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Prepositions with nouns

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Nouns, Prepositions

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Practice with the exercises:

Exercise 1

1. Nouns and prepositions

In English it can be complicated to know which preposition is placed before or after a noun.

You will receive the order by post.

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2. Noun + preposition

There is no rule that tells us which preposition we have to use after a noun, so they should be learned by heart. In many cases the same noun can use different prepositions depending on the context. Here are some of the most common ones:

Noun + preposition	Examples
Answer to	What is the answer to the first question?
Reason for	You will soon know the reason for my visit.
Effect of...on	Have you studied the effects of this drug on humans?
Tax on	What is the tax on lottery winnings?
Smell of	I hate the smell of nail polish.
Advice on / about	I need some advice on how to be successful in a job interview.
Delay in	There is a delay in the delivery of the shoes I bought on the internet.
Delay of (duration)	The people are impatient. There is a delay of about two hours.
Taste in	My taste in clothes has changed over the last years.
Taste of	I hate the taste of this medicine.
Increase in	We've had a sharp increase in tourism in the town.
Advantage of	What are the advantages of having a pet at home?

3. Preposition + noun

Many nouns are preceded by a specific preposition. Some of them are:

Preposition + noun	Examples
By post	The items I buy on the internet arrive by post.
By mistake	Sorry, I've deleted a file by mistake.
By chance	We met by chance at the cinema while we were queuing.
On a trip	Laura is not at home. She's away on a trip.
On a diet	Don't show me those chocolates. I'm on a diet.
On strike	The workers have been on strike for the whole week.
On purpose	I know you did it on purpose.
On the market	The new car model will be on the market next month.
On fire	Is the factory still on fire?
In advance	If we book the tickets in advance they might be cheaper.
In danger	As a firefighter, I've been in danger many times.
For sale	Our neighbours’ house is for sale.

Remember!

In English it can be difficult to know which preposition is placed before or after nouns. They have to be learned by heart.

Noun + preposition		Preposition + noun
Answer to	Delay in	By post	On purpose
Reason for	Delay of (duration)	By mistake	On the market
Effect of...on	Taste in	By chance	On fire
Tax on	Taste of	On a trip	In advance
Smell of	Increase in	On a diet	In danger
Advice on / about	Advantage of	On strike	For sale

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