15 phrases that are incomplete without a preposition!
Connectors play an extremely important role in making our sentences grammatically correct. These words seem to be small but when missed can make your sentences look very odd. Yes, we are talking about prepositions! They are a pretty important word group to understand, as we miss out them unknowingly, quite often.
You might have come across many people using phrases like, "Met an accident" or "Knock the door", "Reply a letter" and so on. While these phrases convey the meaning, they sound odd to hear. So, what's the right way to use them?
Let's figure out 15 such most common phrases and the right way to use them in your language.
1) Met an accident
The right way to use this phrase is to say "Harry met with an accident!" rather than "Harry met an accident".
2) Ask something
If you want something from someone, you have to "ask for it" and not "ask it".
So, if you want to borrow your friend's bike, the right thing to say would be, "I asked my friend for his bike".
3) Propose a man
When you formally suggest someone's name for a position, you can say something like:
"Mr. Smith proposed Ms. Cynthia for the position of Finance Manager"
But, yes when you mean marriage, you propose to the girl of your dreams to be your wife. For e.g.
"David has fallen in love with Cynthia. He proposed to her when they met for coffee last evening."
4) Apply the job
When you officially make a request for what you want, the correct thing would be, "Dorothy is going to apply for a job in a software company".
But, when you look out for the permission to do something, the use of this phrase would change slightly as , " Tom will have to apply to the passport office for visa."
5) Knock the door
Have you noticed the people knocking at the door to draw someone's attention?
Definitely, this is a formal and gentle way of drawing the attention of other people when they are busy with some stuff. So, instead of saying, "Last night, someone knocked Jenny's door" you can say "Last night, someone knocked at Jenny's door".
6) Enquire a matter
This phrase is quite clear in its meaning but we usually miss out the preposition while using it.
Rather than saying," "The Police enquired the matter of Lisa's suicide case" say, "The Police enquired into the matter of Lisa's suicide case".
7) To prevail a man
If you prevail upon someone, it means that you make them do something forcefully.
Very often, we use this phrase without paying attention to the preposition here and say, "Peter was prevailed to share his project details".
But, your language would make more sense if you say "Peter was prevailed upon to share his project details".
8) Reply a letter
When you reply to a letter, it means that you give response or answer to a letter by writing back.
It would be incorrect if you say, "Matrina, will you reply the letter sent by your Mom?"
You should rather say, "Matrina, will you reply to the letter sent by your Mom?"
9) Pray God
What is the first thing that we do especially when we visit our religious places? Of course, we 'pray to God' and not 'pray God'.
So, the right way to use this phrase is to say,
"Mary prays to God for the wellbeing of her family" rather than saying
"Mary always pray God for the wellbeing of her family".
10) What are you talking?
This phrase seems to be incomplete as it does not convey exactly what you want to ask about. But, when you say, "What are you talking about? it indicates a particular thing that you are talking about. So, don't say: "What are you talking?" Say: "What are you talking about?"
11) What use is it?
When you refer to something which is useless, it is incorrect to say "What use is it?". You should say, "Of what use is it?", which means that something (it) is of no use at all.
12) Search a thing
Very often we misplace our everyday stuff like cell phone, keys, etc and then , we search for those things.
For e.g. If you are looking for a pen, it is incorrect to say, "I searched a fountain pen all over the store but couldn't find it".
The correct thing to say would be, "I searched for a fountain pen all over the store but couldn't find it".
13) Beware someone
If someone tells you to beware of person or thing they simply warn you that the person or the thing might harm you.
For e.g. There are a lot of stray dogs in the area. Sophie always asks his son, "Beware of dogs!", when he goes to play.
14) Compensate a loss
Has it happened with you that the restaurant offered you a free dessert as a compensation for messing up your dinner?
When you compensate for a loss, you repay the amount in terms of money or any valuable thing for the suffered loss.
For e.g. If you are responsible for the damage of a car in an accident, you compensate for the loss (and not compensate a loss)
Don't say: "Apologies will not compensate the damage to this car".
Say: "Apologies will not compensate for the damage to this car".
15. Care a man
Caring is concerning!
When you care for any person, it means you are worried and concerned for him.
For e.g. We all know that our Moms care for us and not care us.
