Many adjectives take a fixed preposition: afraid of, angry with someone, angry about something, different from, fed up with, full of, good at, interested in, married to, kind of someone to, kind to someone, sorry about, sorry for. After any preposition, a verb takes -ing: good at cooking, without saying goodbye.
A adjective + preposition
| phrase | example |
|---|---|
| afraid of ... | Are you afraid of heights? |
| angry with somebody | Why are you angry with me? What have I done? |
| angry about something | Are you still angry about the broken vase? |
| different from ... | Leo is very different from his brother. |
| fed up with ... | I'm fed up with this weather. I need some sunshine. (= I've had enough of it) |
| full of ... | The bus was full of schoolchildren. |
| good at ... / bad at ... | Are you good at art? / Sam is really bad at remembering birthdays. |
| interested in ... | I'm not interested in fashion. |
| married to ... | Kate is married to a pilot. (= her husband is a pilot) |
| nice / kind of somebody to ... | It was kind of you to drive me home. Thanks a lot. |
| (be) nice / kind to somebody | Our new neighbour is lovely. She's always very kind to us. |
| sorry about something | I'm afraid we're fully booked. I'm sorry about that. |
| sorry for doing something | I'm sorry for not ringing you back. (or I'm sorry I didn't ring you back.) |
- Are you afraid of heights?
- Leo is very different from his brother.
- Kate is married to a pilot.
B preposition + -ing
After a preposition (at, with, for, of, without, after etc.), a verb ends in -ing.
| ... preposition | -ing | |
|---|---|---|
| I'm not very good at | singing | in public. |
| Are you fed up with | eating | the same thing every day? |
| I'm sorry for | not ringing | you back. |
| Mia is thinking of | learning | to drive. |
| Josh left without | saying | goodbye. (= he didn't say goodbye) |
| After | finishing | the shopping, they went for a coffee. |
- I'm not very good at singing in public.
- Josh left without saying goodbye.
Exercises
112.1 Read each scene and complete the sentence with a preposition (of, in etc.).
A man backing away nervously from a barking dog.
He's afraid of dogs.
He's afraid of dogs.
A girl peering into a microscope, surrounded by science books.
She's interested science.
She's interested in science.
A wedding photo: a woman next to her husband, who is wearing his rugby shirt.
She's married a rugby player.
She's married to a rugby player.
A woman chatting easily in French, Italian and German.
She's very good languages.
She's very good at languages.
A man staring gloomily out of the window at the rain, for the tenth day running.
He's fed up the weather.
He's fed up with the weather.
A shop assistant asks, "Can I help you?" The customer smiles.
"Oh, that's very kind you."
"Oh, that's very kind of you."
112.2 Put in the right preposition (of, in, with etc.).
I'm not interested in fashion.
I'm not interested in fashion.
I'm not very good fashion.
I'm not very good at fashion.
I like Omar. He's always very kind me.
I like Omar. He's always very kind to me.
I'm sorry your fence. The ball went over by accident.
I'm sorry about your fence. The ball went over by accident.
She's really brave. She isn't afraid anything.
She's really brave. She isn't afraid of anything.
It was really nice Sam to lend us his van.
It was really nice of Sam to lend us his van.
Shopping today is very different shopping thirty years ago.
Shopping today is very different from shopping thirty years ago.
Are you interested history?
Are you interested in history?
Lots of people are afraid snakes.
Lots of people are afraid of snakes.
Kate was angry what happened at the meeting.
Kate was angry about what happened at the meeting.
Don't try to lift that crate. It's full tools.
Don't try to lift that crate. It's full of tools.
I'm sorry shouting you this morning.
I'm sorry for shouting at you this morning.
112.3 Complete the sentences. Use the words in brackets: adjective + preposition + -ing.
I'm not very good at singing in public. (good / sing)
I'm not very good at singing in public.
I wanted to go to the museum, but Leo wasn't . (interested / go)
I wanted to go to the museum, but Leo wasn't interested in going.
Ruth isn't very up early. (good / get)
Ruth isn't very good at getting up early.
Come on, let's go! I'm . (fed up / wait)
Come on, let's go! I'm fed up with waiting.
I'm you so late at night. (sorry / ring)
I'm sorry for ringing you so late at night.
112.4 Complete the sentences. Use without + -ing.
(Josh left / he didn't say goodbye) Josh left ...
Josh left without saying goodbye.
Josh left without saying goodbye.
(Mia walked past me / she didn't look at me) Mia walked ...
Mia walked past me without looking at me.
(Don't sign anything / read it first) Don't ...
Don't sign anything without reading it first.
(I left the house / I didn't turn off the oven) I ...
I left the house without turning off the oven.
112.5 Write sentences about yourself. Use the words in brackets. The answers below are examples; yours will be different.
(interested)
Example answer: I'm interested in photography.
(afraid)
Example answer: I'm afraid of spiders.
(not very good)
Example answer: I'm not very good at cooking.
(not interested)
Example answer: I'm not interested in football.
(fed up)
Example answer: I'm fed up with waiting for the bus every morning.