Lesson 9 – Verbs and preposition Collocations

One of the more difficult tasks for English language students is knowing the correct preposition for a verb.

There are no rules for most of them, so the best advice is ‘Practise!’.

To help you we will review the most common verb-preposition collocations (two or more words that are often used together).

Agree (with/on/to)

• Agree with something or someone. When you think the same. E.g. I totally agree with your point of view.
• Agree on something. When you agree with a concrete point. E.g. I agree on this point
• Agree to something. When we accept something. E.g. Europe and USA agreed to sign the trade treaty.

Apologise (to/for)

• Apologise to someone for something. E.g. They apologised to the receptionist for their behavior.
• We can use apologise for something, or apologise to someone.

Arrive (at/in/on)

One of the most common mistakes in English is to use ‘arrive to’ for talking about our arrival in a place. But the fact is we need to use the prepositions ‘at’, ‘in’ or ‘on’.

• Arrive at: We use it when we arrive to a small place or village, or when we need to indicate an hour. E.g. We will arrive at the airport at 9P.M. (We will arrive at the airport. We will arrive at 9PM.)
• Arrive in: We use it when we arrive in a big city or country. I arrived in London three months ago.
• Arrive on: We use ‘on’ when we need to indicate a concrete day. E.g.: He will arrive on Monday 22nd of July. 

Ask (for/about)

• First of all, we never use ‘ask to someone’, we always say ask someone. E.g. I asked my teacher about my exam.
• The difference between using for or about is really small.
• Ask for: We use for to ask about something that we want.  E.g.: I will ask my father for the car
• Ask about: We use about to ask for general information. E.g.: We need to ask someone about the best way to go to the station.

We will review more about verb+preposition collocation in our future lessons, but now try to do these exercises.

Exercise 1.

1. We agree on/with someone. 
2. We usually apologize with/to someone for/about something.
3. We say: we will arrive to/in a Japan on/at Monday 13^th on/at 10.30A.M.
4. We ask to someone/someone, about/to something. 

Exercise 2.

1. I’d like to apologize _____  your family _____ my delay.
2. I couldn’t agree more _____ you.
3. Can I ask you _____ a favour.
4. Let me check when they will arrive ____ the bus station.
5. I have to say I agree ____  that point.
6. You should apologize ____  Nora
7.  When did you arrive _____  Ireland.
8.  Everybody is asking ____ the plane crash in Asia.
9. If nothing happens we will arrive ____ Thursday 15^th.
10.  Euro politicians agreed ____ the annual budget for the European Commission.

TIP: Choose 5 collocations and write sentences about you in your vocabulary notebook.

______________________________________________

Correct answers.

Exercise 1.

1. With  /  2. to, for  /  3. In, on, at  /  4. Someone, about

Exercise 2.

1.       To , for          2.       With            3.       For             4.       At                5.       On             6.       To           7.       In               8.       About            9.       On            10.    To