Adjective + Preposition & Noun + Preposition

Advanced · Prepositions

Just like verbs, many adjectives and nouns have a fixed preposition partner. You are "good AT" something, "afraid OF" something, "interested IN" something; there is a "reason FOR", a "solution TO", an "increase IN".

These are extremely common, so learning the frequent ones removes a whole category of small errors.

How to build it

adjective + fixed preposition (good AT) · noun + fixed preposition (reason FOR)

Rules & examples

  1. Adjective + preposition — high-frequency pairs.

    Learn each adjective with its preposition.

    • good/bad at, interested in, afraid of, proud of, keen on, married to, similar to, different from
  2. Feelings often use "about", "of", or "with".

    Common emotional adjectives.

    • worried about, excited about, scared of, fond of, angry with (a person) / about (a thing), happy with
  3. Noun + preposition pairs.

    Nouns also fix to prepositions.

    • reason for, solution to, answer to, increase/decrease in, interest in, cause of, need for
  4. Watch tricky ones learners often get wrong.

    These differ from many other languages.

    • good AT (not "in"), married TO (not "with"), different FROM (US) / to (UK), depend ON

Tips to remember

  • Group them by preposition to memorize in batches: "afraid of / scared of / fond of / proud of / full of".
  • When you learn a new adjective or noun, note its preposition partner right away.

Common mistakes

  • ✗ She is interested on art. → ✓ She is interested in art. — The fixed pair is "interested in".
  • ✗ What is the reason of the delay? → ✓ What is the reason for the delay? — The noun "reason" takes "for".