A collocation is a natural pairing of words, and prepositions are the small words that attach to adjectives, verbs and nouns. A gap that tests them has one correct answer, so the skill is remembering chunks, not working out a rule.
This lesson follows selecting connectors that fit the relationship in the cloze and language use chapter.
Which pairings are worth learning first?
Group them by the preposition so they stick as chunks.
| Preposition | Words that take it |
|---|---|
| on | depend on, keen on, focus on, rely on |
| of | afraid of, aware of, in charge of, proud of |
| for | responsible for, apply for, famous for, ready for |
| in | interested in, succeed in, believe in |
| to | close to, reply to, look forward to, married to |
Verb and noun pairings work the same way: make a decision, take a risk, pay attention, do homework, catch a cold.
Worked example: a short paragraph
“Farid is keen (1) ___ joining the debate team, although he is afraid (2) ___ speaking in public. He has to make a (3) ___ by Friday, and the teacher (4) ___ charge of the club will reply (5) ___ his message.”
- on: keen on.
- of: afraid of.
- decision: make a decision (not “do a decision”).
- in: in charge of.
- to: reply to.
If you are unsure, test each choice by saying the whole chunk aloud: “keen on joining” sounds right, and “keen in joining” sounds wrong.
Slips that come from translating word by word
Some errors come from Malay and English saying the same idea in different ways. Check your own writing for these.
| Slip | Correction |
|---|---|
| discuss about the plan | discuss the plan |
| return back home | return home |
| depend of his help | depend on his help |
| look forward to meet you | look forward to meeting you |
| married with a teacher | married to a teacher |
In the fourth row, “to” is a preposition, so the verb after it takes -ing.
Check yourself
Fill each gap: “She is responsible ___ the school magazine, and she has applied ___ a place on the editorial team.”
Answer
The answers are for and for.
Responsible takes “for”, and “apply for” is used when you ask for something such as a place or a job. You apply “to” a person or organisation, so “apply to the school for a place” uses both.
What to study next
Continue with checking agreement across a paragraph, which applies the same careful reading to subjects and verbs. The English writing task checklist has a line for reviewing word pairings in your drafts.
If one small word keeps spoiling your sentences, see online one-to-one English tuition.