Bound prepositions – those with no meaning in life! ??

Bound prepositions are dependent upon certain words (or the words ‘take’ a certain preposition). These prepositions have no independent meaning as meaning is conveyed by the word/s to which they are bound.

It is important to learn these and commit them to memory as you come across them.

Some general rules exist:

    Prepositions can follow verbs nouns or adjectives – rely on,  success in, keen on etc… (here is a list)
    These prepositions always take an object – rely on somebody,  success in his exams, keen on riding horses
    Where the object is a verb – it is often in the …ing form – They accused him of lying.
    With adjectives describing emotion then ing form or infinitive with to is possible.  They were angry at seeing animals mistreated. They were angry to see animals mistreated.