K to P Prepositions

Question 1

to be kind to

Answer 1

to treat sb / sth in a gentle and friendly way

e.g. He was always very kind to me.

Question 2

to be lacking in sth

Answer 2

not to have enough of sth

e.g. His problems stem from the fact that he is lacking in confidence.

Question 3

to lapse into another language

Answer 3

to start speaking in a different language (especially your mother tongue)
e.g. When she got excited she had a tendency to lapse into Italian.

Question 4

to lavish praise on sb / sth

Answer 4

to say that sth (particularly a book or film) is very good

e.g. “You can’t expect the critics to lavish praise on everything you write,” she said.

Question 5

to be licensed to do sth

Answer 5

to have official permission to do sth, or to sell sth

e.g. We are not licensed to sell fireworks.

Question 6

to liken sb / sth to sb / sth else

Answer 6

to say or write that sth / sb is similar to sth / sb else

e.g. The poet likens the lady to a summer’s day.

Question 7

to long for sth

Answer 7

(literary) to really want sth

e. g. She longed for him to take her dancing.

Question 8

to marvel at

Answer 8

to be very surprised by sth (because it is very good, very clever, etc) and to admire it as a result
e.g. He marvelled at the way she dealt with the problem.

Question 9

to meddle in sb’s life / affairs

Answer 9

to interfere in a situation which does not concern you, causing other people problems
e.g. Now she hates you. That’s what you get for meddling in her affairs.

Question 10

to meet with little / no success

Answer 10

(formal) to be unsuccessful

e. g. The minister tried to persuade the union to call off the strike, but met with little success.

Question 11

to merge with

Answer 11

to join together to form one (company)

e.g. If BMY merges with Vectron, the resulting company will become the biggest automobile manufacturer in the world.

Question 12

to model sth on sth else

Answer 12

to design a particular system (educational, legal, electoral, transport, etc) so that it is a copy of another system
e.g. They’ve modelled their electoral system on ours.

Question 13

to be a newcomer to

Answer 13

to have recently started / arrived

e.g. We’re newcomers to this area.

Question 14

to be noted for

Answer 14

to be well known and admired for [Note: to be notorious for: to be well known for having a bad quality]
e.g. This region of Chile is noted for its beautiful mountain scenery.
Chanta Air is notorious for its appalling in-flight service.

Question 15

to be obsessed with

Answer 15

not to be able to stop thinking about sth

e.g. He is obsessed with football.

Question 16

It never occurred to me that / to do sth

Answer 16

at no time did I think that / of doing sth [Note: for questions Didn’t it ever occur to you that… (criticism is implied), Did it ever occur to you that… (no criticism is implied)
e.g. It never occurred to him that she might / would be offended by what he said.
Didn’t it ever occur to you that I might be worried?
Did it ever occur to you that your book would become the biggest selling novel of all time?

Question 17

to be opposed to

Answer 17

to disagree with and disapprove of sth

e.g. I’m not coming with you. I’m (totally) opposed to bullfighting.

Question 18

to persist in

Answer 18

to continue to do sth even though you have previously been warned or told not to
e.g. If you persist in being late, you will be expelled.

Question 19

a place is plunged into darkness

Answer 19

the lights suddenly go off in a place and it becomes very dark
e.g. An electrical fault plunged the area into darkness.

Question 20

to be popular with

Answer 20

to be liked by

e.g. This kind of music is popular with teenagers.

Question 21

to be powerless to do sth

Answer 21

to be unable to do sth because you lack legal power / authority / enough strength
e.g. Heavily outnumbered, the police were powerless to prevent the rioters from entering the palace.

Question 22

to pretend to / that

Answer 22

to behave as if you did or felt sth when in fact you didn’t
e.g. He pretended to be surprised.
He pretended that he hadn’t heard.

Question 23

to be pressed / pushed for time

Answer 23

to be in a hurry and hence have very little time to do sth

e.g. I think I’m going to take a cab. I’m a bit pressed for time.

Question 24

to prevent sb / sth from doing sth

Answer 24

to stop sb from doing sth

e.g. The government has introduced price controls in order to prevent the economy from spinning out of control.

Question 25

to pride yourself on sth / the fact that

Answer 25

to be proud of
e.g. The Venice Film Festival prides itself on being the arty alternative to the more commercially orientated Cannes Film Festival.

Question 26

prior to

Answer 26

(formal) before
Opp: subsequent to
e.g. We did a lot of market research prior to launching this product.