Dependent prepositions

🔊 المعلّمة تقرأ لك

Consumers' associations exist to protect consumers from abuse, to provide them with information, and to complain about unsafe products. And food industries are often blamed for poor hygienic conditions. Four verbs, four different prepositions — and no rule to explain them. So how do you know which preposition goes with which verb?

🎓في نهاية هذا الدرس ستكون قادرا على:

استعمال حرف الجرّ الذي يلازم الفعل ⁦(dependent prepositions)⁩: ⁦blame for · suffer from · provide with⁩
بناء الفعل مع مفعوله وحرفه ⁦(accuse someone of something)⁩، والصفة مع حرفها ⁦(aware of · satisfied with)⁩
التمييز بين فعل يتغيّر معناه بتغيّر حرفه ⁦(result from · result in)⁩، وأفعال لا تأخذ حرفا ⁦(discuss · enter · phone)⁩
ملء فراغات نصّ بحروف الجرّ المناسبة، والتحقّق منها في القاموس

🔑يفترض هذا الدرس أنّك تتقن:

حروف الجرّ الشائعة ⁦(at · for · from · of · to · with)⁩
الفعل والمفعول به ⁦(verb · object)⁩
المبني للمجهول ⁦(are blamed)⁩

1. Verbs that take their own preposition

بعض الأفعال يلازمها حرف جرّ بعينه، ولا قاعدة تحدّده: يُحفظ الفعل مع حرفه، ويُراجع في القاموس.

A preposition is a word placed before a pronoun or a noun phrase: by us, with my best friend. Some verbs in English are always followed by one — sometimes two — specific prepositions, called dependent prepositions: « Food industries are often blamed for poor hygienic conditions. » · « People should stand up for their rights. » There are no specific rules as to which prepositions go with particular verbs. So you have to learn each verb with its preposition, and check it in the dictionary. Sometimes the verb and the preposition together express a single idea: « She takes after (= resembles) her grandmother. »

Dependent prepositions at work

Food industries are often blamed for poor hygienic conditions. She wears sunglasses to protect her eyes from the sun. The school provides poor students with books. Meteorologists have warned all the citizens about climate change. Said accused Rashid of being selfish. Are you afraid of snakes? · I'm delighted with my new camera.

Three patterns to learn

Pattern	Examples
verb + preposition	apply for a job · believe in something · depend on someone · rely on someone · suffer from an illness · wait for someone
verb + object + preposition	accuse someone of something · ask someone for something · blame someone for something · protect someone from something · provide someone with something · remind someone of something · warn someone about something
adjective + preposition	afraid of · aware of · proud of · angry with · satisfied with · good at · interested in · different from · similar to

Learn each verb or adjective with its preposition, as one unit.

Task 1 — « Food industries are often blamed for poor hygienic conditions. » Which preposition depends on the verb? Rewrite the sentence starting: Consumers often blame food industries …

ما حرف الجرّ الملازم للفعل؟ أعد كتابة الجملة في المبني للمعلوم.

for — blame someone for something. « Consumers often blame food industries for poor hygienic conditions. » The preposition stays with the verb, in the active as in the passive.

2. One verb, several prepositions — or none

بعض الأفعال يتغيّر معناها بتغيّر حرفها، وبعضها لا يأخذ حرفا أصلا.

Some verbs take one preposition or another, depending on the meaning: « Our problems result from our negligence. » (the cause) — « The change of policy has resulted in failure. » (the consequence) « The team consists of experienced players. » — « Our success consists in our ability to respond quickly to new problems. » « We've agreed on a date for the marriage. » · « We've agreed to see her this afternoon. » · « I agree with you entirely. » And some verbs take no preposition at all: phone someone · discuss something · enter a place · resist someone or something · emphasize or stress something.

Task 2 — Correct the mistakes. A. We discussed about the problem. B. The candidate felt nervous as she entered into the examination hall. C. Did you phone to your sister yesterday? D. The team consists in experienced players.

صحّح الأخطاء : حرف زائد، أو حرف في غير موضعه.

A. We discussed the problem. — discuss takes no preposition.
B. The candidate felt nervous as she entered the examination hall. — enter (= go into a place) takes no preposition.
C. Did you phone your sister yesterday? — phone someone.
D. The team consists of experienced players. — consist of: what it is made of.

3. Consumers' associations — fill in the blanks

املأ الفراغات بحروف الجرّ المعطاة، ثمّ تحقّق من إجاباتك في القاموس.

Task 3 — Fill in the blanks in the text below with the prepositions of, with, for, to, about or from. Then check your answers with the dictionary.

There are many associations which provide consumers ……(1) information about marketed products in Britain today. The main purpose of these associations is to protect consumers ……(2) abuse by dishonest businessmen. When a consumer suffers ……(3) the bad quality of a given product, he or she can complain ……(4) it ……(5) these associations. The latter will look ……(6) ways to get redress ……(7) the companies whose products have caused harm to the consumer. Consumers' associations often accuse companies, especially food industries, ……(8) carelessness in connection with safety standards.

Task 3 — the answers

الإجابات : كلّ فعل مع حرفه.

(1) provide consumers with information
(2) protect consumers from abuse
(3) suffers from the bad quality
(4) complain about it — (5) to these associations: complain to someone about something
(6) look for ways
(7) get redress from the companies
(8) accuse companies of carelessness

Blank 4-5 shows a verb with two prepositions: you complain to someone about something.

Do this alone, in writing. Write five sentences about consumer safety: one with a verb + preposition, one with a verb + object + preposition, one with an adjective + preposition, one with result from or result in, and one with a verb that takes no preposition. Then check each preposition in the dictionary.

اكتب وحدك خمس جمل عن سلامة المستهلك، لكلّ نمط جملة، ثمّ تحقّق من الحروف في القاموس.

A model answer

Some children suffer from allergies to food colourings. Labels should provide consumers with clear information. Many parents are worried about the safety of toys. Food poisoning often results from poor hygiene. The association will discuss the problem at its next meeting.

In the exam, dependent prepositions are tested in the text exploration: you fill in the gaps of a short text with the prepositions given, as in Task 3. Have three things ready: ① each verb learnt with its preposition — suffer from, provide someone with, accuse someone of; ② the verbs with two prepositions — complain to someone about something; ③ the verbs that take none — discuss, enter, phone. The frequent mistake: adding a preposition where English has none — ✗ « discuss about the problem », ✗ « enter into the hall ».

What I keep — Some verbs and adjectives are always followed by their own preposition: blame for, suffer from, provide someone with, accuse someone of, aware of, satisfied with. There is no rule: I learn each one with its preposition and check it in the dictionary. Some verbs change meaning with their preposition (result from the cause, result in the consequence), and some take none: discuss, enter, phone.

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