Adjectives with Prepositions: Good At, Afraid Of: explanation and exercises (B1)

In short

Many adjectives are followed by a fixed preposition: good at, afraid of, interested in. There is often no logical reason for the choice, so the best way to learn them is as pairs, like one word.

The pattern

Be + adjective + preposition + noun

Isubject'mbeafraidadjectiveofprepositionspidersthing

I'm afraid of spiders.

Adjective + preposition + -ing

Shesubject'sbegoodadjectiveatprepositionfixing thingsgerund

She's good at fixing things.

01Learn them in pairs

Here are the pairs you will hear most often. Say them together as one chunk: "interested-in," "afraid-of."

Preposition	Common adjectives
at	good at, bad at, great at, terrible at
of	afraid of, scared of, tired of, proud of, jealous of
about	worried about, excited about, nervous about
in	interested in, involved in
for	responsible for, famous for, late for
to	married to, similar to, allergic to
from / than	different from, different than

02After the preposition: a noun or -ing

A preposition is followed by a noun, a pronoun or an -ing form. Never use the base verb or to + verb after it.

I'm good at cooking.
She's interested in becoming a nurse.
We're tired of waiting.
He's nervous about the interview.

03American choices

Some pairs have more than one correct form in American English.

Different from and different than are both correct. Different than is very common in speech, especially before a clause: "It was different than I expected."

Excited about is the safe choice. Americans also say excited for an event or a person: "I'm so excited for you!"

Tired of means bored or annoyed with something. Tired from means physically tired because of it: tired from work.

My job is different from my old one.
The city was different than I imagined.
I'm tired of this song.
I'm tired from the long drive.

04Questions end with the preposition

In questions, the preposition stays with its adjective, at the end of the sentence. This is completely normal in American English.

What are you afraid of?
Who is she married to?
What is Memphis famous for?

05Common mistakes

I'm interested about photography.

I'm interested in photography.

Interested always takes in.

He's good at cook.

He's good at cooking.

After a preposition, use a noun or the -ing form.

She's married with a doctor.

She's married to a doctor.

We are married to a person.

I'm afraid from dogs.

I'm afraid of dogs.

Afraid and scared take of.

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Adjectives with Prepositions: Good At, Afraid Of