General tips for Grammar

A. Prepositions :

1. Preposition AT :
General expressions : Time : Place :

at least /most at 4 o’clock at school/home

at a guess at the weekend at college/university
at any rate at night/noon at work
at the sight of at breakfast/lunch at church
at short notice at dawn/sunset at the station
at a profit/loss at midday/midnight at the crossroads
at peace/war at once/times at the bus stop
at ease at present/the moment at 25 Conway Str.
at low/high prices at the same time
at first/last

Verbs with AT : Adjectives with AT:

Laugh at sth/sb good, bad, weak at something

Look at sth/sb clever, surprised at something
Shout at sb
Arrive at the station/hotel
Gaze at sth/sb
Glance at sth/sb
Smile at sb

2. Preposition IN :
General expressions : Time :

In addition to in detail in May/Spring

In agreement with in difficulty in 1997
In charge of in doubt in the morning
In control of in general in the evening
In comparison with in one’s opinion in the beginning
In the direction of in pain in the end
In exchange for in pairs in the past
In place of in particular in no time
In favour of sth/sb or in reality in future
with sb in brief in daylight
in any case in fact
in common in debt
in danger in other words
in demand in trouble
in conclusion

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Verbs with IN :

Succeed in be interested in
Believe in be involved in
Cut sth in (half/two) be included in
Take part in have no/an interest in
Participate in have (no) confidence in

3. Preposition OUT OF :
General expressions :

Out of breath out of fashion out of work

Out of character out of one’s mind out of the question
Out of control out of order
Out of danger out of place
Out of date out of print
Out of doors out of sight

4. Preposition BY :
General expressions :

By mistake by sight by the way by air/sea/land

By accident by cheque by now/then by plane/ship/boat
By chance by oneself by the time by car/bus/train
By luck by far by day
By nature by appointment by night
By force by phone by all accounts
By heart by post/airmail by all means
By hand by request by no means

But : on a/the bus/train/plane/coach/ship

In a taxi/car /helicopter/plane

5. Preposition ON :
General expressions : Verbs with ON :

On board on duty (dis)agree on sth operate on sb

On arrival on credit comment on sth report on sth
On fire on foot concentrate on sth spy on sb
On a trip/tour on time congratulate sb on sth insist on sth
On purpose on sale advise sb on sth bet on sth
On the contrary on behalf of compliment sb on sth decide on sth/sb
On the one hand on the whole spend/waste money/time on sth
On the other hand on account of knock on sth

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6. Preposition OF :
Verbs with OF :

Ashamed of as a result of
(in)capable of instead of
fond of a good deal of
guilty of possibility of
short/full of lack of/shortage of
in charge of

7. Preposition FOR :
General expressions : Verbs with FOR: Adjectives :

For ages for nothing apply for sth angry with

For ever for granted blame sb for sth busy with
For life for the sake of ask sb for sth familiar with
For a while for one’s sake arrest sb for sth popular with
For certain for instance wait for sb/sth disappointed with
For fear of for example apologise for sth concerned with
For the rest of for the time being excuse sb for sth
For sale thank sb for sth

8. Preposition UNDER :
General expressions :

Under repair under age

Under control under cover of
Under arrest under pressure/stress
Under discussion under the impression
Under orders

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B. Derivatives :

VERB NOUN ADJECTIVE ADVERB

1. Appreciate appreciation appreciative appreciatively
2. Complete Completion complete Completely
3. -------- extreme extreme ---------
4. Fail Failure/fail (un)failing --------
5. ------- (mis)fortune (un)fortunate (un)fortunately
6. ------- generosity generous Generously
7. inquire inquiry inquiring -------
8. know knowledge (un)known -------
9. ------ Neighbour/ Neighbouring/ -------
neighbourhood neighbourly
10. ------ ------ particular Particularly
11. suspect Suspicion/ suspicious Suspiciously
suspect
VERB NOUN ADJECTIVE ADVERB
12. ------ truth True/truthful Truly/truthfully
13. (dis)agree (dis)agreement (dis)agreeable (dis)agreeably
14. depend (in)dependence/ (in)dependent/ (in)dependently
dependency dependable
15. free freedom free Freely
16. Help Help/helper/ Helpful/helpless Helpfully/
helpfulness helplessly
17. intend intention (un)intentional (un)
intentionally
18. rely Reliability/reliance (un)reliable/reliant (un)reliably
19. succeed success (un)successful (un)successfully
20. think Thought/thinker/ Thoughtful/less Thoughtfully/
thoughtfulness Thoughtlessly
21. astonish astonishment astonishing Astonishingly
22. consider consideration Considerable/ Considerably/
considerate Considerately
23. deepen Depth/deep deep Deeply
24. hesitate hesitation Hesitant/unhesitating Hesitantly
25. vary Variety/variation Varied/various Variously
26. construct Construction/ constructive Constructively
constructor
27. enable (in)ability (un)able Ably
28. hope hope Hopeful/hopeless Hopefully/
Hopelessly
29. specify Specification/ specific Specifically
specifics
30. assist Assistance/assistant assistant ----------
31. fool Fool/foolproof Foolish/foolproof Foolishly
32. occasion occasion Occasional Occasionally

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33. originate Origin/originality/ original Originally
original
34. tempt temptation tempting -------
35. --------- Child/children/ Childish/childlike Childishly
childhood
36. enjoy enjoyment enjoyable Enjoyably
37. live Life/living Lively/alive/living -------
live
38. please (dis)pleasure (un)pleasant/ (un)pleasantly
(dis)pleased
39. respect respect (dis)respectful/ ----------
respectable
40. (dis)believe (dis)belief (un)believable (un)believably

C. Special Transformations :

1. If you happen to see him, let me know.

- If by any chance you see him, let me know.
2. You’d better not/should not touch it.
- If I were you , I wouldn’t touch it.

3. If it hadn’t rained, I would have gone out.

- The rain prevented me from going out.

4. If it hadn’t been for his advice, I’d never have managed.

- But for/Without his advice, I’d never have managed.

5. We won’t find out unless we phone.

- The only way of finding out is if we phone / by phoning.

6. If you come late again, I’ll fire you.

- Don’t come late again or I’ll fire you.
- Come late again and I’ll fire you.

7. It was the first time I’d seen it.

- Never before had I seen it.

8. As soon as I arrived, she left.

- No sooner had I arrived, than she left.

9. She little realizes how important this is.

- Little does she realize how important this is.

10. He was late only once this week.

- Only once this week was he late.

11. Had Tom not told me, I’d never have found out.
- Thanks to Tom I found out.

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12. She’s sorry she didn’t catch the train.
- she wishes she had caught the train.

13. It’s a pity you don’t sing well.

- I wish you sang well.

14. It’s a pity you didn’t win the race.

- If only you had won the race.

15. I regret speaking/ having spoken so rudely.

- I wish I hadn’t spoken so rudely.

16. Stop shouting !

- I wish you would stop shouting.

17. You’d better keep it secret.

- You ought to keep it secret.

18. I suggest you (should) keep it secret.

- I advise you to keep it secret.

USEFUL EXPRESSIONS

A. MONEY / TIME

- pay : cash, money, the rent, the bill, sb

- pay in cash, by cheque/ credit card
- pay for : the meal, my driving lessons
- earn : money, a salary, a living
- make : money, a profit, a loss
- cost : it cost me a lot/ a fortune
- worth : it’s worth a lot/ a fortune/spending
- charge : sb a lot
- spend/waste (a lot of) money on sth
- spend/waste money/time doing sth
- save money/time by doing sth
- pay interest on a bank loan, pay tax on your income
- pay the telephone bill/parking fine/bus fare
- get a government grant/mortgage to buy a house

B. VERBS/EXPRESSIONS + GERUND

- We prefer walking to driving.

- I don’t feel like going out tonight.
- He can’t help coughing.
- There’s no point in calling him back.
- It’s no good asking me.
- Our house needs refurnishing/to be refurnished.

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 - The house needs/wants/requires painting. But : the house
needs/requires to be painted.
- I’m looking forward to seeing you soon.
- It’s worth buying it.
- We apologize for not being able to help you.
- I wouldn’t recommend eating that.
- There’s no way of her contacting us.
- It still needs doing.
- They are not keen on playing in the rain.
- He is very good at playing the piano.
- We decided to go to Spain instead of going to Italy.

C. VARIOUS EXPRESSIONS

- Except for / apart from

- Be/feel proud of + noun or gerund
- Takes pride in
- Pride oneself on
- Amazed/surprised/shocked to find/at finding
- Amazed/surprised/shocked at/by the number
- Amazed/surprised/shocked to see
- Amazed/surprised/shocked at/by the sight of
- Because of
- Due to
- Owing to
- On account of
- In case you run into/in case of
- For fear of disturbing/for fear I might disturb
- To avoid being
- To prevent from finding
- No matter where/wherever
- As near as
- As far as I know
- By far(to a great degree)
- Far better (much – a lot)
- Further (more, additional)
- In the beginning
- At the beginning of
- Burst into + noun
- Burst out + gerund
- Be able to
- Be capable of + gerund
- Talk nonsense/rubbish
- Tell the difference /the truth/the time/lies/a story/jokes
- Say hello/good morning/my prayers/sorry/thank you