How).
With at: the beginning, the outset, the start, the close, the conclusion, the end, the finish, a level, a moment, a time , a point, a stage, a height, a depth, a pace, a rate, a speed, a velocity, the front, the back, the top, the bottom, the edge, the side.
With under: the auspices of, control, a law, licence, the management of, the ownership of, a plan, pressure.
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