List of Words Followed by Prepositions

Certain Nouns, Adjectives and Verbs followed by Prepositions have a different meaning. The following
alphabetically arranged list illustrates this.

Abide by We must abide by our promises.

Abstain from Abstain from evil and do good.
Accede to The judge acceded to my request.
Account for You must account for your actions.
Accuse of He was accused of theft.
Accustom to I am not accustomed to drinking coffee.
Acquaint with Are you acquainted with her?
Acquit of The judge acquitted him of theft.
Act upon Let us act upon their advice.
Adjacent to The school is adjacent to the Post Office.
Agree with The king agreed with the minister.
Agree to Do you agree to this proposal?
Aim at He aimed at becoming a successful businessman in five years.
Allot to This flat has been allotted to me.
Alternate with Screams alternated with crashes and there was chaos everywhere.
Amount to The bill at the end of the meal amounted to an impressive total.
Answer for You will answer for your action.
Apologise to They will apologise to you for their mistake.
Apologise for The manager apologised for the inadequate arrangements.
Appeal to We appealed to her for help.
Appeal for The refugees appealed for aid.
Appeal against The man convicted of murder appealed against his sentence.
Apply to You need to apply to the manager for the job.
Apply for Have you applied for the scholarship yet?
Approve of Very few people approved of his conduct at the meeting.
Arrive at The Committee has arrived at a decision.
Ask for I need to ask someone for advice regarding the new policy.
Ask about He asked the shopkeeper about a new brand of oil.
Associate with The manager is associated with his firm.
Assure of We assure you of our help.
Attend to Please attend to what I say.
Aware of Are you aware of the situation?

Beg for The convict begged for mercy.

Believe in Do you believe in ghosts?
Benefit from You should go, you will benefit from the experience.
Beware of Beware of imitations.
Blame for He was blamed for nothing.
Blessed with She was blessed with a son.
Blind to Do not be blind to your faults.
Boast of She boasts of her riches.
Born of Nehru was born of rich parents.
Borrow from I need to borrow some money from you.
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Bound for The ship is bound for Japan.
Break off She broke off a piece of cake and ate it.
Bring up That issue must be brought up at the next meeting.
Burst into When they saw the ridiculous sight, they burst into laughter.
Busy with She is busy with her lessons.
Buy for Will you buy that skirt for me?
Buy from I bought this painting from the painter himself.

Capable of She is capable of improvement.

Careful about He is very careful about his clothes.
Cause for There is no cause for anxiety.
Cause of What is the cause of this trouble?
Charge with The beggar was charged with theft.
Commence on Our examination commences on 5th March.
Complain against We complained against him.
Compare to Love is compared to a blind man.
Compete with He competed with us for the scholarship.
Condemn to He was condemned to death.
Confine to I was confined to bed with fever.
Congratulate on She congratulated me on my success.
Content with They are content with their lot.
Contribute to We contributed fifty rupees to the fund.
Courteous to Be courteous to all.
Count on We always count on your help.
Cure of This medicine will cure you of malaria.

Deal in We deal in imported clothes.

Deal with Deal fairly with every one.
Depend upon You can depend upon me.
Deprive of They were deprived of their freedom.
Desirous of Everybody is desirous of going abroad.
Die of Many people die of cancer.
Differ with We differ with you on this point.
Different from Our plans are quite different from yours
Devoted to He devoted himself to his studies.
Dispense with The master dispensed with the services of his servant.
Disgusted with She was disgusted with life.
Dispose of He disposed of his old car.
Doubtful of My parents are doubtful of my success.
Duty to Let us do our duty to our country.

Enlist in I was enlisted in the army.

End in The scheme ended in failure.
Engage in They are engaged in business.
Engaged to He is engaged to a rich girl.
Entrust with She entrusted the box with the maidservant.
Equal to He proved equal to the task.
Escape from The thief escaped from jail.
Exception to We take strong exception to your remarks.
Exclude from We excluded him from our team.
Enter into I entered into an agreement with the firm.
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Familiar with I am familiar with his tricks.
Faith in Don't you have faith in me?
Famous for Delhi is famous for its monuments.
Feed on Silkworms feed on mulberry leaves.
Fight for We fought for our Independence.
Fill with Please fill this tumbler with water.
Fit for You are not fit for the post.
Fond of Children are fond of sweets.
Free from Nobody is free from faults.
Furnish with They furnished the library with books.

Get at Get at the facts.

Get on She was not able to get on the committee.
Good at Mohan is good at Mathematics.
Grateful to I shall be grateful to you for your help.
Greedy for He is greedy for money.
Guard against We must guard ourselves against vices.
Guilty of The judge found her guilty of murder.

Hanker after I do not hanker after riches.

Hard to The toy is hard to resist.
Heard of We heard of your success.
Honest in Always be honest in your business.
Hope for Let us hope for the best.
Hopeful of We are hopeful of our success.

Impatient for The child is impatient for school to give over.

Impose on The judge imposed a heavy fine on him.
Impress with We were impressed with her speech.
Impress upon The teacher tried to impress upon us the need for good habits.

Infested with The house is infested with rats.

Injurious to Smoking is injurious to health.
Inclined to I am inclined to give him leave.
Indulge in Do not indulge in gossip.
Indebted to We are indebted to you for this favour.
Inspire with Buddha inspired his followers with noble ideals.
Inquire into The teacher is inquiring into the case.
Inquire of We inquired of him about these matters.
Insist on She insists on my staying in the village.
Interested in Are you interested in this case?
Indispensable to Her hard working nature makes her indispensable to me.
Interfere with She never interfered with me in my work.
Invest in I invested a lakh of rupees in business.
Influence over The teacher has no influence over his pupils.
Introduce to He introduced me to his father.

Jealous of The neighbours are jealous of one another.

Jeer at They jeered at us.
Jump at He jumped at the first offer of a job.
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Jump to Never jump to hasty conclusions.

Key to Hard work is the key to success.

Kind to Be kind to the poor.
Knock at Who is knocking at the door?

Labour for The social workers labour for a just cause.

Lack in He lacks in experience.
Lead to This road leads to the town.
Lean on The old man needs a staff to lean on.
Liking for I have no liking for grapes.
Live by I live by honest work.
Live on Birds live on insects.
Long for Man longs for peace.
Loyal to We are loyal to our motherland.

Match for You are no match for him.

Meet with He met with many obstacles.
Meddle with He had a habit of meddling with others’ affairs.
Mourn for The country mourns for its dead.
Move to The condition of the child moved her to tears.
Negligent in He is negligent in his work.
Negligent of She was negligent of her duties.

Obedient to Always be obedient to your parents.

Object to I objected to his going out.
Obliged to She is obliged to us.
Offended by She felt offended by his remarks.
Open to We are open to suggestions.
Opposed to Why should we be opposed to them?

Partake of Let us partake o/the birthday cake.

Part with I cannot part with my money.
Participate in You must participate in school activities.
Persist in The boy persists in telling lies.
Pine for We pine for what is not.
Preside over The principal presided over (or at) the meeting.
Prevail upon We prevailed upon them to go there.
Prey to She fell prey to cancer.
Proud of We are proud o/our school.
Protect from A woollen blanket protects you from cold.
Prove to He proved to be false to his friends.
Provide for We must provide for our family against bad days.
Prohibit from He was prohibited from entering the room.
Proceed with Let us proceed with our work.
Protest against The students protested against the lathi-charge.

Qualify for He has qualified for the interview.

Quarrel with Let us not quarrel with one another.
Quick at Mohan is quick at figures.
Quote from She quoted many verses from the Gita.
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Reconcile with She reconciled with her brother after her parents’ death.
Refer to The case was referred to the Minister.
Rejoice at They rejoiced at their success.
Relieve from The medicine relieved me from pain.
Rely on You may rely on us.
Remember to Please remember me to your parents.
Revenge on He revenged himself on his enemies.
Responsible for Who is responsible for this delay?
Respect for We have respect for our elders.
Respectful to They are respectful to their elders.
Reward with The soldier was rewarded with the Vir Chakra for his bravery.

Search for His parents searched for him everywhere.

Send for The teacher sent for the monitor.
Sentence to The judge sentenced him to death.
Set out They set out on a journey.
Sick of She is sick of her relatives.
Stand by We shall stand by our leaders.
Stare at She stared at him.
Stick to We shall stick to our post at all cost.
Shock at They were shocked at the news.
Succeed in He succeeded in winning a prize.
Succumb to The old man succumbed to his injuries.
Supply to Food was supplied to the hungry.
Supply with The hungry were supplied with food.
Sympathise with We sympathise with her in her troubles.

Talk over Let them talk over the matter.

Talk to They talked to us.
Thankful to We are very thankful to you for your help.
Tire of He is tired of the game.
True to You must be true to your word.
Trust in Trust in God.
Tremble with She trembled with fear.

Wait on All the servants waited on her.

Wait upon A deputation waited upon the Minister.
Warn of We warned him of the danger.
Win over The candidate won a victory over his rivals.
Weary of The king grew weary of his courtiers.
Well-versed in She is well-versed in household affairs.
Withdraw from He withdrew from the contest.
Wonder at We wonder at their skill.
Worthy of She is worthy of praise.

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