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Are You Afraid of Adjectives and
Prepositions? |
The 2007 film No Country for Old Men tells the story of
a lawman in West Texas. Actor Tommy Lee Jones played the
part of the lawman. If you saw the movie, you might
remember when he spoke these lines:
"The crime you see now, it's hard to even take its
measure. It's not that I'm afraid of it. I always knew
you had to be willing to die to even do this job."
Our report today is not about crime.
Instead, it is about one grammatical structure you just
heard: an adjective + preposition combination. Jones
used it when he said, "afraid of."
What exactly are these structures? We will tell you, but
first we have to give some definitions.
Adjective + preposition in
conversation
Adjectives are words that describe nouns.
You will hear English speakers use adjectives in front
of nouns or after non-action verbs. Non-action verbs
include words like "be," "seem," "become," and so on.*
Here are two examples:
My neighbors have a big dog.
The dog is sick today.
In the first example, the adjective "big" comes before
the noun "dog." In the second example, the adjective
"sick" comes after the verb "be" – a non-action verb.
Susan Conrad and Douglas Biber are language experts.
They note that when English speakers use adjectives
before a noun, they almost never use a preposition.
However, when speakers use adjectives after a non-action
verb, they often use a preposition.
Here are two examples:
We had a fine day!
That is fine with me.
In the first example, the adjective "fine" comes before
the noun "day." There is no preposition after "fine."
In the second example, the adjective "fine" comes after
the non-action verb "be." The adjective "fine" is
followed by a preposition: with.
"Fine with" is one example of an adjective and
preposition combination. It means good, acceptable, or
satisfactory.
In everyday situations, speakers use many adjective and
preposition combinations. These adjective and
preposition combinations have specific meanings.
There are many possible adjective and preposition
combinations. We cannot give you all of them. However,
we can tell you about three of the most common ones you
will hear when Americans are talking.
These include adjective + of, adjective + for, and
adjective + with
Adj. + of
The first common structure you will hear in everyday
speech is adjective + of.
Speakers often use adjectives such as "afraid," "tired,"
or "sick" with the preposition "of."
For example, Americans often use "tired of" and "sick
of" to show restlessness or a lack of interest in
something. Usually, they use this expression when they
feel they have had, seen, or done too much of something.
Bad students, for example, might say the following
words:
I'm tired of school.
Yeah! Me, too. And I'm sick of homework.
When the students say "tired of" or "sick of", they do
not mean that they are tired or sick. Instead, they mean
that they have spent too much time in class.
We hope you do not feel that way about school!
Adj. + for
A second common structure you might hear in everyday
speech is adjective + for.
Speakers often use the adjectives "good," "great," or
"ready" with the preposition "for."
Doctors, for example, might say, "Vegetables are good
for your health." Some people might even say,
"Vegetables are great for your health."
In both cases, the adjective + for structure means not
causing harm or causing something desired. The main
difference is that "great" has a stronger meaning than
"good."
Adj. + with
A final common structure is the adjective + with
combination.
Examples include the expressions "fine with," "happy
with," and "wrong with."
You heard one of these earlier:
That is fine with me.
This is a casual way of showing approval. How could you
use it in an everyday situation?
Here is an example. At a café, you might hear the
following words:
Waitress: I'm sorry sir, but we do not have cream. Would
you like milk instead?
Customer: Sure, that is fine with me!
In the example, the waitress gives bad news: the café
does not have cream. Her customer gives an agreeable
response by saying "that is fine with me." Speakers use
those words in many situations – at stores, restaurants,
hotels and so on.
What can you do?
The next time you are watching a movie or reading a book
in English, try to look for examples of adjective + a
preposition. Do the speakers use similar or different
adjective and preposition combinations?
Learning adjective + preposition combinations can be
difficult. But if you put in hard work, you will be
happy with the results.
I'm John Russell.
And I'm Jill Robbins.
John Russell wrote this story of VOA Learning English.
George Grow was the editor.
* These are also called linking verbs. The adjective
acts as the subject complement – it is describing the
subject. |
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