Unit 3.2

Common Noun and Preposition Combinations

Introduction

Noun and preposition combinations are common collocations of nouns and prepositions.

Form

Noun and preposition combinations consist of a noun and a preposition but there are no grammatical rules on how to combine them in a sentence.

Noun

In these combinations, examples of nouns which precede these prepositions in sentences are:

Anxiety, Story + about + …
Reputation, Responsibility, Reason, Regret, Talent + for + …
Advantage, Disadvantage, Fear, Habit, Knowledge, Process + of + …
Addiction, dedication, devotion, reaction + to …

Preposition

In these combinations the most commonly used prepositions which follow certain nouns are about, for, of and to.

Example

They are trying to manage their anxiety about the presentation.
He has a repuation for being a tough personality.
Tara has a talent for playing instruments.
There are a lot of advantages and disadvantages of artificial intelligence.
Her reaction to the professor speech surprised everyone.

Use

We use some prepositions with certain nouns in order to express something with a specific meaning.

Summary

Noun and preposition combinations are common collocations of nouns and prepositions. We use certain nouns only with specific prepositions.

The most common combinations are:

Anxiety, Story followed by about;
Reputation, Responsibility, Reason, Regret, Talent followed by for;
Advantage, Disadvantage, Fear, Habit, Knowledge, Process followed by of;
Addiction, dedication, devotion, reaction followed by to.

For example:
— “Tara has a talent for playing instruments.” = The noun talent is followed by the preposition for.
— “Her reaction to the speech surprised everyone.” = The noun reaction is followed by the preposition to.

Let’s revise this content within the {Form} section. Take a look at the {Example} section that shows its use within a context.