F betweenand among

between normally relates a person/thing to two other people/things, but it can be used of more when we have a definite number in mind:

Luxembourg lies between Belgium, Germany and France. among relates a person/thing to more than two others; normally we have no definite number in mind:

He was happy to be among friends again.

a village among the hills

G with could also be used instead of among in the last sentence above. Also, of course, with a singular object:

He was with a friend. Examples of other uses:

He cut it with a knife.

Don't touch it with bare hands.

The mountains were covered with snow.

I have no money with me/on me.

He fought/quarrelled with everyone. In descriptions:

the girl with red hair

the boy with his hands in his pockets

the man with his back to the camera/with his feet on his desk

H but and except (prepositions)

These have the same meaning and are interchangeable.

but is more usual when the preposition + object is placed immediately

after nobody/none/nothing/nowhere etc:

Nobody but Tom knew the way.

Nothing but the best is sold in our shops.

except is more usual when the preposition phrase comes later in the sentence:

Nobody knew the way except Tom

and after all/everybody/everyone/everything/everywhere etc. but is more emphatic than except after anybody/anything/ anywhere etc.:

You can park anywhere but/except here. (You can't park here.) but and except take the bare infinitive (see 98). (For but for in conditional sentences, see 226. For but as a conjunction, see 326.)

96 Prepositions used with adjectives and participles

Certain adjectives and past participles used as adjectives can be

followed by a preposition + noun/gerund. (For verbs + prepositions,

see 97.)

Usually particular adjectives and participles require particular

prepositions. Some of these are given below; others can be found by

consulting a good dictionary, which after any adjective will give the

prepositons that can be used with it.

about, at, for, in, of, on, to, with used with certain adjectives and

participles:

absorbed in involved in

according to keen on

accustomed to (see 163) liable for/to

afraid of (27 B, 271) nervous of

anxious for/about (27 C) owing to (27 A)

ashamed of pleased with

aware of (27 F) prepared for

bad at/for proud of

capable of ready for

confident of responsible for/to

due to/for (27 A) scared of

exposed to sorry for/about (27 B)

fit for successful in

fond of suspicious of

frightened of/at terrified of

good at/for tired of

interested in used to (163)

He was absorbed in his book.

She is afraid/frightened/scared of the dark.

According to Tom it's 2.30. (Tom says it's 2.30.)

He is bad/good at chess, (a bad/good player)

Running is bad/good for you. (unhealthy/healthy)

They are very keen on golf.

Drivers exceeding the speed limit are liable to a fine.

The management is not responsible for articles left in

customers' cars.

I'm sorry for your husband. (I pity him.)

I'm sorry for forgetting the tickets.

I'm sorry about the tickets.

(For good/kind etc. + of, It was kind of you to wait, see 26 B.)

97 Verbs and prepositions

A large number of verb + preposition combinations are dealt with in chapter 38. But there are a great many other verbs which can be followed by prepositions and some of these are listed below. More can be found in any good dictionary.

accuse sb of insist on

apologize (to sb) for live on (food/money)

apply to sb/for sth long for

ask for/about object to

attend to occur to

beg for persist in

believe in prefer sb/sth to sb/sth

beware of prepare for

blame sb for punish sb for

charge sb with (an offence) quarrel with sb about

compare sth with refer to

comply with rely on

conform to remind sb of

consist of resort to

deal in succeed in

depend on suspect sb of

dream of think of/about

fight with sb for wait for

fine sb for warn sb of/about

hope for wish for

Do you believe in ghosts?

They were charged with receiving stolen goods.

You haven't complied with the regulations.

For a week she lived on bananas and milk.

It never occurred to me to insure the house.

They persisted in defying the law.

When arguments failed he resorted to threats.

Notice also feel like + noun/pronoun = feel inclined to have something:

Do you feel like a drink/a meal/a rest? feel like + gerund = feel inclined to do something:

/ don't feel like walking there. (For like used in comparisons, see 21 G-I.)

Passive verbs can of course be followed by by + agent; but they can also be followed by other prepositions:

The referee was booed by the crowd.

The refer~ee was booed for his decision/for awarding a penalty.

98 Gerunds after prepositions

A It has already been stated in 86 that verbs placed immediately after prepositions must be in the gerund form:

He left without paying his bill.

I apologize for not writing before.

She insisted on paying for herself.

Before signing the contract, read the small print. (See also 259.) A few noun + preposition + gerund combinations may also be noted:

There's no point in taking your car if you can't park.

What's the point of taking your car if you can't park?

Is there any chance/likelihood of his changing his mind?

Have you any objection to changing your working hours?

I am in favour of giving everyone a day off.

B The only exceptions to the gerund rule are except and but (preposition), which take the bare infinitive:

/ could do nothing except agree.

He did nothing but complain.

However, if but is used as a conjunction, it can be followed directly by either full infinitive or gerund:

Being idle sometimes is agreeable, but being idle all the time might

become monotonous.

To be idle sometimes is agreeable, but to be idle all the time etc.

99 Prepositions/adverbs

Many words can be used as either prepositions or adverbs:

He got off the bus at the corner, (preposition)

He got off at the corner, (adverb)

The most important of these are above, about, across, along, before, behind, below, besides, by, down, in, near, off, on, over, past, round, since, through, under, up:

They were here before six. (preposition)

He has done this sort of work before, (adverb)

Peter is behind us. (preposition)

He's a long way behind, (adverb)

She climbed over the wall, (preposition)

You'll have to climb over too. (adverb)

When the meeting was over the delegates went home, (adverb; here

over = finished)

The shop is just round the corner, (preposition)

Come round (to my house) any evening, (adverb)

He ran up the stairs, (preposition)

He went up in the lift, (adverb) Many of these words are used to form phrasal verbs (see chapter 38):

The plane took off. (left the ground)

He came round, (recovered consciousness)

10 Introduction to verbs

100 Classes of verbs

A There are two classes of verbs in English:

1 The auxiliary verbs (auxiliaries): to be, to have, to do; can, could, may, might, must, ought, shall, should, will, would; to need, to dare and used.

2 All other verbs, which we may call ordinary verbs:

to work to sing to pray

B be, have, do, need and dare have infinitives and participles like ordinary verbs, but can, could, may, might, must, ought, shall, should, will and would have neither infinitives nor participles and therefore have only a restricted number of forms. (For used, see 162 A.)

Before studying auxiliaries it may be helpful to consider ordinary verbs, most of whose tenses are formed with auxiliaries.

Ordinary verbs

101 Principal parts of the active verb

In regular verbs the simple past and the past participle are both formed by adding d or ed to the infinitive. Sometimes the final consonant of the infinitive has to be doubled, e.g. slip, slipped (see spelling rules, 355). For irregular verbs, see 364.

The present participle and gerund are always regular and are formed by adding ing to the infinitive. The rule concerning the doubling of the final consonant of the infinitive before adding ing applies here also (see spelling rules, 355).

102 Active tenses A Form

B Affirmative contractions

The auxiliaries be, have, will, would are contracted as follows.

am 'm have 've will 'II

is 's has 's would 'd

are 're had 'd Note that 's can be is or has and 'd can be had or would:

He's going = He is going.

He's gone = He has gone.

He 'd paid = He had paid.

He'd like a drink = He would like a drink. These contractions are used after pronouns, here, there, some question words (see 104), and short nouns:

Here's your pen. The twins 've arrived.

The car'd broken down. Affirmative contractions are not used at the end of sentences:

You aren 't in a hurry but I am. (I'm would not be possible here.)

shall/should, was and were are not written in a contracted form

C Stress

Auxiliaries used to form tenses are normally unstressed. The stress falls on the main verb.

103 Negatives of tenses

A The simple present tense: third person singular does not/doesn't + infinitive; other persons do not/don't + infinitive. The simple past tense negative for all persons is did not/didn 't + infinitive. Contractions are usual in speech:

He does not/doesn't answer letters.

They do not/don't live here.

I did not/didn't phone her.

She did not/didn't wait for me.

The negative of all other tenses is formed by putting not after the auxiliary. Contractions are usual in speech:

He has not/hasn't finished.

He would not/wouldn't come.

B Negative contractions

The auxiliaries be, have, will, would, shall, should, do are

contracted as follows:

am not 'm not

is not isn 't or 's not

are not aren't or 're not

I'm not going and Tom isn't going/Tom's not going.

We aren't going/We 're not going.

have not and has not contract to haven't and hasn't, but in perfect tenses 've not and 's not are also possible:

We haven't seen him/We've not seen him.

He hasn 't/He 's not come yet.

will not contracts to won't, though '11 not is also possible, shall not contracts to shan't:

/ won't go/I'll not go till I hear and I shan 't hear till tomorrow. Other verb forms are contracted in the usual way by adding n't. Negative contractions can come at the end of a sentence:

/ saw it but he didn 't.

C In English a negative sentence can have only one negative expression in it. Two negative expressions give the sentence an affirmative meaning: Nobody did nothing means that everyone did something. So never, no (adjective), none, nobody, no one, nothing, hardly, hardly ever etc. are used with an affirmative verb. We can say:

He didn't eat anything or

He ate nothing.

He doesn 't ever complain or

He never complains.

We haven't seen anyone or

We have seen no one.

They didn't speak much or

They hardly spoke at all/They hardly^ ever spoke.

104 Interrogative for questions and requests

A Simple present tense interrogative: does he/she/it + infinitive; do I/you/we/they + infinitive. Simple past tense interrogative: did + subject + infinitive.

Does Peter enjoy parties? Did he enjoy Ann's party? In all other tenses the interrogative is formed by putting the subject after the auxiliary:

Have you finished? Are you coming?

B Contractions of auxiliaries used in the interrogative