Prepositions and adjectives

In English grammar, it's sometimes hard to remember which preposition is used with which adjective. The list below is a handy reference for the more common adjectives.

afraid of
"I'm afraid of heights."
also scared of, frightened of

angry about something
"She was angry about the new rules at work."

angry with someone
"He was angry with his son for coming home late."

bad at something
"The student was bad at Geography."
also good at

crazy about something
"She was crazy about the Spice Girls and had all their CD's."

different from or to something / someone
"The English are different from the Americans."

happy to do something
"She was happy to help."
also glad to and pleased to

happy for someone
"I was happy for him when he passed his exam."
also pleased for

happy with someone / something
"The boss was happy with his work."
also pleased with and satisfied with

ill with something
"She's ill with the flu."

nice to someone
"Be nice to him – he's had a bad day."

polite to someone
"The policeman was very polite to me."

ready to do something
"I'm ready to start work now."

ready for something / someone
"It takes me an hour to get the children ready for school."

responsible for something / someone
"She felt responsible for her children."

tired from doing something (physically tired)
"I'm tired from all this hard work."
also exhausted from

tired with or of something (fed up, bored with)
"She was tired of taking the train to work every day and decided to drive instead."

typical of someone
"It's typical of her to do that for you – she always offers to help."

English Grammar Tip

The secret of remembering the right preposition in English grammar is through practice. Try to use them as much as possible and you'll soon be saying them without having to think.