Common preposition mistakes: dependent prepositions

A dependent preposition is the one preposition that automatically follows a particular verb, adjective or noun, regardless of meaning. Native speakers learn these as fixed pairs rather than by rule, which is exactly why they're hard for learners: there's no logical reason 'depend' takes on rather than of or in — it's simply the convention.

Because each pairing is arbitrary, direct translation from another language is the single biggest cause of dependent-preposition errors — a preposition that's correct in one language rarely transfers correctly into English.

• Success in this industry depends on timing as much as talent.
• This decision depends of too many uncertain factors.(→ depends on — 'of' never follows depend)

Many common verbs have one fixed preposition: listen to, wait for, apply for, believe in, consist of, deal with, insist on, care about, agree with, complain about. A smaller group of verbs — discuss, marry, enter, approach, reach — take no preposition at all before an object, which surprises learners whose language does require one there.

• We waited for almost an hour before the doors finally opened.
• The committee will discuss the proposal at Thursday's meeting.(discuss takes a direct object — no preposition)
• She insisted on paying for dinner, even though it was my turn.

Adjectives follow the same pattern: interested in, good at, afraid of, similar to, responsible for, worried about, capable of, famous for, satisfied with. There's rarely any pattern connecting the meaning of the adjective to its preposition, so these are best learned as whole phrases rather than adjective and preposition separately.

• He's always been capable of far more than his exam results suggest.
• The two cities are similar to each other in size but very different in character.
• Local residents are worried of the new flight path over the neighbourhood.(→ worried about — 'of' never follows worried)

Arrive is a special case worth learning on its own, because it takes two different prepositions depending on the size of the destination: in for cities, countries and large areas, at for a specific building, venue or point — and never to, however tempting that feels.

The table below collects the fifteen dependent prepositions that cause the most errors in learner writing and speech — a good shortlist to memorise as fixed phrases.