Thanks Todat, I will try to post some suggestions now and then. If you have general grammar or usage questions, it is still probably best to post them on the grammar forum so more visitors will get a chance to read and be educated by them and because more qualified teachers like Beeesneees and Dozy can double-check my answers or provide their own.
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Hi, Luschen, I have encountered many difficulities in deciding prepositions in a sentence and I believe that this is a prevalent problem.
Could you please post some tips or your experiences in this issue.
We highly appreciate your help.
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Hi, as Todat says, prepositions can be very tricky. One problem is figuring out what preposition to use with with what verb. For example, I “talk to” a person, but I “shout at” him. (Actually if I “shout to” a person it is because he is far away. If I “shout at” him, he is right in front of me and I am probably being quite rude. In general, there are not hard and fast rules. Mainly you just have to memorize which prepositions go with which verbs. I found a really good website to help with these prepositions, they even have a couple quizzes you can try: esl.about.com/od/advancedvocabul … usprep.htm
Here are the main sections if you can’t access the link:
The following verbs are commonly used with ‘about’. Each verb + about combination includes an example sentence to provide context.
be about something - That book is about his experiences in Africa.
argue about (doing) something - The boys argued about which bus to take.
be concerned about (doing) something - I’m concerned about your grades.
be worried about (doing) something - She is worried about her exams.
boast about (doing) something - Thomas boasted about his golfing ability.
decide about (doing) something - Anna decided about her goals.
dream about (doing) something - Mark dreams about becoming a ballet dancer.
protest about (doing) something - The students protested about the invasion.
The following verbs are commonly used with ‘against’. Each verb + against combination includes an example sentence to provide context.
be against something / someone - I am against the new regulation.
insure something against something - We insured our house against storm damage.
protest against (doing) something - The students are protesting against the invasion.
The following verbs are commonly used with ‘at’. Each verb + at combination includes an example sentence to provide context.
be at something - The exhibition is at the modern art gallery.
glance at something - Can I glance at that for a moment?
guess at something - She guessed at the answer.
hint at something - My mom hinted at my present.
marvel at something - I marvel at your math abilities.
shout at someone - I shouted at my mother.
The following verbs are commonly used with ‘for’. Each verb + for combination includes an example sentence to provide context.
be for something / someone - I’m for Mayor Martini.
account for something - That accounts for his success.
allow for something - I think you need to allow for misunderstandings.
apologize for something / someone - Jackson apologized for his rude behavior.
blame someone for (doing) something - I blame Janet for the broken pottery.
care for (doing) something / someone - He doesn’t care for playing golf.
charge someone for (doing) something - The accountant charged him $400 for his advice.
count for something - Your good marks count for 50% of your grade.
earmark something for a use - Congress earmarked $6 million for safety improvements.
pay for someone / something - Let me pay for Tom.
The following verbs are commonly used with ‘from’. Each verb + from combination includes an example sentence to provide context.
bar someone from (doing) something - Jack has barred Jennifer from visiting his daughter.
bar someone from a place - The police barred Peter from the shopping mall.
benefit from (doing) something - Students benefit from listening to news reports on the radio.
derive something from something - He derived the meaning from the context of the sentence.
deter someone from (doing) something - Please deter your children from walking across busy avenues.
differ from something - Our cheese differs from our competitor’s cheese because of its superior quality.
distinguish one thing from another thing - I’m afraid he can’t distinguish a British accent from a Irish accent.
distract someone from something - Please distract Tim from the television.
exempt someone from (doing) something - The judge exempted the young man from doing extra community service.
expel someone from a place - The children were expelled form school for their bad behavior.
refrain from (doing) something - Nancy refrains from smoking at work.
resign from (doing) something - Jacques resigned from his position.
result from (doing) something - The unrest results from our politicians lack of seriousness about the situation.
stem from (doing) something - The poor results stem from his lack of experience.
suffer from (doing) something - He will suffer from studying too little.
The following verbs are commonly used with ‘in’. Each verb + about in combination includes an example sentence to provide context.
be absorbed in (doing) something - Peter was absorbed in reading his book.
confide in someone - I confided in Tom my desire to find a new job.
be engrossed in (doing) something - I surprised Jane who was engrossed in watching TV.
implicate someone in (doing) something - The boss implicated Peter in the crime.
involve someone in (doing) something - You should involve your children in physical activities.
result in something - His decision resulted in increased profits.
specialize in (doing) something - My daughter specializes in teaching physics.
succeed in (doing) something - Jane succeed in getting a new job.
The following verbs are commonly used with ‘of’. Each verb + of combination includes an example sentence to provide context.
accuse someone of (doing) something - His mother accused him of eating the entire cake.
convict someone of (doing) something - Johnson was convicted of armed robbery.
remind someone of (doing) something / someone - Peter reminded me of Tom.
suspect someone of (doing) something - The police suspect Agnes of breaking into the bank.
The following verbs are commonly used with ‘on’. Each verb + on combination includes an example sentence to provide context.
be on something / someone - She is on Peter to do his best.
base something on something - I base my conclusions on market research.
blame something on someone - She blames the lack of interest on the teacher’s poor explanation.
concentrate something on (doing) something - They concentrate their efforts on improving the infrastructure.
congratulate someone on (doing) something - Tom congratulated Lisa on getting her diploma.
decide on something - I’ve decided to get a new job.
depend on someone / (doing) something - We depend on our customers’ suggestions.
elaborate on (doing) something - Can you elaborate on the process?
impose on someone - The mother imposed severe restrictions on her daughter.
insist on something / someone doing something - I insist on Peter’s studying every day for two hours.
pride oneself on (doing) something - I like to pride myself on my ability to concentrate.
The following verbs are commonly used with ‘to’. Each verb + to combination includes an example sentence to provide context.
answer to someone - I answer to Ms Smith.
appeal to someone - Let me appeal to you for your help in this matter.
apply oneself to (doing) something - I think you should apply yourself to getting a degree.
apply to something - He applied glue to the board.
attend to (doing) something - Chris attended to doing the grocery shopping.
attribute something to someone - Professor Samson attributes this painting to Leonardo.
be resigned to (doing) something - I’m resigned to not having any success in that field.
commit oneself to (doing) something - She committed herself to finding a new job.
confess to (doing) something - The boy confessed to stealing the apple.
devote oneself to (doing) something - I’m going to devote myself to playing the piano after I retire.
prefer one thing to another thing - I prefer roast potatoes to French fries.
react to something - He reacted poorly to the news.
refer to (doing) something - Please refer to your notes.
refer someone to someone - I referred Ken to Doctor Jones.
resort to (doing) something - Please don’t resort to violence.
see to (doing) something - I’ll see to those chores.
subject someone to (doing) something - She subjected her daughter to swimming lessons.
talk to someone - I talked to my mother.
write to someone - I wrote to my father.
The following verbs are commonly used with ‘with’. Each verb + with combination includes an example sentence to provide context.
acquaint someone with something - I acquainted Mary with French cuisine.
associate something with (doing) someone - Susan associates chocolate with childhood.
be faced with (doing) something - She’s faced with working overtime this weekend.
charge someone with (doing) something - The officer charged Mr Smith with blackmail.
clutter with something - The room was cluttered with paper.
coincide with something - My birthday coincides with a national holiday.
collide with something - The car collided with a truck and blocked traffic.
comply with something - He complies with each and every order.
confront someone with something - I confronted Vivian with the evidence.
confuse someone / something with someone / something - I’m afraid I confused you with someone else.
cram with something - My closet is crammed with dirty clothes!
deal with someone / (doing) something - I can’t deal with so much overtime.
discuss something with someone - I’d like to discuss our next conference with the boss.
ingratiate oneself with someone - Ingratiate yourself with the headmaster and your life with be easy!
meet with something - The congressman met with strong opposition to his plan.
pack with something - Peter packed his case with extra brochures.
plead with someone - He plead with his teacher to give him one more chance.
provide someone with something - The instructor provided the students with a number of examples.
tamper with something - Do not tamper with this equipment.
trust someone with something - I trust Bob with all of my financial information.
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Here is another good link: uwc.utexas.edu/handouts/phrasal-verbs
account for
Nothing could account for his depression.
accuse. . . of
They accused him of robbing a bank.
agree on
No one could agree on anything.
agree to
We agreed to split the money evenly.
agree with
I agree with the man who is speaking.
allude to
It is not polite to allude to someone’s disability.
apologize for
He did apologize for running away.
apologize to
The leader did not want to apologize to the people.
apply for
Every June college graduates apply for jobs.
approve of
We do not approve of his behavior.
argue with
It does little good to argue with a judge.
argue about
A judge does not want you to argue about anything unless you have a good case.
arrive at
He arrived at a conclusion quickly.
ask for
Children like to ask their parents for gifts, but they especially like to ask for special toys.
ask of
I would not ask of you anything I would not do myself.
become of
John has disappeared; I do not know what has become of him.
believe in
Do you believe in magic?
belong to
Whom does this pet belong to? It belongs to her.
blame . . . for
Don’t blame me for your problems!
blame . . . on
Don’t blame your problems on me!
borrow from
He has borrowed enough money from the bank.
care about
She does not care about anyone else.
care for
She enjoys the time she can care for her nieces and nephews.
come about
How did this situation come about? (how did it begin?)
come from
She came from Honduras with her family.
come with
Come with me to the party.
compare with
How does a small car compare with a large car?
compared to
Compared to a small car, a large car gets poor gas mileage.
complain about
He is always complaining about something.
compliment on
Compliment them on their performance.
congratulate on
They deserve to be congratulated on (or for) their good work.
consent to
The parents refused to consent to their son’s marriage.
consist of
The solution consists of some strange chemicals.
convince of
I am convinced of his good intentions.
decide between
I cannot decide between the two.
delight in
My child delights in watching the ducks.
depend on/upon
Do not depend upon other people.
detract from
Such behavior detracts from your beauty.
dream about/of
We are dreaming about going to Paris.
excuse. . . for
The teacher excused the child for his behavior.
explain… to
It is difficult to explain a problem to people who don’t care.
happen to
Oh, I just happened to be in the neighborhood.
hear of
Have you ever heard of something like that?
hear about
Did you hear about Mary? She’s got a new job.
hear from
Did you get a letter from him? I never hear from him.
insist on
The decorator insists on blue drapes.
invite . . . to
It would be a good idea to invite him to the party.
laugh about
We laugh about the crazy things we used to do.
laugh at
It’s not nice to laugh at someone.
laugh with
When a person laughs, it’s good to laugh with him.
listen for
I’m listening for the mail carrier; she should be here by now.
listen to
Listen to me when I’m speaking to you.
look at
It is not polite to look at someone for a long time.
look for
My child is lost! We must look for him.
object to
Most people do not object to helping someone in need.
prefer . . . to
I prefer red cars to blue cars
plan on
Why don’t you plan on staying at our place?
provide . . . with
My parents have provided me with enough money to last for one month.
recover from
It often takes a long time to recover from a serious illness.
refer to
If you are referring to me, you should say so.
rely on
I can always rely on my strength.
remind . . . of
You remind me of a bear.
search for
We searched for the lost child for three hours, but we couldn’t find her.
spend . . . on
Anna spent all of her money on a new car.
substitute for
When I was absent, William substituted for me.
talk to
When I am talking to you, I expect you to listen to me.
talk about
It is not nice to talk about people when they are not present.
thank . . . for
Thank you for the nice gift.
vote for
You should vote for my candidate.
wait for
Please wait for me! I’ll be ready in a moment.
wait on
No, I will not bring you breakfast in bed. I won’t wait on you like that.
work for
We should all work for the good of mankind. Mukesh works for that big company.
work on
I can’t talk now, I have to work on my homework.
worry about
Mothers always worry about their children, and so do fathers.
wrestle with
We spent three hours wrestling with that problem, but we could not solve it.
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Wow, what a great effort 
Next week, I really hope that you can come up with tips in using ARTICLEs. I find it extremely challenging to deal with them when I decide whether to use what kind of articles or do not use them at all.
We will highly appreciate your help with this problem
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Hi everybody, I found a webpage that discusses indefinite and definite articles. I think it is the most comprehensive outline of the rules I have found yet. I could not figure out how to cut and paste it to this forum though. Maybe someone with more technical expertise can give it a try. Here is the link:
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Thank you Luschen! That’s very helpful for me.
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Hi, I wanted to move this thread to the top because I think is has a lot of great information. It was very hard for me to find, so I am going to add this information to let me search for it easier next time
Thomas James Luschen
2502 Essex Place
Nashville Tennessee
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Bump - if you have some time I think the information in this thread is very helpful for the TOEFL and other essay writing tasks.
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Hello everyone, here is Little ting. I am stuck in one TOEFL essay and completely have no idea how to develop it. Can you guys offer me some suggestions on this topic?
Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Young people today have no influence on the important decisions that determine the future of society as a whole.
Thank you for your help! 
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What a useful post. Thank you Luschen
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Wow, there are a numerous of useful information here!!
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Hi Sarah, please note that you can use “numerous” only in connection with a plural such “numerous proposals”. It doesn’t work when referring to “information” though because information is uncountable. Please let me know if this makes sense.
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Thank you! It makes sense.
So I should change it to “There is a lot of useful information here.”.
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