- English Grammar B2 Level - https://open.books4languages.com/english-b2-grammar -

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 aboutfor, 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.