Overview
Many verbs are followed by fixed prepositions that change or complete their meaning: depend on, consist of, believe in, apply for, deal with, insist on, apologise for. These verb + preposition combinations are sometimes called prepositional verbs.
Key Verb + Prep Patterns
- ondepend on, rely on, insist on, focus on, comment on
- forapologise for, apply for, ask for, wait for, search for
- withagree with, deal with, interfere with, provide with
- torefer to, respond to, listen to, contribute to, adhere to
More Verb + Prep
- inresult in, believe in, participate in, specialise in
- ofconsist of, approve of, accuse of, remind of
- aboutthink about, worry about, complain about, talk about
- fromsuffer from, benefit from, differ from, result from
Common Mistakes
- ❌ depend of → ✅ depend on
- ❌ apologise about → ✅ apologise for
- ❌ result of (cause→outcome) → ✅ result in (cause leads to outcome)
When to use
Business emails
I am writing to apologise for the delay and respond to your enquiry.
Academic writing
The study focuses on factors that contribute to long-term outcomes.
Discussions
We should concentrate on solutions rather than dwell on problems.
Reports
The changes resulted in a significant increase in efficiency.