Problem areas: Prepositions

Aim:

This page aims to help you to use prepositions correctly.

Although the number of prepositions in English is fixed, you have probably found that it is not an easy task to use them correctly. Precisely because there are only a few of them, they are used extremely frequently and in various combinations (e.g. verb + preposition, adjective + preposition, noun + preposition, and preposition + noun). Note that the use of prepositions is wrong in these two examples:

• The researchers have found a number of solutions of the problem.  [solutions to]

• All staff and students have great respect to Professor Greenberg.  [respect for]

1. Prepositional combinations

You can use a preposition with a noun, a verb, and/or an adjective.

• In Li’s view, some students are incapable of learning effectively in the absence of any form of assessment.

• Due to the budget cut, the new committee consists of only ten members, six of whom will be engaged in this investigation.

Some commonly used combinations in academic communication are given below:

2. No prepositions

Some verbs take a direct object and you should not use a preposition after them.

• In the seminar, we discussed various issues related to the future development of robots.

• Our department emphasises the excellence and applicability of industry-oriented research.

Instructions:

Fill in all the gaps with prepositions, then press "Check" to check your answers. Use the "Hint" button to get a free letter if an answer is giving you trouble. Note that you will lose points if you ask for hints or clues!