Transcript of SOS Grammar Lesson 10

SOS Grammar Lesson 10 – Dependent Prepositions. In this lesson, I’m going to discuss dependent prepositions and give you some examples of their use. I’m also going to discuss some of the most common errors I often come across when working with students and how you can learn from them. Dependent prepositions are prepositions that must in some manner be linked to a specific verb, noun or adjective.

When you use certain verbs, nouns or adjectives, they are followed by a specific preposition. Some also use different prepositions for different meanings. Why is this so important? Because in these situations, there is no point in asking what the rules are. There aren’t really any specific rules. Let’s look at an example sentence. “I sent my kids to school dressed in a new uniform.”

In this sentence “in” is a dependent preposition, and that combination is what English speakers used to describe the clothes someone is wearing. In this particular example, we wouldn’t say “dressed on or dress down”. We might also say something like, “the kids dressed up ‘in’ Harry Potter costumes for Book Week.” However, this example “dressed up” is a phrasal verb. How can you tell the difference?

“He dressed up” (phrasal verb) creates a phrase on its own. A phrasal verb can also be followed by an adverb, and the phrase has its own meaning. So, if we think back to the example, “he was dressed in a new uniform.” Need something to finish it off, need something to finish off the phrase since dependent prepositions do not create a new phrase in the same way that a phrasal verb does.

Dependent prepositions are not always easy to spot, and sometimes you just need to memorise certain combinations. The best way to become familiar with these is to read and listen to English as much as possible and to focus on listening with intent to prepositions. Try to take note of any phrases that sound strange or incorrect.

Also, keep in mind that some words can be both a verb and a noun, so the preposition might change depending on how the word is being used. How can you learn dependent prepositions? Unfortunately, the only way to learn dependent prepositions is to learn them by heart, in the same way that you learn irregular verbs. Dependent preposition combos should become part of your muscle memory, and you can’t master them without context.

You could learn long lists of dependent prepositions, but I propose to do something different first. In the next section, I’m going to read out three mini stories, and in each of the stories, I want you to try and identify the dependent prepositions. At the end of the story, I’ll read out the dependent prepositions for you to check your answers. And you can also use the transcript to help you.

For extra practise, you can do the dependent preposition quiz attached to this lesson to test your knowledge and find out which ones you need to practise. Story one. Now, in the first story, I want you to see if you can write down some common adjectives you find with dependent prepositions. So, just the adjectives.

“I’m used to living alone now. It’s surprising because I used to be afraid of the dark and anxious about someone breaking in. Now I’m very attached to my alone time, and I’m capable of going days and days without seeing anyone. I’m hooked on watching Netflix, and I’m not interested in doing anything else when I get home from work. I need to be able to wind down at the end of the day, since I’m responsible for a lot of tedious work tasks.”

How did you go? Did you identify these adjectives and dependent prepositions? “Used to”. Now pay close attention to the pronunciation of “used to”. Because the “d” in “used” and the “T” in “to” are blended together in a single consonant in speech, people sometimes get confused about the spelling of the phrase.

So, it may actually be that many people say, “use to” rather than “used to”. But since the pronunciations are essentially identical, it makes no difference when you say it but it makes a difference when you write it.

The next one, “afraid of. Anxious about. Attached to. Capable of. Hooked on. Interested in. And responsible for”. Now, in this example, you might have written down these phrasal verbs, “break in or to wind down”. But these are in fact, phrasal verbs.

Some common mistakes with adjectives and dependent prepositions, “responsible of”, so it should be “responsible for”. And as we just said before, “use to”, sometimes people spell it like “use to”, so “U-S-E to”. But it’s not like that, it’s spelt “U-S-E-D to”. Sometimes people use the wrong preposition also. So, “I’m used with living alone”. So, it should be, “I’m used to living alone”.

Another error I often hear is with “interested in” some people might add an extra preposition “to” and then the infinitive. So, for example, (this is incorrect) “I’m interested in to play.” (Correct) “I’m interested in playing.” And of course, in this example, because we have a preposition and it’s followed by a verb, it should be in the gerund form. So, “I’m interested in playing piano”, for example.

Another one I hear with “interested in” is, “I’m very interested ‘about’ art”. So, they use the preposition “about” instead of “in”. So, (incorrect is) “I’m very interested about art.” (Correct) “I’m very interested in art.” Story number two. In the second story, I want you to write down some common nouns you find with dependent prepositions.

“My partner and I started doing a comparison between the two local primary schools. There is a big difference between the two schools, but we are worried we won’t get into the one that we both like. In one school last year, there was an increase in school fees and the parents complained because there was a lack of funding and a need for better facilities.

The second school had a lot of support from the local community and there was no reason for parents to complain.” How did you go finding those examples? So, here are the examples that we hear. “Comparison between. Difference between. Increase in. Lack of. Need for. And a reason for”.

Story number three, the final story. In the third story, listen out for the verbs and prepositions, and also pay close attention. Can you tell the difference between dependent prepositions and phrasal verbs?

“I arrived in Australia last month and I’m still getting used to the time difference. I depend on my Google calendar to keep track of my appointments. Last week I was late for an event I signed up for and everyone had to wait for me. I belong to an online artist community, and we meet once a week to listen to an artist speak about their life, and then we share our work for feedback. I asked for some tips on how to improve my watercolours.”

Now, how did you go trying to identify the verbs and dependent prepositions? Did you hear these ones? “Arrive in. Depend on. Late for. Wait for. Belong to. Listen to. And asked for”. You might have also found these phrasal verbs, “keep track or to sign up”. Now here are some common mistakes with verbs and dependent prepositions. “Wait for”. So, the incorrect would be, “I waited the bus for an hour.” (Correct) “I waited for the bus for an hour.”

“Arrive to”. (Incorrect) “I arrived to Australia.” (Correct) “I arrived in Australia two months ago.” (Incorrect) “They will arrive to the house.” (Correct) “They will arrive at the house.” (Correct) “They will arrive in 5 minutes.” “Depend of”. (Incorrect) “I haven’t decided, but it will depend of the weather.” (Correct) “I haven’t decided if I will go yet, but it will depend on the weather.”

“Belong of”. (Incorrect) “I belong of an online group.” (Correct) “I belong to an online group.” “Listen”. Often people will say the incorrect version, “I listen him speak every day.” (Correct) “I listen to him speak every day.” “Explain”. Often people will say the incorrect version, “can you explain me?” (Correct) “can you explain to me? Can you explain to him? -To her?”

“Discuss to” is the final one on my list of errors for verbs and dependent prepositions. (Incorrect) “I need to discuss it to my boss.” (Correct) “I need to discuss it with my boss.”