Thursday, June 10, 2010

Compound Verbs: Understanding Prepositions in Writing

 By: TOEFL consultant
Some prepositions follow verbs to make compound verbs having difference in meanings with single verbs regarding as the root word.

1.    IN
(In) something
Believe
I believe in you


2.    INTO
(Into) someone/something
Bump, crash, drive, and run
His car runs into the café.

3.    ON
a.       (On) something
Concentrate
I concentrate on my thesis now.

b.      (On) someone/something
Depend and rely
The decision depends on how many the votes are.

c.       (On) money/food
Live
She lives on 10 dollars.

4.    FROM
(From) someone
Hear
I heard from Ann.

5.    TO
a.       (To) someone (for) something
Apologize
I apologized to my mother for my mistake last night.

b.      (To) someone
Belong, speak, talk, and write
This bag belongs to me.

c.       (To) someone (about) someone/something
Complain
Some of the students complain to their lector about the new lecturer.

6.    ABOUT
a.       (About) someone/something
Care, dream, and think
Would you care about two spoons of sugar into a cup of tea?

b.      (About) something
Hear
Have you hear about the fallen plane last night.

7.    AT
a.       (At) someone/something
Laugh, look, and smile
She smiles at me.

b.      (At) someone (angry expressions)
Shout
My mother shouts at me.

8.    AFTER
(After) someone/something
Look
My daughter looks after her baby.

9.    FOR
a.       (For) a job
Apply
I apply for the job.

b.      (For) someone/something
Care, look, search, and wait
She looks for her key.

c.       (For) something
Pay
She paid for my hotel’s room.

10.  WITH
(With) someone/something
Collide
The two motorcycles collided with the bus this morning.

11.  OF
a.       (Of) someone/something
Hear, take care, and think
Take care of this cat!

b.      (Of) something
Consist
This new edition book consists of 5 chapters.

c.       (Of) illness
Die
He died of liver.

d.      (Of) being something/doing something
Dream
I dream of being a professor in English.

References
Murphy, Raymond. 1985. English Grammar in Use. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

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