Podcast 83 - Preposition after adjectives and verbs

Story starts at 5:16

The importance of prepositions

Okay, today I'm going to talk about prepositions and adjectives, which are useful for B2 level. These are prepositions which follow adjectives or verbs. I'm going to go through some of them with you. And I'm just going to talk to you briefly about them and the importance of prepositions. And then I'm going to read a story, I'll ask you to listen out for prepositions that come after verbs or adjectives, and make a note of them. You'll also be able to find the audio script to the story, which is on Practicing English.com. And there you will be able to see them highlighted in the text.

Prepositions often present problems for many students because they're not very intuitive. And often one language, your mother tongue, can influence the choice of a preposition when you're learning English. I mean, sometimes this doesn't matter. For example, we say to depend on something or depend on somebody. If you speak Spanish, for example, you may say depend of, because in Spanish, the preposition often translates as of rather than on. That doesn't really matter I suppose when you're speaking because people will understand you. But, of course, for an exam, it's important to get the right one.

Some prepositions, if they are wrong, can in fact change the meaning completely. And there's one example which I always mentioned to my Spanish students, and that is the preposition which comes after to dream. Now it said that the Queen of England is the person who is most dreamt about in the whole world. Well, I don't know whether that's true or not! So it's saying then that people dream more about the Queen of England than anybody else. In Spanish, for example, the preposition translated directly used with the verb to dream is not about but with. And so I do have students who will say, to dream with somebody, I dreamt with the Queen of England. And of course, that changes the meaning completely. Because if you dream with the Queen of England, that means that you are lying in bed with the Queen of England asleep, and you are dreaming together. And that's not what you meant at all! So sometimes prepositions can be important, and the wrong meaning can be conveyed if you use the wrong one.

Okay, so I'm going to tell you a short story. It's a traditional story from Tibet. And it's about a monastery of Tibetan monks, and some schoolchildren who studied there.

I'm going to read out to you now, six words which I would like you to identify from the story, as I'm reading it, and also to listen out for the prepositions, which follow these words. What's important to remember is that some words may have different prepositions that follow them, depending on the meaning or the context, or the words which come after them.

So the words that I'm going to ask you to listen out for are: suitable, and the next one is disappointed. And the next one is satisfied. And then nervous. And then, to feel sorry, and then annoyed and finally, afraid or frightened. So, listen out for those words, what is the preposition which follows each of them? And in one case, you will notice that there is an example of the same word, but with a different preposition after it.

Talking with Buddha - story

Tibetan monastery

Once upon a time, there was a Buddhist monastery high up in the mountains of Tibet. There was little else but blue sky and green fields with peacefully grazing yaks. It was a quiet, tranquil place. A community of Buddhist monks lived in the monastery, and there was also a small group of children who lived there and received their lessons from the monks.

All the children were very keen on their studies at the monastery. There was one particular child who was extremely bright and gifted. He received private lessons from one of the monks. The monk was a gen, which means 'master' or 'teacher'. The boy who received lessons was called Anzan, which means 'quiet mountain' in the Tibetan language. Anzan learned the sacred Buddhist texts, and he had a genuine wish to follow a spiritual call. One day, when he was a man, he wanted to become a lama.

The master was very pleased with Anzan. Anzan was very good at everything. He was never bored with the Master’s teaching. And he was always interested in everything the master said and asked lots of questions. He always wanted to know more about the sacred texts. These were difficult to learn, even though they were simplified and therefore suitable for young children. But Anzan was so clever and enthusiastic and dedicated to his studies, he learnt all the Buddha’s teaching placed in front of him. In fact, the master was never disappointed with Anzan, and was very pleased with him and satisfied with his work.

But the master was quite elderly, and Anzan noticed how, when he was sitting at his desk after giving Anzan his lesson, he would become tired. Anzan would sit there and write his summary while the master would close his eyes and fall asleep. In fact, sometimes he even snored.

Anzan was a little nervous about telling the master that he fell asleep in class and he also felt rather sorry for him. But soon, this started to happen nearly every day. And so, after one particularly long nap, Anzan said to the Master,

‘Master, I noticed that you fell asleep for a short while today. Are you tired of teaching me?’

The master was, at first, surprised at Anzan's comment, and then very annoyed with him for being so impolite.

‘Anzan, how could you say that to me? Of course, I am not asleep. I close my eyes so that I can talk with the Buddha. The Bhuddha and I have much to talk about.’

Anzan didn't say anything else, but he bowed his head in respect.

Now, one day, Anzan had had a particularly difficult night. He couldn't sleep well, as he had a stomach ache. But still, he got up early the next morning, because he was very worried about arriving late and afraid of being punished, so he got to his class on time. But he was very tired and sleepy during the lesson. And while he was listening to the monk, Anzan’s eyes closed, and he fell asleep.

The master was furious with Anzan.

‘How can you sleep in my lesson? Do you have no respect for the master and for the teachings of the Buddha?!’

Anzan woke up suddenly. He was immediately frightened of the master but also annoyed by the master’s anger. Didn’t the master always fall asleep in class? Wasn’t this the first time Anzan had fallen asleep during the lesson?

‘I.. I wasn't asleep, master,’ he said, ‘I only closed my eyes. I was talking with the Buddha.’

‘Oh, you were talking with the Buddha, were you?’ said the master sarcastically. ‘And what did the Buddha have to say to you?’

‘Well, Master,’ said Anzan. ‘I asked him about you, my master.’

‘I see. And what did he have to say about me?’

‘Well, Master,’ said Anzan. ‘That was the strange thing. The Buddha told me that he had never heard of you.’

Thank you very much for listening. Until next time. Goodbye for now!

Exercises on dependent prepositions...