Grammar V

Erika Arguello

Mario Salazar

Shirley Vásquez

Adjectives followed by prepositions “to”

14 – April - 2015

Adjectives followed by Prepositions

Specific prepositions are used after certain adjectives. There is no definite rule to ascertain which preposition should be used with which adjective. We simply need to learn them. But there’s no need to fret on the thought of learning without knowing the rule as people do manage to memorize them through constant usage and with a little time.

Adjectives are used in simple sentences to describe people and objects. For example, she is an interesting speaker. More complex sentences use adjectives + prepositions to make statements about a person's attitude towards something. For example, she is excited about the concert tonight. Here is a list of the most common adjective + preposition combinations to express people's feelings.

Preposition Rules

There are 2 major rules when it comes to the use of prepositions.

The first major rule deals with preposition choice. Certain prepositions must follow certain words, and the correct preposition must be used to make relationships between words in the sentences clear.

The second major rule deals with the prepositions place in the sentence. Prepositions must be followed by nouns, and prepositions can only go on the end of the sentence in certain situations.

Preposition Choice

Determining the correct preposition to use can be a tricky proposition. This can be especially difficult when dealing with idioms- expressions in the English language that require the use of a certain word, simply because that is the word we have chosen to use. Idiomatic expressions are expressions you just have to memorize, and when errors are made, they are almost always preposition errors.

Examples:

She’s the one who’s married to a doctor, isn’t she?

You’ll be responsible to the head of the Finance department.

Married TO someone (Linda is married to an American.)

The use of preposition “to” on Adjectives

Use with to usually referring to:

SIMILARITY: close, equal, identical, related, similar

Example: His painting is similar to Van Gough.

MARRIAGE: married, engaged

Example: Jack is engaged to Jill

LOYALTY: dedicated, devoted, loyal

Example: He was dedicated to his job.

RANK: junior, senior

Example: John requested some help to his senior.

Some adjectives take different prepositions.

Use an impersonal subject and OF and the subject of the action, or with a personal subject and TO and the object of an action.

Cruel, nasty friendly nice generous polite

Good rude kind unfriendly mean unkind

Examples:

She was very generous to me when I was staying with her.

It was rude of him to leave so suddenly.

She was rude to him for no reason.

How can you be so unfriendly to your neighbors?

Common Adjective Preposition Combinations

A

Accustomed to

Addicted to

Allergic to

Attached to

Able to

B

Beneficial to

E

Exposed to

Engaged to

F

Faithful to

G

Grateful to

I

Identical to

Immune to

Inferior to

Indifferent to

K

Kind to

L

Limited to

O

Opposed to

P

Polite to

R

Related to

Relevant to

M

Married to

S

sensitive to

Similar to

superior to

T

Thankful to

U

Used to

Bibliography:

Extracted the 15 of April of 2015 from website: http://wwhttp://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/grammar-reference/adjectives-prepositionsw.english-4u.de/adj_prep.html

http://grammar.yourdictionary.com/parts-of-speech/prepositions/rules-for-prepositions.html

List of Adjectives extracted from: http://www.bedavaingilizce.com/prepositions/adj_pre.htm

http://www.englishleap.com/grammar/prepositions-after-adjectives

ACTIVITY

1. - Choose the correct adjective + preposition combination.

1. - My cousin is going to get ________________ a millionaire next spring.

a) married withb) married of c) married to d) married in

2.-Joshua is so_____________ his friends and family. He is a great person.

a) generous tob) generous withc) generous of d) generous for

3.- I've been married my husband for 10 years.

A) forB) toC) of

4.- A ball gown is similar an evening dress.

A) ToB) ForC) Of

5.- Who is James married ?

a) Withb) Toc) Ford)

6.- I came near ____ hitting them.

---

to

7.- She was very good ____ us.

to

at

8. She was so kind __________ me when I was having problems.

(a) to

(b) with

2. - CHOOSE THE CORRECT SENTENCE:

9. - The Export Manager is responsible to the Sales Director.

9. - He is responsible to preparing handouts.

10.- I was amazed to see Nuria after so many years.

I was amazed toseeing Nuria after so many years.