Every learner and teacher of English knows that prepositional phrases can be very tricky.
Here are 10 of them which my students often make mistakes in, with simple example sentences. Feel free to add your own in the Comments below!
TO GET MARRIED TO
Tom had been going out with Jane for many years. Finally he got married to her last month.
Why didn´t you get married to him, he was such a nice man?
TO SPEND MONEY ON
He spends a lot of money on her, he buys her expensive jewellery and takes her to luxurious restaurants.
Why do you spend so much money on advertising? It´s not necessary.
TO COMPLAIN ABOUT
They complained about the bad service.
He always complains about his parents as they are not very supportive.
TO TRANSLATE INTO
I need the text to be translated into Dutch.
He has to translate the contract into English.
TO APPLY FOR
She has applied for a new job with us.
We are applying for financial support.
SIMILAR TO
Your handwriting is very similar to mine.
She is similar to her sister, they look like twins.
GOOD/BAD/FANTASTIC…. AT
I was never very good at mathematics.
Don´t worry about it, he is fantastic at it.
AWARE OF
I hope he is aware of it. He should be aware of it!
She wasn´t aware of her mistakes.
KEEN ON
I´m very keen on talking to them.
At school I wasn´t really keen on our English teacher.
SURPRISED AT
I can´t believe you´re leaving, I am very surprised at your decision.
My wife was quite surprised at the choice I made about our summer holiday.