I am good at cooking.

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Prepositions Following Adjectives II (At, On, To)

Intermediate

In the last lesson, we learned to use adjectives to say how we feel about something. After this lesson, you will be able to use adjectives to express your relation to someone or something.

Exercise 1

Sentence Practice

I am really bad at history.
My grandmother is dependent on her medication.
Starting today, the museum is open to the public.
You are better at baseball than I am.
Susan is keen to see this movie.
George is married to Sarah.

Grammar Focus

Adjectives describe a noun and are often used with a preposition: adjective + preposition.

Today we will be looking at three prepositions: at, on and to.

Adj (indicating skill) + 'at'

We use 'at' with adjectives that express how well we do something: good, excellent, bad, brilliant, skilled, etc.

He is good at math.
She is bad at English.
I'm terrible at remembering people's names.

An adjective of skill that does not use 'at' is 'capable', which uses 'of':

He is capable of great things.

Adj + 'on'

The preposition 'on' indicates that one thing is supported by another thing. "An apple is on the table" tells us that the table supports the apple.

Adjectives followed by 'on' usually indicate that one person or thing depends on another.

My adult son is too (financially) dependent on me; he needs to get a job. (= I support my son too much)
This movie is based on a true story. (= the true story supports the movie)

Adj + 'to'

The preposition 'to' indicates the direction of an action. In the sentence, "I gave some cake to her", we know that the cake went from 'I' to 'her'.

Adjectives followed by 'to' usually indicate the direction of an action or behavior:

The document is attached to the email. (= document → email)
Don’t be rude to a customer. (= rudeness → customer)
Susan is married to John. (= Susan is married → John)

Exercise 2

Dialogue Practice

Read the dialogues aloud with your tutor.

	Sarah I don't like Jamie. She is always so rude to me!
	Haruto She is mean to everyone.
	Sophie Really? She was nice to me.
	Haruto Your impression is based on the one time you met her though!

	Hyun-woo I quit my job after getting married to Stephanie.
	Grace Really? So you are financially dependent on her now?
	Hyun-woo Well, I was never good at my job anyways.

	Arisa How are you so good at English?
	Phuong I used to be terrible at English. But since I started working, I've been exposed to English speakers every day.
	Arisa I wish I were better at English. I'm very dependent on dictionaries and translation tools.

Exercise 3

Fill in the Blanks

Fill in the blanks with at, to or on to complete the sentences.

You don't seem keen playing tennis.

You don't seem keen start this project.

Julie has been engaged Alex for six months.

I am not good playing tennis.

This theory is based my own experiences.

The file is attached the email.

I am exposed English everyday.

Exercise 4

Sentence Building

Make sentences using at, to or on and the following words.

bad, making decisions → Rachel is very bad at making decisions.

dependent, car
rude, customers
excellent, basketball
keen, watch the movie
based, real story
opposed, her opinion
angry, rude staff
dependent, child