Prepositions and collocations - recap

Warmer: terminology

We came across the following meta-linguistic terminology in this module. Do you remember what each term means?

prepositions of time

preposotions of place

prepositions of movement

dependent prepositions

delexical verbs

Take a look at the text on the following slide.

Many of the prepositions have been removed.

Complete the text with PREPOSITIONS and then compare your answer with your partner.

Note: some of the gaps can be filled with multiple prepositions

Sarah's morning

____ the early morning, Sarah went ____ a walk ____ the park to clear her mind. She had been working late into the night, so she cherished these quiet moments ____ the city woke up. As she was walking ____ the path, she noticed the sunlight streaming ____the trees.

____ the pond, ducks swam lazily, while joggers ran ____ her, moving swiftly along their usual routes. ____the park, birds flew ____ tree to tree, chirping cheerfully as they greeted the new day. Sarah sat ____ a bench ____ a large oak tree, enjoying the peace and quiet.

____ the time she left the park, the streets were beginning to fill with people going ____ work. She decided that it was time to get some coffee. She stood ____ the pedestrian crossing, and when the little green man appeared, she walked ____ the busy road, and went ____ a cosy cafe.

Inside, the aroma of freshly brewed coffee enveloped her. She ordered a latte and sat down ____ a table ____ the window, watching the world outside.

These prepositions were mostly semantic ones - time / place / movement. They (mostly) have direct translations into other languages.

You may have had a slightly different interpretation of the text, leading to different answers to your partner, but you were probably able to explain your version fairly easily.

However, as we remember, many of our prepositions are DEPENDENT prepositions, i.e. they don't have any semantic meaning and generally don't translate well into other languages.

Check out Lucy's text below.

Complete the text with DEPENDENT prepositions and check your answers with your partner.

Lucy was always excited ____ the start of a new school year. She was proud ____ her accomplishments from the previous year and looked forward ____ what was ahead. She was particularly interested ____ the new art class because she had heard the teacher was famous ____ her unique teaching methods.

One morning, as she was walking to school, she thought ____ all the things she wanted to achieve. She knew she had to be good ____ time management to balance her studies and extracurricular activities. Sometimes, she worried ____ falling behind, but she reminded herself that she could always ask her teachers ____ help.

At school, Lucy saw her friend Emma, who seemed different ____ how she was last year. Emma invited Lucy ____ lunch, and they spent the break catching up. Emma spoke ____ Lucy ____ her summer vacation and all the new things she had learned. They also talked ____ their shared passion ____ painting. Later in the day, Lucy had a disagreement with another classmate ____ a group project. She tried to stay calm, although she was a bit angry ____ this classmate. She decided to write ____ the teacher to ask ____ advice.

After school, Lucy spent her afternoon at the local library, where she fell ____ love ____ a book about modern art. She realized how much she enjoyed learning and how good it was for her to spend time ____ her hobbies.

This one was likely a bit trickier, but most of these patterns are taught at A2/B1, so you are probably familiar with most of them.

At B2, we saw even more patterns and introduced the concept of dependent prepositions with nouns.

This is where things started to get tricky.

Check out Emma's text.

Emma was committed ____ improving her health this year. After experiencing fatigue and a decrease ____ energy, she realized she was suffering ____ a lack of exercise and poor diet. She knew there was a demand ____ better health, so she decided to apply ____ a gym membership and consult a nutritionist.

She participated ____ a discussion ____ healthy eating and discovered an alternative ____ her usual meals. The nutritionist explained the basis ____ a balanced diet and how it consisted ____ various nutrients. Emma was aware ____ the importance of this change and felt ready ____ the challenge.

During her first week at the gym, she succeeded ____ completing her workout routine. She was tired ____ her previous sedentary lifestyle, and she felt satisfied ____ her new progress. The trainer had a huge influence ____ her motivation and insisted ____ her sticking to the plan.

At work, Emma noticed an increase ____ her productivity. She was grateful ____ the energy and focus that came from her improved lifestyle. However, she was fed up ____ her coworkers bringing unhealthy snacks to the office. One day, she decided to shout ____ them about their choices, but then she apologized ____ her outburst and suggested healthier alternatives instead.

OK, so prepositions can be FIXED to some verbs, adjectives and nouns, but we also have collocating VERBS, where the verb doesn't really carry any meaning outside of its construction.

We looked at DO / MAKE / TAKE first, if you remember?

Take a look at Jimmy's text

After a long day at work, Jimmy decided to ____ a break and enjoy a quiet evening at home. He ____ a list of things he needed to do, starting with ____ a shower to freshen up. Feeling rejuvenated, he ____ a look at his agenda for the weekend and realized he had to ____ the shopping for the upcoming family dinner.

Before heading out, he ____ a phone call to ____ a reservation at their favorite restaurant for Saturday night. It was a special occasion, and he didn't want to ____ any chances with availability. After the call, he ____ the dishes that had piled up from breakfast, making the kitchen spotless.

Once the chores were ____, Jimmy ____ a nap to recharge his batteries. When he woke up, he remembered the promise he had ____ to his daughter to help her with her homework. They sat together, and while his daughter worked on her assignments, Jimmy ____ notes on what needed to be discussed at the next parent-teacher meeting.

In the evening, Jimmy ____ a suggestion to his wife: they should ____ a trip to the countryside to relax and unwind. She agreed, and they started planning their getaway. Jimmy was excited about the idea of ____ new memories and perhaps even ____ a discovery or two during their adventure.

Finally, we looked at some incredibly versatile verbs - HAVE and GET, both of which have a variety of grammatical and lexical patterns.

Can you transform the following sentences using HAVE or GET??

Transformations

Example:

I've just learned of their secret plan to steal my housekeys!

I've just got wind of their plan to steal my housekeys.

01: First, I had a a shower, and then I got dressed.

____ ____ a shower, I got dressed.

02: I pay someone to do my nails once very 2 months.

I ____ _____ _____ _____ once every two months.

03: I'm sure that you are joking!

You ____ _____ _____ be joking!

04: I'm fed up with these collocations!

I've ____ ____ ____ to here with these f'n collocations!

05: These constructions are incredibly confusing!

I just can't ____ ____ head ____ these constructions!

06: My intuition tells me that England will lose their next game.

I ____ _____ h____ that England will lose their next game.

07: His parents are not strict at all. He's allowed to do absolutely anything!

His parents are not strict at all. He ____ ____ ____ murder!

08: Hey! Stop criticising me!

Hey! Stop _____ _____ _____ at me!

09: Some students really enjoy challenging their teacher

Some students ____ _____ kick ____ ____ challenging their teacher.

10: I guess I won't be able to solve that puzzle, but I'll try anyway.

I guess I won't be able to solve that puzzle, but I'll ____ a c____ at it.

Reflection

Learning collocations is a never-ending process. Does this 'never-ending' nature make it more or less stressful to learn?

We covered a lot of ground in this module, but it's still just the tip of the iceberg. What else could have been covered in this module?

Many students love doing language-focussed modules (grammar and vocab). Others prefer more content-focussed stuff (learning about new things in English). Which do you prefer? Should there always be a bit of both in language learning?

In six months, what do you think you are most likely to remember from this module?