Verb + Preposition: The Fixed Pairs
Some verbs always carry their preposition: listen to, depend on, wait for, look at. The pair is fixed — and different from your language’s pair.
Verb + Preposition
The fixed pairs
Some verbs refuse to travel alone: they always carry their preposition. The pair is one unit — learn them together, as a single word with a space.
Listen to
ears do thisI listened to the music
Depend on
you need itShe depends on her friends
Wait for
patience does thisThey waited for the bus
The pair is one unit
verb + preposition = fixedHe apologized for being late
⚠️ Learn the pair as one word: listen to, depend on, wait for, look at.
The Formula
verb + fixed preposition + noun
The verb carries its preposition, and the preposition carries the noun. The pair does not change — even in questions or negatives.
Ilistened tothe music
Shedepends onher friends
Theywaited forthe bus
Heapologized forbeing late
Common Mistakes
Four pair slips
The pair breaks when the preposition goes missing, when the wrong preposition steps in, or when a no-preposition verb gets decorated.
I listened music all evening.
I listened to music all evening.
💡 Listen carries its preposition: listen to.
She depends of her parents.
She depends on her parents.
💡 The pair is depend on — never depend of.
He is married with my sister.
He is married to my sister.
💡 Married takes to — a fixed pair.
We discussed about the plan.
We discussed the plan.
💡 Discuss takes no preposition at all.
Quick Quiz
Test what you just learned
Three minutes, five questions — check what stuck. No essay questions, we promise.
Please listen ___ me.
💡 Info supplémentaire2 sections
The Fixed Pairs
Match the verb with its preposition
Five verbs, five prepositions. The pair is the unit — never swap the halves.
⚠️ Learn verb and preposition together — the pair is one word with a space.
The Pair Families
Pairs by topic
The pairs gather in families. Learn the family and the preposition comes free.