abandon to:  They abandoned the village to the advancing army. 

abstain from:  The delegates decided to abstain from voting.

acclimate to:  The sooner she acclimates to living in this big city the better it is for her.

accuse of:  They accuse him of not telling the truth.

acquaint with:  Fred would like to get acquainted with the new neighbour’s daughter.

acquit of:  The jury acquitted him of murder.

act for:  John is looking for an experienced lawyer to act for him.

act on:  Acting on a tip-off, police launched a pre-dawn raid on a house.

adapt to:  I find it hard to adapt myself to my new workplace.

adapt for:  Shakespeare’s plays have been adapted for children.

adapt from:  The play had been adapted from a novel.

add to:  Increase in fuel prices will add to the cost of the project.

adjust to:  She took a while to get herself adjusted to her new surroundings.

admit to:  He admitted to eating my pizza.

admit into:  Those without tickets will not be admitted into the stadium.

advance towards:  The army advanced rapidly towards the capital.

advise on:  We appointed him to advise us on all financial matters.

advise to:  The group members were advised to arrive early

affix to:  Wong affixed the stamp to the wrong corner of the envelope.

afflict with:  He’s severely afflicted with an unknown disease.

agree on:  They belong to different parties, but they agree on everything.

alternate with: Jack and Jill alternated with each other in bathing the dog.

apologize for:  He apologized for the awful thing he said.

appeal to:  The organization appealed to the public for blood donation.

appear from:  It appears from what he says that he did all the work.

apply to:  The restrictions do not apply to foreigners.

approve of:  His mother does not approve of his smoking.

argue against:  He argued against inviting her to the party.

argue for:  She argued for having her at the party.

argue with:  Why do you argue with everybody including me?

arrange for:  We have arranged for Bob to meet you at the airport.

arrive at:  By the time we arrived at his place, he had already left.

assent to:  The members assented to the proposal without much debate.

assist in:  He volunteered to assist me in organizing the festival.

 

balk at:  Jim balked at doing what he has to do.

band against:  The workers banded against the takeover of the business by an outsider.

bargain with:  The retailer bargained with the wholesaler for bulk discounts.

beg for:  I beg for forgiveness from God for all the sins I’ve committed.

beg with:  I beg with her that she will leave me for good.

begin by:  The comedian began the show by performing the pigeon mating dance.

benefit from:  The whole of mankind has benefited from the advancements in science.

bequeath to:  What her father bequeathed to her included a collection of rare stamps.

beset with:  His journey across the desert was beset with all sorts of danger.

bestow on:  The President bestowed a medal for bravery on him.

betray to: The leader was betrayed to the police by gang members.

beware of:  We should always beware of pickpocket in crowded places.

blame for:  He was unfairly blamed for something he did not do.

blush at:  He blushes at the thought of befriending her.

boast about:  Crocket always boasts about his knowledge of crocodiles.

boast of:  He keeps boasting of his new wife.

borrow from:  Each time I borrow six books from the library.

bother about:  I’m not really bothered about getting along with my mother-in-law.

bother with: Let’s not bother with waiting for a bus. Let’s go by taxi.

brag about:  He’s always bragging about his newfound wealth.

brag of::  Brain likes to brag of having the most beautiful girlfriend.

brood over:  She’s still brooding over the separation between her and her husband.

build of:  One of the three little pigs’ houses was built of straw.

burden with:  Mary burdens me with her troubles as if I have no problems of my own.

 

care about:  All she cares about is talking about other people.

caution about:  The policeman cautioned him about his fast driving.

caution against:  The zookeeper cautioned them against feeding the animals.

cede to:  Alaska was ceded to the United States by Russia.

celebrated for:  The country celebrated for its scenery, food and wine.

chance on/upon:  I was very shocked to chance upon a decaying human body.

characterize by:  Must we always characterize people by their appearances?

charge against:  We are not allowed to charge personal expenditure against profits.

charge at:  Last night I dreamed about ten rhinoceroses charging at me in a shopping mall.

charge for:  I will not buy it if they charge for delivery.

charge in:  A woman has been charged in connection with the bank robbery.  

charge into:  She charged into my room uninvited.

charge to:  My wife charged all her shopping to my account.

charge with:  They finally arrested the man and charged him with multiple murders.

choose between:  She had to choose between giving up her career or hiring a nanny.

cite for:  Lack of sleep was cited as the main reason for her frequent feelings of exhaustion.

clamour for:  The crowd clamoured noisily for his instant resignation.

clear of:  We are clearing the blocked drain of debris.

clutter up:  My desk is always cluttered up with piles of papers, books and stationery.

coincide with:  My view on this case coincides exactly with yours.

collect for:  So far they have collected only a few signatures for the petition.

collide with:  Her car collided with a taxi.

combine with:  She successfully combines her career with family responsibilities.

comment on:  People are always commenting on my big ears.

commit to:  He ought to be committed to a mental asylum for the way he behaves.

communicate with:  I’ve learnt how to use sign language to communicate with the chimpanzee.

commute between:  People commute daily between their home and workplace.

commute from:.  His sentence was later commuted from death sentence to life imprisonment.

compare to:  Compared to the monkey, our bodies are less hairy.

compensate for:  The company will compensate you for the loss of a thumb.

compete with:  Small independent shops find it hard to compete with the large supermarkets.

compete against:  Businesses have to compete against each other to survive.

complain about:  My mother-in-law always complains about the weather.

compliment on:  Many members of the audience complimented her on her speech.

comply with:  Most of the time we have to comply with regulations.

compose of:  How many letters does the longest word compose of?

conceal from:  He had to conceal the truth from his wife.

concede to:  The candidate conceded victory to his opponent.

conceive of:  It is rather difficult to conceive of a crime-free environment.

concentrate on:  It is hard to concentrate on my reading with the dogs barking loudly outside.

concern about:  Some parents do not show concern about what their children do.

concern with:  She does not concern herself with other people’s problems.

conclude by:  He concluded his speech by thanking everyone for being present.

concur with:  After the discussion, they concurred with each other on this issue.

confer with:  The councilors are conferring with each other to find a solution to the problem.

confer on:  An honorary degree was conferred on him by the university.

confess to:  He confessed to being a double agent.

confine to:  Dr Quack was confined to his room by a bout of flu.

confirm by:  The public negative perception of the crisis was confirmed by the latest poll results.

confuse with:  The teacher always confused one twin with the other – they look so alike.

congratulate on:  They congratulate her on her superb performance on stage.

consent to:  Her mother would not consent to her marriage.

consign to:  The cases of wine have already been consigned to the wine merchant.

consort with:  He was suspected of consorting with the enemy.

consult about:  She consulted her doctor about the painful lump on her nose.

contract for:  The company contracted for the supply of fuel.

contrast with:  He contrasted his present girlfriend with his former one.

converge on:  A huge crowd converged on the palace ground to listen to the President.

converse with:  They find it hard to converse with each other as each holds a different view.

convert from:  John was converted from paganism to Christianity at an early age.

convert into:  We were shown the process of converting iron into steel.

convince by:  He was not easily convinced by her arguments.

convince of:  She tried to convince me of her non-involvement.

convulsed with:  They were convulsed with laughter to see the circus clown perform.

cooperate with:  The accused’s colleagues are cooperating fully with police investigation.

cope with:  Although a single mother, she has no problem coping with a baby and a full-time job.

correlate with:  Meagre wages were found to correlate with high staff turnover.

correspond to:  Information on the first copy does not correspond to that on its duplicate copy.

correspond with:  I still correspond regularly with her although we are both married.

couple with:  Heavy drinking coupled with late nights caused his health to deteriorate rapidly.

cram for:  Study throughout the year and you avoid cramming for the exam at the last minute.

cram with:  She crammed her attic with a lot of worthless stuff.

crave for:  Since the death of her mother, she has been craving desperately for affection.

credit to:  The refund was credited to my account.

crow about:  I still think passing my exam is nothing to crow about.

cry over:  Why waste our time crying over him?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

dabble in:  When I was little I used to dabble in water. 

dance to:  As soon as the music is played, couples got up and danced to it.

debate on:  People are unhappy that there has been no public debate on these issues.

debate with:  I see no point in debating with someone who holds extremist views.

declare to:  He declared to us that he will be unable to chair the meeting.

declare on:  The African nation has declared war on locusts which destroyed crops.

decrease from:  The prison population has decreased from ten thousands to nine thousands.

decrease in:  Human beings decrease in size as they grow older.

dedicate to:  He has dedicated his entire life to helping the homeless.

deduce from:  The police deduced from the evidence that more than one person were involved.

defeat by:  Our team was defeated by two goals to one.

defraud of:  The accountant defrauded his company of tens of thousands of dollars.

delegate to:  An able administrator should be able to delegate authority to the right person.

deliberate about/on:  They spent hours deliberating on the matter.

deliver to:  The postman delivered the letter to her house.

demand from:  They demanded an apology from me for something I said.

demote from:  The soldier was demoted from sergeant to corporal.

denounce for:  He was widely denounced for his deviant religious teachings.

depart from:  The first train departs from Birmingham at 6.00 a.m. tomorrow.

deprive of:  The prisoners of war were deprived of proper medical attention.

describe to:  The main witness described briefly to the police what happened.

desist from:  He was warned to desist from such undesirable behaviour.

despair of:  She despaired of reviving the relationship that existed between her and Jack.

detect in:  He detected a change in her attitude towards her.

deter from:  Heavier penalties may deter motorists from committing more traffic offences.

deviate from:  We had to deviate from our usual route due to a fallen tree across it.

die from:  My dog died from its wounds sustained in a fight with another dog.

die of:  More and more people are dying of cancer of various parts of their bodies.

differ from:  Humans differ from monkeys in their not having a tail.

digress from:  The story-teller digressed from his story for a while.

direct to:   He directed the traveler to the railway station.

disabuse of:  I didn’t say anything to disabuse him of that belief.

disapprove of:  Mother strongly disapproves of her daughter dying her hair red and blue.

discharge from:  He was certified clinically insane and discharged from the army.

disconcert by:  We were disconcerted by her statement.

discourage by:  She is easily discouraged by adverse criticisms.

discourage from:  Incentives have been cited to discourage students from playing truant..

discriminate against: You should not discriminate against people from ethnic minorities.

discriminate between:  We were unable to discriminate between fake and genuine goods.

disguise as:  He disguised as a clown to entertain children.

disgusted by:  They were disgusted by her antisocial behaviour.

dismiss from:  She was unfairly dismissed from her job.

dispossess of:  The captors dispossessed the captives of their valuables.

disqualify from:  He was disqualified from participating for flouting a rule.

dissent form:  John dissented from the majority opinion.

dissuade from:  His mother dissuaded Mike from taking up car racing.

distinguish between:  It is important to distinguish between fact and fiction in the film.

distinguish from:  It’s difficult to distinguish one of the twins from the other.

distinguish in:  He distinguished himself by scoring the highest number of goals in the season.

distract from:  He is easily distracted from whatever he’s doing by the slightest noise.

diverge from:  The path diverges from here and we don’t know which one to follow.

divert from: Traffic had to be diverted from the main road due to a major accident.

divide between/among:  The money was to be divided equally among the children.

drive for:  You look tired; why not let him drive the car for you?

drive to:  I always like to drive to the sea-side.

 

elaborate on:  He refused to elaborate on his next course of action.

eliminate from:  Jack was eliminated from the competition by a stronger opponent.

embody in:  The ideals of equality and freedom are embodied in the country’s constitution.

embroil in:  Bob found himself unexpectedly embroiled in a heated argument.

emerge from:  When the deer emerged from behind the bush, the hunter shot it dead.

emigrate from:  When his family emigrated from their homeland, he was only five years old.

employ as:  Ryan was employed as a security officer at the airport.

encompass by:  The entire area was encompassed by a dense forest.

encourage by:  We were greatly encouraged by the massive support for our proposal.

engross in:  Granny often engrossed herself in her writing. 

enjoin from:  He was enjoined by law to stay away from her.

enrage by:  She was enraged by his derogatory comments.

enrich by:  My life has certainly been enriched by extensive reading.

entitle to:  Everybody is entitled to his or her own opinion.

entrust to:  The parents entrusted their baby to a nanny when they had to go overseas.

entrust with:  I entrusted her with the responsibility to manage the business while I was away.

envelope in:  The mountain peaks were enveloped in clouds.

equip for:  I think we are well equipped for the climb.

escape from:  The prisoner was captured two months after he escaped from the prison.

escape with:  She was very lucky to escape with her life.

estimate at:  The crowd of protesters was estimated at three thousands.

excel in:  Johnny excels in a number of things including swimming.

exclude from:  They exclude us from the trip.

excuse from:  We requested to be excused from participating.

expatiate on:  Once again he is expatiating on his favourite topic of communism.

expect from:  Wives expect faithfulness from their husbands.

expect of:  Faithfulness is expected of a husband.

expend on:  The government has to date expended two million dollars on the housing project.

explain to:  The mystery was not fully explained to the viewers.

export to:  The country exports huge quantities of military wares to third world countries.

extract from:  After five hours of interrogation, the police extracted a confession from him.

extricate from:  Finally, he managed to extricate himself from a very difficult situation.

 

feel like:  Sometimes I feel like taking a walk in the rain.

feel toward:  I can’t describe how I feel toward that girl but I think I like her.

fight against:  The defending champion is going to fight against the challenger tonight.

fight for:  Freedom is something that is always worth fighting for.

figure on:  I was figuring on meeting him tomorrow.

fill with:  We have filled all the glasses with wine and are now ready to propose a toast.

focus on:  The astronomer focused his telescope on the comet.

fool with: He fooled with his neighbour’s dog once too often and got badly bitten on the hand.

forget about:  James drank a bit too much and forgot about catching the train home.

forgive for:  I will not forgive him for not forgiving me for what I said about him.

fret about:  She always has something to fret about.

frighten by:  Mrs. Muffet was frightened by a hairy spider while sitting on a park bench.

frown at:  The lady frowned at him for talking very loudly on his cell phone.

furnish with:  Each of the six bedrooms is furnished with a big desk, swivel chair and soft rug.