Part 3 — Verb, Adjective & Noun Collocations — English

Why collocations matter

Many prepositions are fixed by usage rather than a general spatial rule.

Learn the complete phrase:

interested in

responsible for

depend on

Do not learn only the preposition.

Combination	Example
afraid of	She is afraid of dogs.
angry with a person	He is angry with me.
angry at/about something	She is angry about the delay.
aware of	They are aware of the danger.
capable of	She is capable of solving it.
confident of/about	He is confident of success.
different from	This is different from that.
famous for	Lahore is famous for its history.
full of	The glass is full of water.
good/bad at	She is good at mathematics.
grateful to someone for something	I am grateful to you for your help.
interested in	He is interested in politics.
married to	She is married to a doctor.
pleased with	The teacher is pleased with him.
proud of	We are proud of our country.
ready for	They are ready for the test.
responsible for	He is responsible for the project.
similar to	This design is similar to that one.
superior/inferior to	This product is superior to that one.

Combination	Example
agree with a person/opinion	I agree with you.
agree to a proposal	They agreed to the plan.
agree on a topic/decision	They agreed on a date.
apologize to someone for something	He apologized to me for the mistake.
apply for a post	She applied for the job.
apply to an institution	She applied to FPSC.
believe in	He believes in hard work.
belong to	This book belongs to me.
concentrate on	Concentrate on your work.
congratulate on	I congratulated her on her success.
consist of	The committee consists of five members.
depend/rely on	Success depends on effort.
insist on	He insisted on going.
listen to	Listen to the teacher.
object to	They objected to the proposal.
participate in	She participated in the debate.
prevent from	The rain prevented us from leaving.
recover from	He recovered from the illness.
refer to	The pronoun refers to the noun.
result in	Carelessness resulted in failure.
result from	The failure resulted from carelessness.
succeed in	She succeeded in passing.
suffer from	He suffers from asthma.
wait for	We waited for the bus.

Combination	Example
advantage/disadvantage of	The advantage of this method is speed.
cause of	What was the cause of the accident?
demand for	Demand for electricity is rising.
difference between	There is a difference between the two plans.
difficulty in	She had difficulty in understanding it.
effect on	Pollution has an effect on health.
increase/decrease in	There was an increase in prices.
invitation to	I received an invitation to the ceremony.
need for	There is a need for reform.
reason for	What is the reason for the delay?
relationship with/between	His relationship with the team is good.
solution to	We need a solution to the problem.

A verb following a preposition normally takes -ing.

interested in learning

capable of solving

objected to paying

prevented from leaving

Here, to is a preposition in object to, so use a gerund.

Do not write:

objected to pay ❌

objected to paying ✅