Learning Vocabulary - Dependent prepositions
Introduction
Jack: Hello my name’s Jack
Rich: and I’m Rich and welcome to this week’s Premier Skills English podcast
Jack: Where we talk about football and help you with your English.
Rich: We recommend that you listen to this podcast on the Premier Skills English website because that is where we have the transcript, language examples, activities, quizzes and a discussion page to help you understand everything we talk about.
Jack: However, if you’re listening on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, you can leave answers to our questions in the review section. We do read all the reviews and would love to hear from you.
Rich: In this week’s podcast, we’re going to help you with vocabulary and, more specifically, we’re going to look at things called dependent prepositions.
Jack: A dependent preposition is a preposition that is used next to specific verbs, adjectives and nouns.
Rich: For example, I’m very good at football but Jack is very bad at football.
Jack: Sorry?
Rich: I’m very good at football but Jack is very bad at football. We say that someone is good or bad at something. ‘At’ is a dependent preposition here. Shall I say the sentence again?
Jack: No, I think everyone understood! In this podcast, we’re going to be looking at dependent prepositions with adjectives.
Rich: That’s right. We’re going to chat about our plans for the weekend and use lots and lots of these adjective plus preposition collocations.
Jack: Later, your task will be to talk about your plans for the weekend and use as many of these collocations as you can.
Last week’s Football Phrase
Rich: But, before we look at all that, let’s look at last week’s football phrase. If you didn’t hear it last week we’ll give you one more chance to guess and give you the correct answer at the end of the show when we give you a new football phrase.
Jack: Last week, it was Rich’s turn and it was quite a difficult phrase but a few of you gave us the right answer. Well done to Liubomyr from Ukraine, Elghoul from Algeria, Lakerwang from China and Ali Vasheghani from Iran. Let’s hear the phrase one more time.
Rich: The phrase is *** ** * *****. The phrase is used to describe a team that starts a season or a match really well. If a team scores twice in the first ten minutes of a match you might say they’ve got *** ** * *****. Liverpool have got *** ** * ***** this season.
Jack: We’ll give you the answer at the end of the show and we’ll have a new football phrase for you to guess.
Introduction to roleplay
Rich: In this week’s roleplay, we’re talking about our weekend plans. Jack is very excited about his weekend plans but I’m not so enthusiastic about the weekend.
Jack: While you are listening, we want you to answer a question. The question is:
Rich: What’s Jack going to learn at the weekend?
Roleplay
Jack: Friday at last! What are you up to this weekend?
Rich: I’m not sure. I’m a bit fed up with doing the same things all the time.
Jack: I know what you mean. I get sick and tired of the same old routine that’s why I’m doing something different this weekend!
Rich: Oh, what are going to do?
Jack: I’m going on a cooking course.
Rich: But you’re good at cooking. I remember that curry you rustled up a couple of months ago.
Jack: Yeah, thanks, I do like cooking but I’m pretty bad at baking. You see I’ve been hooked on these little pasties I get in town. They’re Argentinian empanadas. I’m mad about them.
Rich: I’ve never heard of them.
Jack: As I was saying, they’re like little pasties. Argentina is really well known for them.
Rich: I thought Argentina was famous for Messi and Maradona not for its pasties. So, you’re going to learn how to cook them.
Jack: Yeah, the bakers down the road is doing a weekend course specialising in Argentinian food. Why don’t you come along? I could have a word with the guy who’s responsible for the course.
Rich: Nah, I’m not that interested in cooking but don’t forget to save me a few of those pasties because I am interested in eating!
Jack: What are you going to do then if you’re so bored of everything?
Rich: I dunno. There’s no football due to the international break.
Jack: You shouldn’t be afraid of doing something different!
Rich: I know. I’m quite fond of music and I’m keen on getting out of town so I could go to a concert. I’ll check what’s on in London. I could go there for the weekend.
Jack: See. That’s something to get excited about. Cheer up and don’t be such a wet blanket all the time!
Language Focus: Dependent Prepositions
Rich: Did you get the answer to the question? What’s Jack going to learn at the weekend?
Jack: Well, the answer is I’m going to learn how to cook Argentinian Empanadas which are a type of pasty and are absolutely delicious.
Rich: Don’t confuse the words pasty and pastry. Pasty is a small type of savoury pie that is filled with meat and vegetables and a pastry is a small type of cake that’s sweet - like a croissant.
Jack: OK, in the roleplay we used lots of adjective plus preposition collocations. Some were really common and some were more difficult. Let’s start with the easiest ones.
Rich: I said that Jack was good at cooking but bad at baking.
Jack: In these examples, at is a dependent preposition. When teachers talk about dependent prepositions, what we normally mean are very common collocations; that is, words that very often go together.
Rich: There are different types of phrases with prepositions. We have nouns plus prepositions like ‘respect for’ or verbs plus prepositions like ‘lend to’ or ‘rely on’ but in this podcast we’re looking at adjectives plus prepositions like ‘good at’ and ‘bad at’.
Jack: These phrases look a bit like phrasal verbs, but they are not quite the same. Dependent prepositions are fixed to specific words - so we say good at and not good of or good about.
Rich: The preposition doesn’t change the meaning of the adjective, it just links the adjective with its object. So when I said I was good at football, the adjective good is linked to the noun football.
Jack: Some of the phrases we used were a bit tricky so we want to look at a few of them. The first two phrases were quite similar in meaning.
Rich: If you are fed up with something or sick and tired of something, you are bored or disgusted with it because you have experienced it for too long.
Jack: In my old job, I had to travel to Manchester on the train twice a week which was OK at first, but after a while, I was fed up with it and eventually, I was completely sick and tired of it.
Rich: The next phrase is hooked on something. If you are hooked on something, you are enjoying it so much that you can’t stop doing it.
Jack: I sometimes get hooked on games - the worst are online games. I have to delete them from my phone. The next phrase is similar; mad about. To be mad about something has two meanings. It can mean you are really angry about something or it can mean that you really like something.
Rich: I love this phrase - I’m mad about football. I’m also mad about the international break because I can’t watch the Premier League.
Jack: Heard of is an interesting phrase. It means to know about something obscure or not well known. It’s most commonly used in negative sentences and questions.
Rich: Have you heard of Erling Braut Haaland?
Jack: I’ve never heard of him.
Rich: Apparently he’s been linked with Manchester United.
Jack: Hmmm... OK - last one. Fond of. If you are fond of something, you like it a lot.
Rich: It’s a bit stronger than like, it’s more like a little love than a lot of like. I’m fond of music - it means a lot to me.
Jack: Right, we used a lot of adjectives with different prepositions in the roleplay. Now, we want you to listen to the roleplay again very carefully. How many dependent prepositions do you hear?
Rich: Afterwards, we’re going to give you a quiz so that’s why we want you to listen carefully.
Roleplay Repeated
Jack: Friday at last! What are you up to this weekend?
Rich: I’m not sure. I’m a bit fed up with doing the same things all the time.
Jack: I know what you mean. I get sick and tired of the same old routine that’s why I’m doing something different this weekend!
Rich: Oh, what are going to do?
Jack: I’m going on a cooking course
Rich: But you’re good at cooking. I remember that curry you rustled up a couple of months ago.
Jack: Yeah, thanks, I do like cooking but I’m pretty bad at baking. You see I’ve been hooked on these little pasties I get in town. They’re Argentinian empanadas. I’m mad about them.
Rich: I’ve never heard of them.
Jack: As I was saying, they’re like little pasties. Argentina is really well known for them.
Rich: I thought Argentina was famous for Messi and Maradona not for its pasties. So, you’re going to learn how to cook them.
Jack: Yeah, the bakers down the road is doing a weekend course specialising in Argentinan food. Why don’t you come along? I could have a word with the guy who’s responsible for the course.
Rich: Nah, I’m not that interested in cooking but don’t forget to leave a few of those pasties for me because I am interested in eating!
Jack: What are you going to do then if you’re so bored of everything?
Rich: I dunno. There’s no football due to the international break.
Jack: You shouldn’t be afraid of doing something different!
Rich: I know. I’m quite fond of music and I’m keen on getting out of town so I could go to a concert. I’ll check what’s on in London. I could go there for the weekend.
Jack: See. That’s something to get excited about. Cheer up and don’t be such a wet blanket all the time!
Quiz
Jack: If you counted seventeen dependent prepositions you did very, very well.
Rich: Now, we’re going to give you a little quiz.
Jack: We’re going to say and adjective and we want you to say the correct preposition.
Rich: There are eight dependent prepositions for you to guess. Here goes.
Jack: Number one. Fed up. Is the answer fed up with, fed up on or fed up of?
Rich: The answer is … fed up with. Here’s an example from the roleplay:
Jack: I’m a bit fed up with doing the same things all the time.
Rich: Number two. Responsible. Is the answer responsible at, responsible for or responsible with?
Jack: The answer is … responsible for. Here’s an example from the roleplay:
Rich: I could have a word with the guy who’s responsible for the course.
Jack: Number three. Fond. Is the answer fond of, fond for or fond on?
Rich: The answer is … fond of. Here’s an example from the roleplay:
Jack: I’m quite fond of music.
Rich: Number four. Hooked. Is the answer hooked in, hooked out or hooked on?
Jack: The answer is … hooked on. Here’s an example from the roleplay:
Rich: You see I’ve been hooked on these little pasties I get in town. They’re Argentinian empanadas.
Jack: Number five. Due. Is the answer due of, due to or due from?
Rich: The answer is … due to. Here’s an example from the roleplay:
Jack: There’s no football due to the international break.
Rich: Number six. Keen. Is the answer keen in, keen of or keen on?
Jack: The answer is … keen on. Here’s an example from the roleplay:
Rich: I’m keen on getting out of town so I could go to a concert.
Jack: Number seven. Excited. Is the answer excited over, excited in or excited about?
Rich: The answer is … excited about. Here’s an example from the roleplay:
Jack: See. That’s something to get excited about. Cheer up!
Rich: Number eight. Bored. Is the answer bored by, bored with or bored of?
Jack: The answer is .. bored by, bored with and bored of but here’s what we said in the roleplay:
Rich: What are you going to do then if you’re so bored of everything?
Jack: Did you get all the answers right? That last one was a bit of a trick question. All three options are correct, although bored of is more common in British English than American English and bored by is not as common as the other two.
Rich: If you want to practise these phrases a bit more, we have the transcript for this podcast on the Premier Skills English website and a few more explanations and activities to help you understand.
Task
Jack: Your task this week is to tell us about your plans for the future. You can tell us your plans for this weekend, next month or your next holidays.
Rich: Or you can tell us about a change that you plan to make in your life.
Jack: You can choose, but it’s important to say why you have these plans and why you are doing them.
Rich: We also want you to tell us how you are feeling about these plans.
Jack: And, of course, we want you to use some of the dependent prepositions we have used in this podcast.
Rich: What are you fed up with? What are you excited about? What are you mad about? What are you keen on or fond of doing?
Jack: Try to use as many of the phrases as you can.
Rich: Write all your answers on the Premier Skills English website. You’ll find the page for this podcast on the homepage or under skills>listen>podcasts>learning vocabulary: dependent prepositions.
Football Phrase
Rich: OK, it’s time for this week’s football phrase. I think this week’s phrase is going to give everyone a chance to make a guess. Are you ready, Jack?
Jack: I’m ready. This week’s phrase is just a word. The word is ****** and it describes the action when a player puts the ball through another player’s legs. It looks great and makes the other player look a bit silly. It can be a noun or a verb.
Rich: There is a great story about the origins of the word. We spoke about it in a podcast ages ago. I think we should talk about it again in another podcast.
Jack: Good idea. Before we forget, if you’re still thinking about last week’s football phrase - the answer was off to a flier.
Rich: Write your answers in the comments section on the Premier Skills English website and we’ll announce your name on next week’s show.
Jack: Right, that’s all we have time for this week. Bye for now and enjoy your football!
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