prepchapthree

at
1) If you are at a place, you are there. Used with verbs:
e.g.
My friends came to meet me at Kansai International Airport.
He was at the office when the news came in.

Used with nouns:
e.g.
He works as an engineer at Kobe Steel.

2) If someone is at school or college or at a particular school or college, they go there to study regularly. Used with verbs:
e.g.
My daughter is too young to drive--she is still at school!
I've had several jobs since I was at university.
He's been at MIT for nearly two years now.

3) If you are at something such as a table or desk, a door or a window or someone's side or feet, you are next to it or them. Used with verbs:
e.g.
The family were all sitting at the dining table.
The ball dropped at his feet and he scored easily.

Used with nouns:
e.g.
I asked the girl at the reception desk to call me a taxi.

4) If something happens at an event or a meal, it happens where and when the event or meal is taking place. Used with verbs:
e.g.
We discussed the technical problems at dinner.
The fans were almost rioting at the soccer game.

Used with nouns:
e.g.
The Prime Minister gave a speech at the rally.
There was almost a riot at the soccer game.

5) You say that something happens at a particular time.
e.g.
The last train for Seishin-Chuo leaves at 11.30.
He goes back to Tokyo at weekends.
Children usually get gifts of money at New Year.

6) We sometimes do things at a particular age. Used with verbs:
e.g.
Most men retire at sixty-five in the UK.
He's still playing professional soccer at thirty-five.

7) You use at to express a rate, frequency or price. Used with verbs:
e.g.
He ran down the road at full speed.
We recorded the data at 33 mega-hertz.
The new wine is priced at £6.50 a bottle.
The new bridge was built at great expense.

8) When describing where someone or something is, you can say they are at a certain distance or at an angle to something else.
e.g.
Kobe Winery is located at a distance of about a mile from the laboratories.
Many buildings in Kobe were left leaning at a dangerous angle by the earthquake.

9) You use at when giving information about the level of something.
e.g.
Many reservoirs in Japan were at record low levels in 1995.
Interest rates have been at an all-time low for some time now.

10) If someone or something is at their best, worst or some other superlative, then they have this quality to the highest degree that they ever have it.
e.g.
The garden is at its best in early summer.
He is always at his most patient when under pressure.

11) If you look, glance, stare etc. at someone or something you look, glance, stare etc. towards them.
e.g.
He stood for a long time gazing at the painting.
She stared at him in amazement.

12) If you shout, yell, scream or snap etc. at someone, you speak to them loudly or rudely.
e.g.
"Stop it!" she screamed at her son.
He shouted at them to stop but they took no notice.

13) If you smile or wave etc. (or scowl or frown etc.) at someone, you put on an expression or make a gesture that they are meant to see and understand.
e.g
She waved at him from the top deck of the ship.
He frowned at his son when he read the school report.

14) If you point or gesture at something, you move your hand or arm in its direction so that it will be noticed by someone you are with.
e.g.
He gestured at a chair and said, "Please sit down."

15) You use at to indicate what someone is trying to hit, get or take hold of.
e.g.
He threw a stone at the noisy cat outside to scare it away.
The question was so difficult he could only guess at the answer.

16) You use at to indicate what someone is trying to move. Used with verbs:
e.g.
He pulled at his friend's arm to get his attention.
He pushed hard at the door but it wouldn't move.

Used with nouns:
e.g.
He felt a tug at his line as the fish took the bait.

17)
You use at to indicate what something is repeatedly touching or doing something to. Used with verbs:
e.g.
He hacked at the wood with a jack-knife, trying to carve his name.
She sobbed, and dabbed at her eyes with a handkerchief.
He is always in an excitable mood when he is working at his manuscript.

18) You use at to indicate an activity or task when saying how well someone or something does it. Used with adjectives (often followed by an 'ing' clause).
e.g.
Computers are often very good at this kind of thing.
He is very skilled at persuading people to do what he wants.
Used with nouns:
e.g.
She is an expert at the art of cookery.

19) You use at to indicate what someone is reacting to. Used with adjectives (often followed by an 'ing' clause).
e.g.
He was furious at hearing the news of the team's defeat.
He was astonished at the fact that they had lost the game.

Used with nouns (often followed by an 'ing' clause).
e.g.
He showed great pleasure at hearing his dog bark again.

Used with verbs:
e.g.
We all laughed at his jokes.
The people all protested at the government's decision.

20) If you do something at someone's request, you do it because they have asked you to. Used with verbs:
e.g.
She went to the party at the invitation of an unknown admirer.
We returned to the office at the request of the managing director.
Back

away from
1) If you move away from a place, thing or person, you move so you are no longer in that place or near that thing or person. Used with verbs:
e.g.
He stepped outside and walked away from the building.

2) If you are away from a place, you are not there.
e.g.
He is away from home a lot with his new job.
Back

bar
When it is used as a preposition, bar means the same as except. Used after an indefinite pronoun or a noun:
e.g.
He is willing to work with anyone, bar none.
Almost every person, bar the very young, can understand this book.

Back

barring
You use barring to show that the person, thing or situation you are referring to is an exception to your statement.
e.g.
The new aircraft will be in operation next year, barring complications.
It is hard to imagine anyone, barring a madman, starting a war.

Back

because of
If an event or situation occurs because of something, that thing is the reason or cause.
e.g.
All of the windows were closed, because of the cold.

Back

before
1) If something happens before a time or event, it happens earlier than that time or event. Used with verbs:
e.g.
He always reads for an hour or so before going to bed.

Also used as an adverb:
e.g.
The building had been constructed only a few years before.

2) If you do something before someone else, you do it when they have not yet done it. Used with verbs:
e.g.
He usually arrives at the office early, before anyone else is there.

3) If a person or thing is before something or someone, they are in front of it or them; a formal use. Used with verbs:
e.g.
They bowed down before the Queen.

4) If you tell someone that one place is a certain distance before another, you mean they will come to it first. Used with verbs:
e.g.
There is a gasoline station about two hundred metres before the turning.

5) If someone or something appears or comes before a person or group, they are there to be heard or considered officially by that person or group. Used with verbs:
e.g.
He presented his research findings before the committee.
The judge was not impressed with the evidence put before him.
Used with nouns:
e.g.
His appearance before the tribunal was a great success.

6) If you have something such as a journey, a task or a stage of your life before you, you must do it or live through it in the future. Used with verbs:
e.g.
I have a difficult job before me in the next few months.

7) When you want to say that one person or thing is more important than another, you can say that they come before the other person or thing. Used with verbs:
e.g.
He always considers his family before his work or anything else.
Back

behind
1) If something is behind a thing or a person, it is on the other side of them from you, or near their back rather than their front. Used with verbs:
e.g.
He walked back to the village behind his brother.
Used with nouns:
e.g.
The driver behind me began hooting his horn.
Used as an adverb:
e.g.
There were about thirty cars following behind.

2) When you close a gate or a door behind you, you close it after you have gone through it.
e.g.
He closed the door behind him and went up the stairs.

3) The reason or person behind something is the cause of it or is responsible for it. Used with nouns:
e.g.
He was one of the major forces behind the strike action.
Used with verbs:
e.g.
Two major political considerations lay behind the government's decision.

4) If you are behind someone, you support them. Used with verbs:
e.g.
The whole cabinet was behind the Prime Minister on his decision.

5) If you refer to something behind someone's outside appearance, you refer to a characteristic which is not apparent but which you think is there.
Used with verbs:
e.g.
He has a quite gentle nature, behind his rough behaviour.
Used with nouns:
We suddenly understood the reality behind his play-acting.

6) If you are behind someone, you are less successful than them or have done less. Used with verbs:
e.g.
He finished behind the rest of the class in all subjects except maths.
Used as an adverb:
e.g.
The idea came to me that as a country we had fallen behind.

7) If an experience is behind you, it is in your past and not happening now.
e.g
With the first fifteen exercises behind him, he stopped for a rest.

8) If something is behind schedule, it is not as far advanced as people had planned. Used with verbs:
e.g.
The project was eventually completed nearly six months behind schedule.
Back

below
1) If something is below something else, it is in a lower position. Used with verbs:
e.g
The wrecked ship lay about a mile below the surface of the Pacific.
Used with nouns:
Early man first came to live in the caves below the cliffs.
Used as an adverb:
e.g.
We waited to hear the sound as the rock hit the bottom of the well far below.

2) If something is below a particular amount, rate, or level it is less than that amount, rate, or level. Used with verbs:
e.g.
The strong yen causes problems for industry when it falls below a hundred to the dollar.
Used as an adverb:
e.g.
Keep the room temperature down to twenty-five or below.

3) If someone is below you in an organization or system of assessment, they are lower in rank.
e.g.
He scored well below the average on the test.
Back

beneath
1) If something is beneath something else, it is directly between it and the ground or floor. Used with verbs:
e.g.
She placed a comfortable pillow beneath his head.
Used with nouns:
e.g.
The ground beneath their feet was a bank covered with grass.
Used as an adverb:
They saw vast regions of smooth ice, where water had welled up from the ocean beneath.

2) When you want to talk about the aspects of something which are not obvious, you can talk about what lies beneath the surface. Used with verbs:
e.g
He sounded more confident than he felt beneath the brave front.
Used with nouns:
e.g.
You don't have to look far to encounter the tensions beneath the surface.

3) If you say that something or someone is beneath you, you mean that they are not good enough for you. Used with verbs:
e.g.
He feels that haggling about prices is beneath him.
She thinks that talking to ordinary working people is beneath her.
Back

END of Chapter Three