Adjectives and prepositions

Do you know how to use adjectives with prepositions like interested in or similar to?

Look at these examples to see how adjectives are used with prepositions.

I'm interested in the idea.
My jacket is similar to yours.
She's brilliant at maths.
My neighbour is angry about the party.

Try this exercise to test your grammar.

Grammar test 1: Grammar test 1: Adjectives and prepositions

Read the explanation to learn more.

Grammar explanation

Some adjectives go with certain prepositions. There are no grammatical rules for which preposition is used with which adjective, so it's a good idea to try to learn them together. To help you do this, write new vocabulary in your notebook in a sentence or phrase.

However, there are some patterns that can help you. Let's look at them first. Remember that a preposition is followed by a noun or a gerund (-ing form).

With at

We use at with adjectives like good/bad/amazing/brilliant/terrible, etc. to talk about skills and abilities.

He's really good at English.
She's amazing at the piano.
They're terrible at organising anything.
I'm not very good at drawing.

With about

We often use about with adjectives of feelings like angry/excited/happy/nervous/sad/stressed/worried, etc. to explain what is causing that feeling.

I'm angry about the decision.
He's nervous about the presentation.
She's excited about the new job.
They were worried about the exam.

With of

However, sometimes we use of with feelings.

She was afraid of telling her mum.
I'm frightened of having an accident.
He's scared of flying.
You should be proud of your progress.

With to

We can use to to show the connection between people or things.

He's married to the director.
I'm addicted to my phone.
I'm allergic to nuts.
It's similar to the old one.

We can also use to to talk about someone's behaviour towards someone else.

They were really friendly to me.
Was he nice to you?
He is always polite to everyone.
She was very rude to the waitress.

Here are some other useful adjectives with prepositions.

With for

Exercise is good for you.
Stress is bad for you.
The town is famous for its cheese.
I'm responsible for the financial side of the business.

With in

She's interested in the project.
They want someone who's experienced in design.
I didn't want to get involved in the argument.

Do this exercise to test your grammar again.

Grammar test 2: Grammar test 2: Adjectives and prepositions

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Hello again SaraZaber,

I think the first version is preferable, but unless the lines are already written (meaning the task is simply to memorise them) we'd probably say something like this:

Prepare two lines to say/speak on the topic of 'My Friend'

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

The task is not given. The student will prepare it and learn the lines. In this circumstance which of the two sentences (mentioned earliar ) will be appropriate and preferable? My second question is if the lines are just ti memorise then why would we write - "prepare two lines.....'' what do you mean by "prepare two lines....." ?

Hello again SaraZaber,

You're asking us to help you with instructions for a task which we don't know, so it's difficult for us to answer you. We don't know if the task is to memorise something which is already written or to write something original. We don't know if the lines are to be read or to be memorised and recited.

To be honest, this is not the kind of help we provide on this site. We try to help with the learning process by explaining how language is used, what the rules of grammar and patterns of communication are. We don't provide a checking service or act as a phrasebook precisely because that kind of help needs a detailed understanding of the context and the intention. I understand that might be frustrating when you need specific language for a specific situation, but that's not the focus of this site.

As I already said, I think the first option is probably the best, but it really does depend on the context and the intention of the speaker.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Thank you for all your help. I was trying to understand how to use preposition "to" if the task was to write , memorise and then recite. Thank you once again

thanks so much

These exercises in free lessons here are very useful and good for me. Thank you, British Council.

Hi moonflower,

We're glad to hear that :) Thank you for visiting our site.

Jonathan

The LearnEnglish Team

hello everybody. Whats upp

Hello.

Too much stress is bad for everyone. I want to experience in some exercise which s good for health. ;)

nice1...!! I'm quite confused about how to make practice for each and every word...!!!

This is really helpful.

Hi British Council, This is really helpful and I appreciated your amazing free lessons. I am looking forward to boost my English skills with your help.

It's a great experience to exercise on this website. Thanks to the British council for the nice free contents.

Thank you

hello every one why I can't print the explanation of the lesson and tests

Hi Ahmed Yahia,

We don't have pdfs of the grammar section available, at the moment. You can still print them, though, using the 'print' option in your web browser.

Best wishes,

Jonathan

The LearnEnglish Team

Thank you for great content, I like learn every day my improve english My facebook account is ***************** to make friends and learn more this amazing language

Hi camiloj18,

Unfortunately, sharing personal contact details is not allowed in our House Rules. But you can practise conversation by writing comments and replies here on this site :)

Best wishes,

Jonathan

The LearnEnglish Team

Hi. Teacher I have completed level 1 for beginner. Where can i get the certificate of comletion for level 1

Hello geofreymwagike,

I'm afraid that we don't offer certificates for completion of our content.

All the best,

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team

Hello learnEnglish Team Thank you for your feedback, though i saw this offer in your syllabus summary for all level that you offer a self printable certificate of completion after the end of each level.

Hello geofreymwagike,

I'm sorry for the confusion.

Do you mean that you completed an English Online course? These are courses led by a teacher. If that's what you mean, your teacher can help you get the certificate.

If you are referring to a different course, could you please tell me where you saw the syllabus summary you are referring to? It will just help me better understand what course you have done with us.

Thanks in advance!

Best wishes,

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team

Hello LearnEnglish Team YES as i mean that I 've completed Online English course for level 1 for beginner through learnEnglish Select. This syllabus i found it on learn english select with a lot of offers and one of the offer in to provide a self-printable certificate of completion at the end of each level.

Hello geofreymwagike,

I'm sorry for all the confusion. Please look for an email from us -- that will make it easier for us to help you with this.

All the best,

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team

In this moment I begin this process, I am knowing this page

i feel a litle confused with that grammar,althout i belive everything is possible so i shall improve with practice

Thank you for this useful lesson

Thx. It's a good class

There're very inresting lessons here.

Thanks a lot for this useful lesson.

Thank you so much, is there any way to save my answers?

Hello ahmedsoliman,

I'm afraid there's no way to save answers on the site. Each time you visit a page the tasks are reset. We have looked into the possibility of incorporating this feature in the future, but at present it does not exist.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

I wish to download pdf please.

Hi Misael,

I'm sorry, we don't have pdfs for the Grammar section at the moment. We do have pdfs for some other sections, including Skills and some Business English and General English sections. We will try to add pdfs for more sections in the future.

Best wishes,

Jonathan

The LearnEnglish Team

This grammar section is very useful for me.Thanks a million.Btw I have known that angry is used with "with" before.For example- I am angry with u.Is my usage correct?I see angry is used with "about" at this grammar section.It is a little confused for me.If u have time, can u explain the difference between them please?

Hello Honey June,

We use angry with for people and angry about for things/actions/situations:

I'm angry with him. He's so rude sometimes!

I'm angry about what happened at the party.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Hello, thank you for these very useful contents. I have a question: Is this sentence grammatically correct: You can take a leisurely cruise on the lake. Actually I think it should be wrong because the adjective form of leisurely should be used (instead of adverb form) as we have an adjectival phrase here.

Hi Mason2afm,

It's a good question! Actually, it is correct, because leisurely is an adjective, not an adverb. It looks like an adverb, as it has the -ly ending. But some adjectives end in -ly (others include elderly, lively and timely).

Best wishes,

Jonathan

The LearnEnglish Team

I am not clear the usage of "to". It says that it connects people and things. He's married to the director. He is a person and the director is a person. So it seems like person and person. And the next one is "It's similar to the old one. It seems like thing and thing. Sorry for long questions. Please kindly explaine me if you are ok.

Hello Rose Lay,

We can use 'to' to connect people with other people, people with things, things with people, and things with things. Actually, 'to' can be used in many, many other ways as well. It's one of the most common words in the English language.

All the best,

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team

thank you very much for this lessons

Thank you so much!

Really good.

This content is useful. Thank you a lot!

Thank you so much for put this grammar section. I like this and I believe I can learn more in this section.

Thank you for this grammar part.

It's very good exercise. Thack you! I need to more exercise how do i get it?

Hello Hlaingbobo Win,

We're glad you found it useful! If you do an internet search for 'adjectives and prepositions exercises', I'm sure you can find a lot more. There are also lots of exercises on other pages on our site that cover this, but I'm afraid it's difficult for me to point you to them because they are part of pages that don't just focus on this grammar.

As you explore our site, though, I'm sure you'll find them.

All the best,

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team