BackBackfollowing
Following a particular event means after
that event or as a result of that
event. Used with verbs:
e.g.
The laboratories were closed following
the earthquake.
Used after a noun:
e.g.
He wasn't able to sleep well in the days
following the
earthquake.
2) If you work for
a company or person, they employ you.
e.g.
I work for
Kobe Steel.
He works for
a publishing company.
3) If someone or something does something
for you, they do it so you do not
have to do it yourself.
e.g.
A spell-checking program will correct your
mistakes for you, but it will
not make you write well.
4) If you do something for
yourself, you do it, rather than
someone else.
e.g.
Come up here and see for
yourself.
5) You use for when stating the
purpose of an object or action, or
what someone is trying to get. Used after a noun, often followed
by an '-ing' clause:
e.g.
My wallet has a special pocket for keeping
credit cards in.
We need more money for
equipment in the office.
Used with verbs:
e.g.
His wife was at the station waiting
for him.
He spent two hours looking for his lost diary.
I'm going to apply for
that job in the newspaper.
After 'be':
e.g.
I like spending money, that's what it is
for!
After an adjective, often followed by an '-ing' phrase:
e.g.
Computers are sometimes useful for learning
new skills.
6) You use for when indicating
what someone wants or requests.
Used with verbs:
e.g.
He asked for
a meeting tomorrow morning with the section chief.
Used with nouns:
e.g.
The public have made great demands
for more open government.
Used with adjectives:
e.g.
The team's fans are hungry for success.
7) If you leave for a
place, you intend to go there.
e.g.
I'm leaving for Tokyo
this afternoon.
After a noun:
He boarded the train for
Hiroshima at Osaka.
8) You use for when mentioning
something that needs explaining or
justifying. Used after a noun, often
followed by an '-ing' phrase:
e.g.
I cannot see any reason for
continuing with the project.
There must be some explanation for this phenomenon.
Used with the verb 'account':
e.g.
There are numerous elegant economic theories to account
for inflation.
9) You can sometimes use for when
giving the reason that something is the case or is done. Used
after an adjective:
e.g.
The Hanshin Tigers are famous for their crazy fans.
After a noun:
e.g.
The man was appealing against his conviction
for murder.
Used with verbs, often followed by an '-ing' phrase:
e.g.
He entered the room, then apologized
for intruding.
Many people are stopped for
speeding by the police.
10) If you give someone a present for
their birthday or for some other
occasion, you give it because of that occasion.
e.g.
He got a mountain bike for his fourteenth birthday.
What shall I get him for Christmas?
11) For is used after some words
to indicate what a quality, thing or action
relates to. Used after an adjective:
e.g.
We must make individuals responsible
for their own safety in the workplace.
After a noun:
e.g.
Medical science has still not found a cure
for cancer.
Used with verbs:
e.g.
Many people are now opting for early retirement.
12) If you feel a particular emotion
for someone or something, that is
how you feel about them. Used with nouns:
e.g.
He developed a great passion for golf after he retired.
Some people have great nostalgia
for the sixties.
After the adjective 'sorry':
I feel very sorry for
his family.
13) You can also say that you feel a particular emotion
for someone when you feel it on their
behalf. Used after an adjective:
e.g.
"My wife had a baby boy yesterday" - "Congratulations!
I'm delighted for
you both."
14) You use for when you mention
a person who is involved in an action
you are commenting on and whose viewpoint you are giving.
e.g.
That experience can't have been very pleasant
for you.
15) You use for when you mention
a person or thing in relation to which something has too
much, enough or too
little of a quality. Used following 'too'
or 'enough':
e.g.
These shoes are a little too big
for me.
Is that enough rice for
you?
The house is not big enough for all of us.
16) You use for when mentioning
an aspect of someone or something that is surprising in relation
to another aspect of them.
e.g.
My daughter is tall for
her age.
17) You say that something lasts
for a period of time when indicating
how long it lasts or continues.
e.g.
The weather has been bad for
several days now.
We talked for
several hours.
18) You say that something goes
or extends for
a particular distance when indicating how far it goes or extends.
e.g.
You can see for
miles from the top of that hill.
The traffic jam stretched for
thirty kilometres.
19) If something is planned for a particular time, it is planned to
happen at that time.
e.g.
The wedding was fixed for
June.
20) You use for when indicating
how often something has happened before.
e.g.
He fell in love for the
first time when he was twenty.
21) If you buy, sell,
or do something for
a particular amount of money, you give or receive that amount
of money in exchange.
e.g.
I bought this car
for five hundred dollars.
22) If you pay or charge a particular amount of money for an
object or service, you give or request that amount of money in
exchange.
e.g.
He had paid $5000 for the boat.
23) You use for with every
when you give one part of a ratio.
e.g.
There was only one teacher for every fifty students.
24) If you vote or argue for something, you vote or argue in
favour of it, giving it your support.
e.g.
I've never voted for
the Conservatives and I never will.
After nouns:
e.g.
There is not a scrap of evidence
for these charges.
There is a strong case for
this argument.
25) If you are for something,
you support it and approve of it. For
is stressed in this use.
e.g.
Are you for us or against
us?
26) A word for another word or
for a thing means the same as that
word, or refers to that thing.
e.g.
The Japanese word for 'preposition'
is zen-chishi .
Back
Back2) You use from to say where someone
or something started off. Used with verbs:
e.g.
He originally came from
southern Scotland.
She's from
Sendai.
With nouns:
e.g.
He introduced me to his friend, a man
from New York City.
His house is full of paintings and art
from the Far East.
3) You can use from to say where
someone works. Used after 'be'.
e.g.
'I'm from
the BBC' he said.
Used after nouns:
e.g.
The man from
the Embassy called at our house several times.
4) If someone or something moves or is moved from a place,
they leave it and go somewhere else. Used with verbs:
e.g.
He came here from
England several years ago.
We watched the crowds streaming from the baseball stadium.
5) If a person or thing goes from
place to place, they go to several
places. Used with verbs:
e.g.
Her head bobbed from
side to side as she watched the game.
He wandered from
room to room, unable to relax.
6) If you take a thing or person
from another, you move that thing
or person so that they are no longer with the other or attached
to the other. Used with verbs:
e.g.
He disconnected the hose from
the tap in the garden.
7) If you return from
doing something, you return after doing it.
e.g.
The women have not returned from shopping yet.
8) If you are back from
or home from
a place or activity, you have left it and returned to your former
place.
e.g.
He always visits his uncle when he is home
from the sea.
Is your boss back from
lunch yet?
Also used with the adjective 'fresh':
e.g.
He came in bright-eyed, fresh from a workout.
9) If you see something from a particular place, you are in that
place when you see it.
e.g.
He could see the whole city from his study window.
10) If something hangs from
an object, it is attached to it and hangs underneath it.
e.g.
There, hanging from
a peg, was a brand-new raincoat.
11) You use from when giving the
distance between two places.
e.g.
The head office is just a five-minute walk
from the station.
12) You can use from when you
are talking about the beginning of a period of time or the first
of a range of things.
e.g.
He will be in New York from April
to late June.
Prices range from five dollars upwards.
13) If something varies from thing to thing or from
one thing to another, it is different in the case of different
things.
e.g.
Tuition fees may vary from
college to college.
The side effects of this medicine will vary
from one person to another.
14) If someone or something changes
from one thing to another, they stop
being or having the first thing and become or have the second
thing.
e.g.
In only a year she turned from
a happy, gentle person to an embittered, depressed woman.
This examination will test your ability to translate
from Japanese to English.
15) If something is made from a particular substance, that substance
is used to make it.
e.g.
Many kinds of foodstuffs are made
from soybeans.
16) You use from when saying that
something is not the same as something else. Used with adjectives:
e.g.
Life in Japan was quite a bit different
from what he had imagined.
Used with verbs:
e.g.
Sometimes it is difficult to distinguish
fact from fiction.
17) You use from when mentioning the cause of something or
the reason for something.
e.g.
Sumo wrestlers are often very supple, from
the training they do.
From past experience,
we may assume that the company will not agree to these proposals.
18) If something is hidden or
protected from
a person or thing, they are not allowed to know, see, have, or
harm it.
e.g.
The government are often guilty of withholding
information from the public.
It is important to protect pipework
from corrosion.
19) If you free someone from a state, restriction or oppressor,
you do something so that they are no longer affected by it. Used
with verbs:
e.g.
Nelson Mandela was eventually released
from prison after 27 years.
Modern appliances have freed the
housewife from many boring tasks.
Used with the adjective 'free':
e.g.
I would love to be free from
financial pressures.
20) You use from to indicate that
something is being prevented or forbidden. Used with verbs, followed by
an '-ing' clause.
e.g.
A security guard prevented me from entering
the building.
The police used portable barriers to stop
traffic from circulating
in the streets.
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2) If something is in a place,
it is there. Used with verbs:
e.g.
There are explanations for 124 prepositions
in this document.
Used after a noun:
e.g.
He felt like the luckiest man in the world.
3) A person in a piece of clothing
is wearing it. Used after nouns:
e.g.
Can you see the man in
the grey suit?
Used with verbs:
e.g
She always dressed in
black after her husband died.
4) Something that is covered in something else has that thing over
its surface. Used with verbs:
e.g.
The car was covered in
mud after driving off-road.
5) If something is in a document,
book, play, or film, you can read it, see it, or hear it there.
Used with verbs:
e.g.
You mentioned him in
your last letter.
You can find their number in
the 'phone book.
Used with nouns:
e.g.
He was like a character in
a comedy movie I saw once.
6) When you see something in a mirror, you see its reflection.
e.g.
He looked at himself in
his shaving mirror.
She was looking at her reflection
in the mirror on the wall.
7) Something that is in a window
is just behind where you can see it, inside the building. Used
with verbs:
e.g.
He stuck a poster in
his window to support the Democratic candidate.
After a noun:
How much is that doggie in
the window?
8) If someone or something is in
a group, they are part of it. Used with verbs:
e.g.
It is often very exciting being in a football crowd at a big game.
After a noun:
e.g.
There are a lot of people in
the company who do not support him.
9) If you are in something such
as a play or a race, you are one of the people taking part.
e.g.
He was easily the best player in
the tournament.
I thought Merryl Streep was very good in
'Kramer vs Kramer'.
10) If something happens in a
particular year, month or other period of time, it happens during
that time.
e.g.
I love Paris in the springtime.
'Gone with the Wind' was made in
1939.
I asked him to take care of the office for me in
my absence.
11) If you do something in a particular
length of time, that is how long you take to do it.
e.g.
I can cycle more than fifty miles in
a day.
12) If something will happen in
a particular length of time, it will happen after that length
of time.
e.g.
The train will be here in ten minutes.
13) If someone or something is in
a particular state or situation, they are experiencing it or being
affected by it. Used with verbs:
e.g.
He was in
an extreme state of exhaustion.
After a noun:
e.g.
I don't like to see people in such desperate circumstances.
14) You use in to indicate that an emotion causes someone to
do something.
e.g.
He started jumping up and down in
excitement.
In my nervousness,
I wrote the number down wrong.
15) You use in to indicate that
when you do something, you do something else as a consequence.
e.g.
He opened the living-room window to let in some air. In
doing so, he knocked the bowl of flowers off the window sill onto
the floor.
16) You use in to indicate what
something such as an action, belief or change relates to. Used
with verbs:
e.g.
Do you believe in
UFOs?
My daughter wants to specialize in company law.
He would like all of his family to share
in his good fortune.
Used with nouns:
e.g.
I wrote a letter to his boss expressing my confidence
in him.
The last year has seen no major fluctuations
in the exchange rate.
He takes great pride in
his work.
After an adjective:
e.g.
He became very involved in
student politics while at university.
17) You use in when indicating
what aspect of something you are talking about. Used with verbs:
e.g.
The cherry blossom is pale pink in colour.
The sequoia redwoods can grow to
over 60 metres in height.
After a noun:
e.g.
There was really very little difference
in their outlook on life.
18) If someone is in things of
a particular kind or in a particular kind of work, that is what
their work involves. Used after 'be'.
e.g.
He has been in
this business his whole life.
After a noun:
e.g.
You need good writing skills for a career
in journalism.
19) You use in to say how someone
is expressing something. Used with verbs:
e.g.
He spoke rapidly in
Korean into the telephone receiver.
The message was written on the wall
in white chalk.
'Help me!' he cried out in
a terrified voice.
20) You use in to describe how
certain people or things are arranged.
e.g.
The boys all stood in
a circle and listened to their teacher.
21) You use in to indicate roughly
how many people or things do something.
e.g.
Personal computers are now used in
large numbers by many companies.
22) You use in to indicate roughly
how old someone is.
e.g.
He was a tall man in his early thirties.
23) You use in to introduce the
larger number that is part of a ratio.
e.g.
One family in
ten were affected by the economic
downturn.
Back
2) If you do something in between
actions of some kind, you do it in the intervals when you are
not performing those actions.
e.g.
He took short rests in between spurts
of furious activity.
Back
Back3) If a situation or process is biased
in favour of a group or thing, it
helps and supports it.
e.g.
Media coverage of the election had been biased
in favour of the Republican Party.
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2) If you do something in front of someone
else, you do it when they are present.
e.g.
He never smokes or drinks in front of
his children.
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