Unit

123 in/at/on (position) 1

A in

in a room in a garden in a pool

in a building in a town in the sea
in a box in the city centre in a river
etc. etc. etc.

There’s no-one in the room / in the building / in the garden.

What do you have in your hand / in your mouth?
When we were in Italy, we spent a few days in Venice.
I have a friend who lives in a small village in the mountains.
There were some people swimming in the pool / in the sea / in the river.

B at

at the bus stop at the door at the roundabout at her desk

Who is that man standing at the bus stop / at the door / at the window?
Turn left at the traffic lights / at the next junction / at the roundabout / at the church.
We have to get off the bus at the next stop.
When you leave the hotel, please leave your key at reception. (= at the reception desk)
Compare in and at:
There were a lot of people in the shop. It was crowded.
Go along this road, then turn left at the shop.
I’ll meet you in the hotel lobby. (= in the building)
I’ll meet you at the entrance to the hotel. (= outside the building)

C on
on the on the door
X
on the ceiling on her nose
wall X
X

X on the floor
X

on the table on a page on an island

I sat on the floor / on the ground / on the grass / on the beach / on a chair.
There’s a dirty mark on the ceiling / on your nose / on your shirt.
Did you see the notice on the wall / on the door?
You’ll find details of TV programmes on page seven of the newspaper.
The hotel is on a small island in the middle of a lake. in the
bottle
Compare in and on:
There is some water in the bottle.
There is a label on the bottle. on the bottle
Compare at and on:
There is somebody at the door. Shall I go and see who it is?
There is a notice on the door. It says ‘Do not disturb’.

246 in/at/on (position) 2–3 ➜ Units 124–125

 Unit
Exercises 123
123.1 Answer the questions about the pictures. Use in, at or on with the words below the pictures.

1 2 3 4

(bottle) (arm) (traffic lights) (door)

5 6 7 8

(wall) (Paris) (gate) (beach)

1 Where’s the label? On the bottle.

2 Where’s the fly?
3 Where’s the car waiting?
4 Where’s the notice? Where’s the key?
5 Where are the shelves?
6 Where’s the Eiffel Tower?
7 Where’s the man standing? Where’s the bird?
8 Where are the children playing?

123.2 Complete the sentences. Use in, at or on + the following:

the window his hand the mountains that tree
my guitar the river the island junction 14
1 There were some people swimming in the river .
2 One of the strings is broken.
3 Leave the motorway and then turn left.
4 He was holding something , but I couldn’t see what it was.
5 The leaves are a beautiful colour.
6 You can go skiing near here. There’s plenty of snow.
7 There’s nobody living . It’s uninhabited.
8 He spends most of the day sitting and looking outside.

123.3 Complete the sentences with in, at or on.

1 There was a long queue of people at the bus stop.
2 Nicola was wearing a silver ring her little finger.
3 There was a security guard standing the entrance to the building.
4 I wasn’t sure whether I had come to the right office. There was no name the door.
5 There are plenty of shops and restaurants the town centre.
6 You’ll find the weather forecast the back page of the newspaper.
7 The headquarters of the company are California.
8 I wouldn’t like an office job. I couldn’t spend the whole day sitting a desk.
9 The man the police are looking for has a scar his right cheek.
10 If you come here by bus, get off the stop after the traffic lights.
11 Have you ever been camping? Have you ever slept a tent?
12 Emily was sitting the balcony reading a book.
13 My brother lives a small village the south-west of England.
14 I like that picture hanging the wall the kitchen.
➜ Additional exercise 34 (page 322) 247
Unit
124 in/at/on (position) 2
A We say that somebody/something is:
in a line, in a row, in a queue in an office, in a department
in a picture, in a photo(graph) in the sky, in the world
in a newspaper, in a magazine, in a book in the country (= not in a town)

When I go to the cinema, I like to sit in the front row.

Amy works in the sales department.
Who is the woman in that picture?
Do you live in a city or in the country?
It’s a lovely day. There isn’t a cloud in the sky.
They’re standing in a row.

B We say that somebody/something is:

on the left, on the right (or on the left-hand side, on the right-hand side)
Do you drive on the left or on the right in your country?
on the ground floor, on the first floor, on the second floor etc.
Our apartment is on the second floor of the building.
on a map, on a menu, on a list, on a page, on a website
Here’s the shopping list. Don’t buy anything that’s not on the list.
You’ll find the information you need on our website.
We say that a place is on a river / on a road / on the coast:
Vienna is on the (river) Danube.
The town where you live – is it on the coast or is it inland?
We say on the way (from one place to another):
We stopped at a shop on the way home.

C We say: at the top (of the page)

at the top (of …), at the bottom (of …), at the end (of …)
Write your name at the top of the page.
Jane lives at the other end of the street.
at the bottom (of the page)

D We say: at the back

in the front, in the back of a car
I was in the back (of the car) when we had the accident.
at the front, at the back of a building / theatre / group of people etc.
The garden is at the back of the house.
Let’s sit at the front (of the cinema).
We were at the back, so we couldn’t see very well.
on the front, on the back of an envelope / a piece of paper etc.
I wrote the date on the back of the photo. at the front

E We say:
in the corner of a room
The TV is in the corner of the room.
at the corner or on the corner of a street
There is a small shop at the corner (of the street).
or … on the corner (of the street). in the corner at or on the corner

248 in the world ➜ Unit 108D in/at/on (position) ➜ Units 123, 125 American English ➜ Appendix 7
 Unit
Exercises 124
124.1 Answer the questions about the pictures. Use in, at or on with the words below the pictures.
1 2 3 4 5
AMY

(sales department) (second floor) (corner) (corner) (top / stairs)

6 7 8 9 10

GARY

LISA
(back / car) (front) left (back row) (end / street)

1 Where does Amy work? In the sales department.

2 Amy lives in this building. Where’s her flat exactly?
3 Where is the woman standing?
4 Where is the man standing?
5 Where’s the cat?
6 Where’s the dog?
7 Lisa is in this group of people. Where is she?
8 Where’s the post office?
9 Gary is at the cinema. Where is he sitting?
10 Where is the bank?

124.2 Complete the sentences. Use in, at or on + the following:

the west coast the world the back of the class the sky
the front row the right the back of this card the way to work
1 It’s a lovely day. There isn’t a cloud in the sky .
2 In most countries people drive .
3 What is the tallest building ?
4 I met a friend of mine this morning.
5 San Francisco is of the United States.
6 We went to the theatre last night. We had seats .
7 I couldn’t hear the teacher. She spoke quietly and I was sitting .
8 I don’t have your address. Could you write it ?

124.3 Complete the sentences with in, at or on.

1 Write your name at the top of the page.
2 Is your sister this photo? I don’t recognise her.
3 They live in a small house the bottom of the hill.
4 We normally use the front entrance to the building, but there’s another one the back.
5 We had to wait a queue for an hour to check in at the airport.
6 There was a list of names, but my name wasn’t the list.
7 Is there anything interesting today’s newspaper?
8 I love to look up at the stars the sky at night.
9 When I’m a passenger in a car, I prefer to sit the front.
10 I live in a very small village. You probably won’t find it your map.
11 Joe works the furniture department of a large store.
12 Paris is the (river) Seine.
13 I don’t like cities. I’d much prefer to live the country.
14 My office is the top floor. It’s your left as you come out of the lift.
➜ Additional exercise 34 (page 322) 249
Unit
125 in/at/on (position) 3
A in hospital / at work etc.
We say that somebody is in bed / in hospital / in prison:
James isn’t up yet. He’s still in bed.
Anna’s mother is in hospital.
We say that somebody is at home / at work / at school / at university / at college:
I’ll be at work until 5.30.
My sister is at university. My brother is still at school.
We say be at home or be home (with or without at), but do something at home (with at):
I’ll be home all evening. or I’ll be at home all evening.
Shall we go to a restaurant or eat at home?

B at a party / at a concert etc.

We say that somebody is at an event (at a party, at a conference etc.):
Were there many people at the party / at the meeting / at the wedding?
I saw Steve at a conference / at a concert on Saturday.

C in and at for buildings

You can often use in or at with buildings. For example, you can eat in a restaurant or at a
restaurant; you can buy food in a supermarket or at a supermarket.
We usually say at when we say where an event takes place (a concert, a party, a meeting etc.):
We went to a concert at the National Concert Hall.
The meeting took place at the company’s head office in Frankfurt.
There was a robbery at the supermarket.
We say at somebody’s house:
I was at Helen’s house last night. or I was at Helen’s last night.
In the same way we say at the doctor’s, at the hairdresser’s etc.
We use in when we are thinking about the building itself. Compare at and in:
I was at Helen’s (house) last night.
It’s always cold in Helen’s house. The heating doesn’t work well. (not at Helen’s house)
We had dinner at the hotel.
All the rooms in the hotel have air conditioning. (not at the hotel)
We say at the station / at the airport:
There’s no need to meet me at the station. I can get a taxi.

D in and at for towns etc.

We normally use in with cities, towns and villages:
The Louvre is a famous art museum in Paris. (not at Paris)
Sam’s parents live in a village in the south of France. (not at a village)
We use at when we think of the place as a point or station on a journey:
Does this train stop at Oxford? (= at Oxford station)

E on a bus / in a car etc.

We usually say on a bus / on a train / on a plane / on a ship but in a car / in a taxi:
The bus was very full. There were too many people on it.
Laura arrived in a taxi.
We say on a bike (= bicycle) / on a motorbike / on a horse:
Jane passed me on her bike.

at school / in hospital etc. ➜ Unit 74 in/at/on (position) ➜ Units 123–124 to/at/in/into ➜ Unit 126
250 by car / by bike etc. ➜ Unit 128B
 Unit
Exercises 125
125.1 Complete the sentences about the pictures. Use in, at or on with the words below the pictures.
1 2 3 4 MARTIN

DAVE KAREN
(the airport) (a train) (a conference) (hospital)
5 6 GARY 7 8

JUDY

(the hairdresser’s) (his bike) (New York) (the Savoy Theatre)

1 You can hire a car at the airport . 5 Judy is .

2 Dave is . 6 I saw Gary .
3 Karen is . 7 We spent a few days .
4 Martin . 8 We went to a show .

125.2 Complete the sentences. Use in, at or on + the following:

the plane the station a taxi the art gallery
Tokyo school prison the sports centre
1 Some people are in prison for crimes that they did not commit.
2 We can get coffee while we’re waiting for our train.
3 We walked to the restaurant, but we went home .
4 I play basketball on Friday evenings.
5 I enjoyed the flight, but the food was awful.
6 Vicky has gone to Japan. She’s living .
7 ‘Does your sister have a job?’ ‘No, she’s only 16. She’s still .’
8 There’s a new exhibition of paintings . Let’s go and see it.
125.3 Complete these sentences with in, at or on.
1 We went to a concert at the National Concert Hall.
2 There isn’t a shop the village where I live. It’s very small.
3 Joe wasn’t the party. I don’t know why he didn’t go.
4 There were about ten tables the restaurant, and four tables outside.
5 I don’t know where my umbrella is. Perhaps I left it the bus.
6 What do you want to study university?
7 I didn’t feel well when I woke up, so I stayed bed.
8 We were Sarah’s house last night. She invited us to dinner.
9 It was a very slow train. It stopped every station.
10 Shall we travel your car or mine?
11 We took a taxi and Ben followed his motorbike.
12 I’d like to see a movie. What’s on the cinema this week?
13 We went to see a movie last night. It was really cold the cinema.
14 Two people were injured in the accident and are still hospital.
15 Our flight was delayed. We had to wait the airport for three hours.
16 I didn’t expect you to be home. I thought you’d be work.

➜ Additional exercise 34 (page 322) 251

Unit
126 to, at, in and into
A We say go/come/travel (etc.) to a place or event. For example:
go to China go to work come to my house TO
go back to Italy go to the bank drive to the airport
return to London go to a party be taken to hospital

When are your friends going back to Italy? (not going back in Italy)
Three people were injured in the accident and taken to hospital.
In the same way we say Welcome to … , a trip to … , a visit to … , on my way to … etc. :
Welcome to our country! (not Welcome in)
We had to cancel our trip to Paris.
Compare to (for movement) and in/at (for position):
They are going to France. but They live in France.
Can you come to the party? but I’ll see you at the party.
We say ‘(I’ve) been to’ a place or an event:
I’ve been to Italy four times, but I’ve never been to Rome.
Amanda has never been to a football match in her life.

B get and arrive

We say get to a place:
They got to the hotel at midnight.
What time did you get to the party?
We say arrive in … or arrive at … (not arrive to).
We say arrive in a town or country:
They arrived in Madrid / in Spain a week ago.
For other places (buildings etc.) or events, we say arrive at:
What time did you arrive at the hotel / at the airport / at the party?

C home
We say: go home, come home, get home, arrive home, on the way home etc. (no preposition).
We do not say ‘to home’:
What time did you get home? (not get to home)
I met Lisa on my way home.

D into
go into, get into … etc. = enter (a room / a building / a car etc.):
I opened the door, went into the room and sat down. INTO
A bird flew into the kitchen through the window.
Every month my salary is paid directly into my bank account.
With some verbs (especially go/get/put) we often use in (instead of into):
She got in the car and drove away. or She got into the car …
I read the letter and put it back in the envelope.
The opposite of into is out of:
She got out of the car and went into a shop.
For buses, trains and planes, we usually say get on and get off:
She got on the bus and I never saw her again.
You need to get off (the train) at the next station.

been to ➜ Units 7–8 in/at/on (position) ➜ Units 123–125 at home ➜ Unit 125A
252 into and in ➜ Unit 138A
 Unit
Exercises 126
126.1 Put in to/at/in/into where necessary. If no preposition is necessary, leave the space empty.
1 Three people were taken to hospital after the accident.
2 I’m tired. Let’s go – home now. (no preposition)
3 We left our luggage the station and went to find something to eat.
4 Shall we take a taxi the station or shall we walk?
5 I have to go the bank today. What time does it open?
6 The Amazon flows the Atlantic Ocean.
7 I missed the bus, so I walked home.
8 Have you ever been Canada?
9 I lost my key, but I managed to climb the house through a window.
10 We got stuck in a traffic jam on our way the airport.
11 We had lunch the airport while we were waiting for our plane.
12 It took us four hours to get the top of the mountain.
13 Welcome the hotel. We hope you enjoy your stay here.
14 We drove along the main road and then turned a narrow side street.
15 Did you enjoy your visit the zoo?
16 I did some shopping on my way home.
17 Marcel is French. He has just returned France after two years Brazil.
18 Carl was born Chicago, but his family moved Boston when he was three.

126.2 Write sentences about places you have been to. Use I’ve been to / I’ve never been to + the words
in brackets.
1 (never) I’ve never been to Egypt.
2 (once)
3 (never)
4 (a few times)
5 (many times)

126.3 Put in to/at/in where necessary. If no preposition is necessary, leave the space empty.
1 What time does this train get to London?
2 They arrived Barcelona a few days ago.
3 What time did you get home last night?
4 What time do you usually arrive work in the morning?
5 When we got the cinema, there was a long queue outside.
6 We were delayed and arrived home very late.

126.4 Write sentences using got + into / out of / on / off.

1 You were walking home. A friend passed you in her car. She saw you, stopped and offered you a lift.
She opened the door. What did you do? I got into the car.
2 You were waiting at the bus stop. At last your bus came and stopped. The doors opened.
What did you do then? I the bus.
3 You drove home in your car. You stopped outside your house and parked the car.
What did you do then?
4 You were travelling by train to Manchester. When the train got to Manchester, what did you do?

5 You needed a taxi. After a few minutes a taxi stopped for you. You opened the door.
What did you do then?
6 You were travelling by plane. At the end of your flight, your plane landed at the airport and stopped.
The doors were opened, you took your bag and stood up.
What did you do then?

➜ Additional exercise 34 (page 322) 253

Unit
127 in/on/at (other uses)
A in
in the rain / in the sun / in the shade / in the dark / in bad weather etc.
We sat in the shade. It was too hot to sit in the sun.
Don’t go out in the rain. Wait until it stops.
in a language / in a currency etc.
How do you say ‘thank you’ in Russian?
How much is a hundred pounds in dollars?
(be/fall) in love (with somebody)
They’re very happy together. They’re in love.
in a (good/bad) mood
You seem to be in a bad mood. What’s the matter? in the shade
in (my) opinion
In my opinion the movie wasn’t very good.

B on
on TV / on television I didn’t see the news on TV.
on the radio I heard the weather forecast on the radio.
on the phone I’ve never met her, but I’ve spoken to her on the phone.
on fire Look! That car is on fire.
on purpose (= intentionally) I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you. I didn’t do it on purpose.
on the whole (= in general) Sometimes I have problems at work, but on the whole I enjoy my job.

C on holiday / on a trip etc.

(be/go) on holiday / on vacation I’m going on holiday next week.
(be/go) on a trip / on a tour / on a cruise etc. One day I’d like to go on a world tour.
(be/go to a place) on business Emma’s away on business at the moment.
(be/go) on strike There are no trains today. The drivers are on strike.
(be/go) on a diet I’ve put on weight. I’ll have to go on a diet.

We also say ‘go somewhere for a holiday’:

Steve has gone to France for a holiday.

D at the age of … etc.

We are now flying at a speed of
at the age of 16 / at 90 miles an hour / 800 kilometres an hour and at an
at 100 degrees etc. : altitude of 9,000 metres.
Tracy left school at 16. or
Tracy left school at the age of 16.
The train was travelling at 120 miles an hour.
Water boils at 100 degrees Celsius.

254 in/at/on (time) ➜ Unit 121 in/at/on (position) ➜ Units 123–125

 Unit
Exercises 127
127.1 Complete the sentences using in + the following:
the mood cold weather love my opinion
French the rain kilometres the shade
1 Don’t go out in the rain . Wait until it stops.
2 Matt likes to keep warm, so he doesn’t go out much .
3 The movie was with English subtitles.
4 They fell almost immediately and were married in a few weeks.
5 I don’t feel like going to a party tonight. I’m not .
6 It’s too hot here. I’m going to sit under that tree.
7 Amanda thought the restaurant was OK, but it wasn’t very good.
8 Fifty miles? What’s that ?

127.2 Complete the sentences using on + the following:

business a cruise a diet fire holiday her phone
the radio purpose strike TV a tour the whole
1 I heard the weather forecast on the radio . It’s going to get warmer.
2 Workers at the company have gone for better pay and conditions.
3 Don’t go if you don’t like being at sea.
4 There was panic when people realised that the building was .
5 Soon after we arrived, we were taken of the city.
6 Emma has lots of useful apps .
7 I feel lazy this evening. Is there anything worth watching ?
8 I’m sorry. It was an accident. I didn’t do it .
9 If you are , there are certain things you’re not allowed to eat.
10 We’ll be from Friday. We’re going to the mountains.
11 Jane’s job involves a lot of travelling. She often has to go away .
12 Some of the exam questions were hard, but it was OK.

127.3 Complete the sentences with in, on or at.

1 Water boils at 100 degrees Celsius.
2 When I was 14, I went a trip to France organised by my school.
3 Julia’s grandmother died recently the age of 90.
4 Can you turn the light on, please? I don’t want to sit the dark.
5 We didn’t go holiday last year. We stayed at home.
6 I hate driving fog. You can’t see anything.
7 Technology has developed great speed.
8 David got married 19, which is rather young to get married.
9 I listened to an interesting programme the radio this morning.
10 I wouldn’t like to go a cruise. I think I’d get bored.
11 The earth travels round the sun 107,000 kilometres an hour.
12 I shouldn’t eat too much. I’m supposed to be a diet.
13 A lot of houses were damaged the storm last week.
14 I won’t be here next week. I’ll be holiday.
15 I wouldn’t like his job. He spends most of his time talking the phone.
16 ‘Did you enjoy your holiday?’ ‘Not every minute, but the whole, yes.’
17 your opinion, what should I do?
18 Ben is a happy sort of person. He always seems to be a good mood.
19 I don’t think violent films should be shown TV.
20 The museum guidebook is available several languages.

➜ Additional exercise 34 (page 322) 255

Unit
128 by
A You can say that something happens by mistake / by accident / by chance:
We hadn’t arranged to meet. We met by chance.
But we say ‘do something on purpose’ (= you mean to do it):
I didn’t do it on purpose. It was an accident.
Note that we say by chance, by accident etc. (not by the chance / by an accident).
In these expressions we use by + noun without the or a.

B We use by … to say how somebody travels. For example, you can travel:
by car by train by plane by boat by ship by bus by bike etc.
Jess usually goes to work by bus / by bike / by car.
We do not use by if we say my car / the train / a taxi etc. We say:
by car but in my car (not by my car)
by train but on the train (not by the train)
We use in for cars and taxis:
They didn’t come in their car. They came in a taxi.
We use on for bikes and public transport (buses, trains etc.):
We travelled on the 6.45 train, which arrived at 8.30.
Note that we usually say on foot (not usually by foot):
Did you come here by car or on foot?
We also use by to say how we do other things. For example, you can:
send something by post pay by card / by cheque do something by hand
Can I pay by credit card?
But note that we say pay cash or pay in cash (not usually by cash).

C We say that ‘something is done by …’ (passive):

Have you ever been bitten by a dog?
The programme was watched by millions of people.
Compare by and with:
The door must have been opened with a key. (not by a key)
(= somebody used a key to open it)
The door must have been opened by somebody with a key.
We say: a play by Shakespeare, a painting by Rembrandt, a novel by Tolstoy etc.
Have you read any poems by Shakespeare?
‘Who is this painting by? Picasso?’ ‘I have no idea.’

D By also means ‘next to / beside’:

The light switch is by the door.
Come and sit by me. (= next to me) LIGHT SWITCH

E You can also use by… to show the difference between two things:
Clare’s salary has increased by ten per cent.
(= it’s now ten per cent more than before)
Carl won the race by five metres.
(= he was five metres in front of the other runners)

CARL

256 Passive + by ➜ Unit 42B by + -ing ➜ Unit 60B by myself ➜ Unit 83C by (time) ➜ Unit 120
 Unit
Exercises 128
128.1 Complete the sentences. Choose from the box.
by mistake
1 We don’t need cash. We can pay by credit card . by hand
2 Kate and James keep in touch with one another mainly . by credit card
3 I didn’t intend to take your umbrella. I took it . by chance
4 I think he arrived late . He wanted to keep us waiting. by email
5 Some things are planned. Other things happen . on purpose
6 Don’t put my sweater in the washing machine. It has to be washed .

128.2 Put in by, in or on.

1 Jess usually goes to work by bus.
2 I saw Jane this morning. She was the bus.
3 How did you get here? Did you come train?
4 I couldn’t find a seat the train. It was full.
5 How much will it cost to the airport taxi?
6 Did you come here Sarah’s car or yours?
7 The injured man was taken to hospital ambulance.
8 How long does it take to cross the Atlantic ship?
9 He doesn’t drive much. He goes everywhere bike or foot.

128.3 Complete these sentences about books, paintings etc. Choose from the box.
1 I was woken up in the night by a strange noise .
2 These pictures were taken . by mosquitoes
3 I hate getting bitten . by one of our players
4 ‘Mona Lisa’ is a famous painting . by lightning
5 We lost the game because of a mistake . by Beethoven
6 The plane was damaged , but landed safely. by a strange noise
7 This music is , but I can’t remember what by Leonardo da Vinci
it’s called. by a professional
photographer
128.4 Put in by, in, on or with.
1 Have you ever been bitten by a dog?
2 We managed to put the fire out a fire extinguisher.
3 Who’s that man standing the window?
4 Do you travel much bus?
5 We travelled my friend’s car because it is larger and more comfortable than mine.
6 It was only accident that I discovered the error.
7 These pictures were taken a very good camera.
8 My friends live in a beautiful house the sea.
9 There were only a few people the plane. It was almost empty.
10 The new railway line will reduce the journey time two hours (from five hours to three).
11 There was a small table the bed a lamp and a clock it.

128.5 Complete the sentences using by.

1 Carl won the race. He was five metres in front of the other runners.
Carl won by five metres.
2 Ten years ago the population of the country was 50 million. Now it is 56 million.
In the last ten years the population has
3 There was an election. Helen won. She got 25 votes and James got 23.
Helen won
4 I went to Kate’s office to see her, but she had left work five minutes before I arrived.
I missed

➜ Additional exercise 34 (page 322) 257

Unit
129 Noun + preposition (reason for, cause of etc.)
A noun + for …
a demand / a need FOR …
The company went out of business. There was no demand for its product any more.
There’s no excuse for behaviour like that. There’s no need for it.
a reason FOR …
The train was late, but nobody knew the reason for the delay. (not reason of)

B noun + of …
a cause OF …
The cause of the explosion is unknown.
a picture / a photo / a photograph / a map / a plan / a drawing (etc.) OF …
Rachel showed me some pictures of her family.
I had a map of the town, so I was able to find my way around.
an advantage / a disadvantage OF …
The advantage of living alone is that you can do what you like.
but
there is an advantage IN doing something or TO doing something:
There are many advantages in living alone. or … many advantages to living alone.

C noun + in …
an increase / a decrease / a rise / a fall IN (prices etc.)
There has been an increase in the number of road accidents recently.
Last year was a bad one for the company. There was a big fall in sales.

D noun + to …
damage TO …
The accident was my fault, so I had to pay for the damage to the other car.
an invitation TO … (a party / a wedding etc.)
Did you get an invitation to the wedding?
a solution TO a problem / a key TO a door / an answer TO a question / a reply TO a letter /
a reaction TO something
I hope we find a solution to the problem. (not a solution of the problem)
I was surprised at her reaction to my suggestion.
an attitude TO … or an attitude TOWARDS …
His attitude to his job is very negative. or His attitude towards his job …

E noun + with … / between …

a relationship / a connection / contact WITH …
Do you have a good relationship with your parents?
The police want to question a man in connection with the robbery.
a relationship / a connection / contact / a difference BETWEEN two things or people
The police believe that there is no connection between the two crimes.
There are some differences between British and American English.

258
 Unit
Exercises 129
129.1 Complete the second sentence so that it has the same meaning as the first.
1 What caused the explosion?
What was the cause of the explosion ?
2 We’re trying to solve the problem.
We’re trying to find a solution .
3 Sue gets on well with her brother.
Sue has a good relationship .
4 The cost of living has gone up a lot.
There has been a big increase .
5 I don’t know how to answer your question.
I can’t think of an answer .
6 I don’t think that a new road is necessary.
I don’t think there is any need .
7 I think that living in a big city has many advantages.
I think that there are many advantages .
8 Food prices fell last month.
Last month there was a fall .
9 Nobody wants shoes like these any more.
There is no demand .
10 In what way is your job different from mine?
What is the difference ?

129.2 Complete the sentences using these nouns + a preposition:

cause connection contact damage invitation
key map photos reason reply
1 On the classroom wall there were some pictures and a map of the world.
2 Thank you for the your birthday party.
3 Anna has little her family these days. She rarely sees them.
4 I can’t open this door. Do you have a the other door?
5 The the fire at the hotel is still unknown.
6 Did you get a the email you sent?
7 The two companies are separate. There is no them.
8 Jane showed me some the city as it looked 100 years ago.
9 Emily has decided to give up her job. I don’t know her doing this.
10 It wasn’t a bad accident. The the car wasn’t serious.

129.3 Complete the sentences with the correct preposition.

1 There are some differences between British and American English.
2 Money isn’t the solution every problem.
3 There has been an increase the amount of traffic using this road.
4 The advantage having a car is that you don’t have to rely on public transport.
5 There are many advantages being able to speak a foreign language.
6 Everything can be explained. There’s a reason everything.
7 When Paul left home, his attitude many things seemed to change.
8 Ben and I used to be good friends, but I don’t have much contact him now.
9 James did a very good drawing his father. It looks just like him.
10 What was Sarah’s reaction the news?
11 Nicola took a picture me holding the baby.
12 The show is very popular and there has been a great demand tickets.
13 There has been a lot of debate about the causes climate change.
14 The fact that Jane was offered a job in the company has no connection the
fact that she is a friend of the managing director.

➜ Additional exercise 35 (page 322) 259

Unit
130 Adjective + preposition 1
A nice of you, nice to me
nice / kind / good / generous / polite / honest / stupid / silly etc. OF somebody (to do something)
Thank you. It was very nice of you to help me.
It was stupid of me to go out without a coat in such cold weather.

(be) nice / kind / good / generous / polite / rude / friendly / cruel etc. TO somebody
They have always been very nice to me. (not with me)
Why were you so unfriendly to Lucy?

B adjective + about / with

⎧ ABOUT something
angry / annoyed / furious / upset ⎨ WITH somebody FOR doing something
⎩
There’s no point in getting angry about things that don’t matter.
Are you annoyed with me for being late?
Lisa is upset about not being invited to the party.

excited / worried / nervous / happy etc. ABOUT something

Are you nervous about the exam?

pleased / satisfied / happy / delighted / disappointed WITH something you get or experience
They were delighted with the present I gave them.
Were you happy with your exam results?

C adjective + at / by / with / of
surprised / shocked / amazed / astonished / upset AT / BY something
Everybody was surprised at the news. or … by the news.
I hope you weren’t shocked by what I said. or … at what I said.

impressed WITH / BY somebody/something

I’m very impressed with (or by) her English. It’s very good.

fed up / bored WITH something

I don’t enjoy my job any more. I’m fed up with it. / I’m bored with it.
tired OF something
Come on, let’s go! I’m tired of waiting.

D sorry about / for

sorry ABOUT a situation or something that happened
I’m sorry about the mess. I’ll clear it up later.
Sorry about last night. (= Sorry about something that happened last night)

sorry FOR / ABOUT something you did or caused

I’m sorry for shouting at you yesterday. (or sorry about shouting)
Sorry for the delay. (or Sorry about the delay)
You can also say ‘I’m sorry I (did something)’:
I’m sorry I shouted at you yesterday.

feel / be sorry FOR somebody in a bad situation

I feel sorry for Mark. He’s had a lot of bad luck. (not I feel sorry about Mark)

Preposition + -ing ➜ Unit 60 Adjective + to … ➜ Unit 65 sorry to / sorry for … ➜ Unit 66C
260 Adjective + preposition 2 ➜ Unit 131
 Unit
Exercises 130
130.1 Complete the sentences using nice of …, kind of … etc.

1 Tom offered to drive me to the airport. (nice)

That was nice of him.
2 I needed money and Lisa gave me some. (generous)
That her.
3 They didn’t invite us to their party. (not very nice)
That wasn’t
4 Can I help you with your luggage? (very kind)
That’s
5 Kevin never says ‘thank you’. (not very polite)
That isn’t
6 They’ve had an argument and now they (a bit childish)
refuse to speak to each other. That’s a bit

130.2 Complete the sentences using an adjective + preposition. Choose from:

amazed angry bored careless excited impressed kind nervous
1 Are you nervous about the exam?
2 Thank you for all you’ve done. You’ve been very me.
3 What have I done wrong? Why are you me?
4 You must be very your trip next week. It sounds really great.
5 I wasn’t the service in the restaurant. We had to wait ages.
6 Ben isn’t very happy at college. He says he’s the course he’s doing.
7 I’d never seen so many people before. I was the crowds.
8 It was you to leave the car unlocked while you were shopping.

130.3 Put in the correct preposition.

1 They were delighted with the present I gave them.
2 It was nice you to come and see me when I was ill.
3 Why are you always so rude people? Why can’t you be more polite?
4 We always have the same food every day. I’m fed up it.
5 We had a good holiday, but we were disappointed the hotel.
6 I can’t understand people who are cruel animals.
7 I was surprised the way he behaved. It was completely out of character.
8 I’ve been trying to learn Japanese, but I’m not very satisfied my progress.
9 Tanya doesn’t look very well. I’m worried her.
10 I’m sorry yesterday. I completely forgot we’d arranged to meet.
11 There’s no point in feeling sorry yourself. It won’t help you.
12 Are you still upset what I said to you yesterday?
13 Some people say Kate is unfriendly, but she’s always been very nice me.
14 I’m tired doing the same thing every day. I need a change.
15 We interviewed ten people for the job, and we weren’t impressed any of them.
16 Vicky is annoyed me because I didn’t agree with her.
17 I’m sorry the smell in this room. I’ve just finished painting it.
18 I was shocked what I saw. I’d never seen anything like it before.
19 Jack is sorry what he did. He won’t do it again.
20 The hotel was incredibly expensive. I was amazed the price of a room.
21 Paul made the wrong decision. It was honest him to admit it.
22 You’ve been very generous me. You’ve helped me a lot.
23 Our neighbours were very angry the noise we made.
24 Our neighbours were furious us making so much noise.

➜ Additional exercise 35 (page 322) 261