GRAMMAR CAPSULE

JUNE 2, 2011: 25 WORDS AND THEIR PREPOSITION PALS

You probably know a preposition a word that shows a relationship between two words or phrases by demonstrating place, time, or another quality when you see it, but thats grammar. What about usage? Which prepositions go with a given verb or adjective, and when? Some choices are no-brainers, but others can present a challenge. Heres a guide to various words that require writers to choose from more than one preposition depending on meaning and sentence construction: 1. Abide with us for a while, by the rules (or I cant abide him). 2. Answer to him for what youve done, for what youve done. 3. Caution about unsafe conditions, against the rash proposal. 4. Compare with other products that make the same claims, apples to oranges. 5. Confide in her about my problems, to him what I really think. 6. Conversant about climate change, in several languages, with aspects of technology. 7. Differ from other species in their diet, with them about the cause of the companys failure, or about public policy, on public policy, or over public policy. 8. Different from what he was used to, than he was used to. From is the preferred usage, but than substitutes for from what. (Different to is a Britishism.) 9. Dissent against the status quo, from the majority opinion. (To or with are not considered standard usage.) 10. Dissimilar to her previous sculpture. (From is considered incorrect.) 11. Enamored of every woman he meets. (With is considered incorrect.) 12. Equivalent in amounts, to the earlier result. (With is not considered standard usage.) 13. Excerpt from their book was reprinted without their permission. (Of is considered incorrect.) 14. Forbid him from attending, him to attend. (To is considered the more correct of the two choices.)

GRAMMAR CAPSULE
15. Identical to the one she saw yesterday, with the one she saw yesterday. (Language purists consider with more correct, but use of to is significantly more common.) 16. Independent of the group, he protested the plan. (From, as in Independent from her family, is considered incorrect.) 17. Instilled instilled a few drops of the solution into the wound, in him a drive to succeed. (With, as in Instilled with a drive to succeed, is considered incorrect.) 18. Oblivious of the warning signs, to the noise; the choices are often interchangeable. (About is often used in association with oblivious, but its not considered standard usage.) 19. Vexed about her behavior, at her behavior. The correct preposition to use with the following words depends on whether the object is a person or a thing: 20. Comment about her or to you about what happened, but on the issue. 21. Impatient with him, but about the delay, at the delay, or with the delay. 22. Inquired of him where he was going and after her whereabouts, but into their progress or about the vacant apartment. 23. Mastery over all other competitors, but of the skill. 24. Reconcile with her boyfriend, but to the loss of her boyfriend. 25. Succeed as a businessperson, but to the position.