Prepositions and Prepositional Phrases

Preposition collocations

Preposition collocations are fixed pairings in which a verb, noun, or adjective takes one particular preposition by convention rather than by logic. Because the correct preposition often cannot be deduced from the meaning, the candidate must memorise each pair as a unit. Examination distractors are usually prepositions that look plausible in general but do not form the standard expression. The groups below collect the pairings that recur in CDS English.

Idioms with a fixed preposition. Many idioms are frozen with one preposition, and the others cannot replace it. 'Go with the wind' means to drift along with prevailing influences without considering consequences, so a warning that trouble will follow later uses 'with' [q1]. 'Read between the lines' means to infer a meaning that is not stated directly, and 'between' is the only word that completes it [q2]. 'Make up for' means to compensate for something missing, such as recovering lost time [q27]. 'On time' means punctually, at the scheduled moment [q11]. 'By dint of' means by means of or through the force of something, and it introduces a means or cause, as in 'passed by dint of hard study' [q10,q31]. 'Owing to' is a compound preposition meaning because of, and it is followed directly by a noun phrase such as 'illness', so it expresses a cause [q32]. 'In excess' means beyond a reasonable or proper amount, so 'done in excess' describes a habit carried beyond its proper limit [q29]. 'Keep at arm's length' means to stay distant from someone, physically or emotionally [q22]. 'A man of means' is a wealthy person, and 'of' is required [q23]. 'Fight to the last man' means to continue until every soldier is killed or captured [q21]. 'There is no meaning in' followed by a noun clause means that the content makes no sense [q12]. 'Connive at' means to tacitly permit or overlook wrongdoing, so a parent who ignores a child's faults connives at them [q35]. 'Loiter around' means to stand or wander idly in an area, and 'loiter in' or 'loiter near' does not carry this sense [q15]. 'Look for' means to search, while 'look at' means to direct the eyes toward something [q14]. 'Live by' means to conform one's conduct to a principle, or to earn one's living by an activity, as in 'live by one's pen' [q20]. In 'rules to live by', the infinitive 'to live by' modifies the noun, and the preposition 'by' stays with the verb [q13,q33].

Verbs that govern a fixed preposition. 'Blame' takes the person as the object and the fault introduced by 'for', as in 'blame someone for a delay' [q3]. The verb 'prefer' takes 'to' in the pattern 'prefer X to Y', so 'prefer tea to coffee' is correct and 'than' is wrong here [q4]. 'Work for' someone means to serve or benefit them, and 'for' introduces the beneficiary [q17]. 'Travel in' a particular car treats the car as an enclosed space, whereas 'by' is used for means of transport in general, as in 'by bus' [q18]. 'Depending on' introduces the factor on which a choice rests, such as a person's preference [q19]. 'Liable for' means legally responsible for a debt or obligation, whereas 'liable to' means subject to or likely to suffer something [q26]. 'Averse to' means having a strong dislike of something, and the adjective takes 'to' only [q34]. 'Inoculated against' is the standard pattern for protection from a disease, so a vaccination campaign is described as inoculating people against it [q28]. 'Over' expresses movement above a place, as when aircraft fly over a town, while 'near' and 'by' express proximity on the ground [q24]. 'Beside' means at the side of someone, which is more precise for immediate position than 'by' [q16]. 'A course on' followed by a topic is the standard way to name a course devoted to that subject [q6].

Nouns and other structures. 'Difference' takes 'between' when two parties are compared, such as two groups joined by 'and', while 'among' is used for three or more items [q8]. After a negated verb such as 'could not find', the indefinite 'any' introduces the noun, because 'the' presupposes a difference already known [q7]. 'At risk of extinction' uses 'at', so 'in a very high risk' is an error [q5]. 'In need' is a fixed noun phrase, and the past participle 'needed' cannot follow 'in' [q25]. The phrase 'by solving it' gives the means by which something is achieved, and 'by' is the standard preposition with a gerund in this sense [q9]. Finally, the word 'every one' is singular, and the traditional rule requires a singular pronoun, so 'his' rather than 'their' is expected in a sentence about each boy [q30].

When the choice is uncertain, check whether the pair is an idiom to be memorised, a verb-object pattern, or a noun-preposition collocation, and then recall the standard form rather than reasoning from the literal sense alone. Repeated practice with these pairs builds the recognition the examination requires.

Preposition collocations

A preposition collocation is a fixed pairing in which a verb, noun, or adjective takes one particular preposition, and the choice is usually idiomatic rather than logical. In CDS English items, these pairs decide most answers, so the practical method is to learn each pattern as a single unit of the form head word + preposition + object. The preposition is chosen by the head word, not by the meaning of the object alone.

Means of travel and vehicles follow their own pattern. A vehicle that you sit inside takes 'in', while a means of transport named without an article takes 'by'. Thus 'travelled in a car' describes being inside the vehicle, and 'by train' names the means of travel. Hence 'in' and 'by' must not be interchanged in these fixed phrases.

• adjective + to-infinitive — 'impossible' is followed by 'to' before a verb, not by 'for' unless a person is named. 예) The cure is impossible to find with current tools.
• aspire — the verb introduces the goal that one strives for, and the keyed answer in exam practice is 'for' in this pattern. 예) Many students aspire for a place in the national academy.
• convert in — a process that takes place inside an organism uses 'in', as in 'converted in the body'. 예) Starch is converted in the stomach into simpler sugars.
• by now — 'by' with 'now' means up to or before this moment, and it pairs well with perfect tenses. 예) By now the team should have submitted the report.
• come along with — means to accompany a person to a place or event. 예) Several cadets came along with their parents to the ceremony.
• entry into — 'entry' takes 'into' when movement inside a place is meant. 예) Entry into the training area was limited to authorised staff.
• at a specific site — 'at' introduces a precise point or site where an activity happens. 예) The trials were conducted at the firing range.
• superlative + in — when the comparison is with all members of a group named by 'in' (such as 'in the town'), the superlative with 'the' is required. 예) She is the tallest student in the class.
• get to — expresses arrival at a destination. 예) We will get to the base camp before dusk.
• order — the verb takes its object directly, so no preposition is placed before the object. 예) He ordered two bowls of soup.
• boast of — the verb takes 'of' before its object. 예) She never boasts of her medals.
• far from — the fixed phrase 'far from' means not at all, or incomplete. 예) The renovation is far from finished.
• preside over — a phrasal verb in which 'over' introduces the event or body being chaired. 예) The commanding officer presided over the court of inquiry.
• concerning — a preposition meaning about or regarding, used after nouns such as 'questions'. 예) The board issued a notice concerning the new uniform rules.
• embark on — means to begin an undertaking or project. 예) The unit embarked on a demanding training course.
• mark on — 'on' expresses a position on the surface of something. 예) There was a crack on the wall of the barracks.
• discussion about — 'about' introduces the subject matter of a discussion. 예) We held a long discussion about the budget.
• translate into — 'into' introduces the target language of a translation. 예) The manual has been translated into Hindi and Tamil.
• due to — means because of or caused by. 예) The delay was due to heavy fog over the runway.
• diversity in — 'in' introduces the domain in which variation occurs. 예) There is wide diversity in the customs of the region.
• between / among — 'between' is used for exactly two persons or things, while 'among' is used for a group of more than two. 예) The treaty was signed between the two nations. She divided the sweets among the children.
• centre on — means to be concentrated on a single point, and the idiom is 'centred on', not 'centred around'. 예) The discussion centred on the shortage of spare parts.
• work with — means to cooperate or collaborate with other people. 예) Nurses work with doctors on every shift.