Fixed Prepositions: 25 High-Frequency Verbs That Reject Intuition

Read this sentence: “We discussed about the plan.” Does it sound right? To most of us it does, and that’s exactly the problem. It’s wrong, and it has cost students marks in error spotting for years.

Fixed prepositions are the one grammar area where your intuition works against you. You can’t reason your way to “depend on” or “differ from.” The English language simply decided, and you have to know. The good news is that exams don’t test hundreds of these. A small set of high-frequency verbs shows up again and again, and in this guide you’ll learn 25 of them, sorted into five groups with a memory trick for each.

If you want the basics first, start with our earlier guide on fixed prepositions after verbs. This post goes deeper into the verbs that fool even confident students.

Why intuition fails with prepositions

There are two reasons, and both are fixable once you see them.

Reason 1: we translate. When a Hindi or Marathi sentence says “is baare mein baat karna,” our brain adds “about” and produces “discuss about.” But English built “discuss” to carry that meaning on its own. The preposition is already inside the verb.

Reason 2: we trust synonyms. “Talk” takes “about,” so we assume “discuss” does too. “Answer” takes nothing, but “reply” takes “to.” Two verbs with the same meaning can behave differently, and no rule predicts which.

So stop looking for logic. Treat each verb and its preposition as a single block, the way you’d learn a phone number. “Depend on” is one unit. “Listen to” is one unit. Once you store them that way, your intuition stops interfering.

Hindi and Marathi translation traps

Most of the errors in this guide come from translating word by word. Here are five patterns I see again and again. Notice how the “natural” English version is the wrong one.

What we think in Hindi or Marathi	What the brain writes	What English wants
is baare mein charcha karna	discuss about	discuss the issue
se shaadi karna	marry with	marry her / get married to her
ka intezaar karna	wait the bus	wait for the bus
ko sunna	listen the song	listen to the song
se alag hona	differ than	differ from

Do you see the pattern? When your own language uses a small joining word, you carry it into English. When English hides the preposition inside the verb, you add one that isn’t needed. Neither habit is a flaw in your intelligence. It’s just how languages travel, and the five-box map is the antidote.

The 5-box memory map

Twenty-five verbs sound heavy until you drop them into five boxes. Each box has one picture to remember.

Before you pick a preposition in the exam, name the box first. That one step stops most guessing. My Prepositions ebook uses the same box-by-box approach, with more verbs and plenty of practice.

The 25 verbs in five groups

Box 1: ON and OF (5 verbs)

Memory trick: “ON is for leaning, OF is for parts and opinions.” You lean on a person (depend, insist, and congratulate someone on an achievement). A thing is made of parts, and you have an opinion of something (consist of, approve of). Note that “consist” never takes the passive. Also, “approve of” is about opinions, but when an authority sanctions something you write “approve the proposal” with no preposition.

Box 2: TO (5 verbs)

Memory trick: “A parcel travels TO an address.” Words, sounds, ownership and preference all travel toward a target. “To” here is a preposition, so a verb after it takes -ing: “She objects to being interrupted.” Also, “answer” takes no preposition at all (“He answered my email”), which is a classic trap beside “reply to.”

Box 3: FOR (5 verbs)

Memory trick: “Wise Aspirants Search, Ask, Thank, Wait.” The first letters (W, A, S, A, T) cover Wait, Apply, Search, Ask, Thank. Picture yourself chasing something you want, and the chase always takes FOR. One careful point: you search a place for a thing (“searched the room for his keys”), but you search for the thing itself when the place isn’t mentioned.

Box 4: IN, FROM, WITH and AT (5 verbs)

Memory trick: “IN is inside an event.” You take part in a quiz and succeed in an exam because you’re inside the process. “Differ FROM” keeps things at a distance, and you laugh at someone the way you point a finger AT them. For “agree,” remember: with people, to plans.

Box 5: NONE, the naked five

These verbs take no preposition. Adding one is the most common error of all.

Memory trick: “Dear Mom Makes Rice Rolls.” D-M-M-R-R gives you Discuss, Mention, Marry, Resemble, Reach. Think of them as naked verbs: they’re already complete, so don’t dress them in a preposition. The same group includes “enter,” “attend,” “approach” and “contact.” With “marry,” the preposition appears only in “get married to someone,” and with “reach,” you switch to “arrive at a place” or “arrive in a city.”

Quick reference table

Screenshot this for your revision folder.

Box	Verbs
ON / OF	depend on, insist on, consist of, approve of, congratulate on
TO	listen to, reply to, object to, belong to, prefer … to
FOR	wait for, apply for, search for, ask for, thank … for
IN / FROM / WITH / AT	participate in, succeed in, differ from, agree with/to, laugh at
NONE	discuss, mention, marry, resemble, reach

Verbs with two correct prepositions

Some verbs change meaning when the preposition changes. Examiners love these, because intuition can’t help you.

The trick is to ask yourself what comes next. A person or a thing? An action or a reason? Let the object choose the preposition.

Noun and adjective forms keep the same bond

Here’s a useful bonus. When a verb turns into a noun or adjective, the preposition often stays attached, so learning one form helps you with the others.

Two exceptions to remember. The noun “discussion” can take “about” or “of,” even though the verb never does. And “independent” takes “of,” not “from,” which examiners enjoy testing. So “She is dependent on her parents, but he is independent of his.”

5 common mistakes in exams

Common exam pattern: error spotting sentences where all four parts look smooth, but one carries a wrong preposition after a high-frequency verb. If you notice a verb from this list, check its box immediately before reading further.

The 5-step preposition check

That fifth step catches the “insisted to go” error, and it’s worth ten seconds in the paper.

A pattern teachers see every year

Students often learn these verbs in a list, recognise them in a list, and still get them wrong in a passage. The reason is that list-learning trains recognition, not retrieval. In a real sentence, the verb arrives with all its surrounding words, and your brain falls back on translation.

The fix is small. Pick five verbs a day, write one sentence for each from your own life, and say each sentence aloud. “My brother depends on me for notes.” “I waited for the train.” Your own sentences stick far better than textbook ones, and in five days you’ve covered all 25.

The 5-day revision plan

You don’t need a month. Spend about twenty minutes a day, one box at a time.

On day six, test yourself with the practice set below, and keep a list of every verb you got wrong. Revisit that list for a week. Most learners find that only three or four verbs keep fooling them, and those few deserve extra attention.

Expert tips for exam day

Practice set: fill in the blanks

These are original practice sentences written for this guide.

Round 1: spot the error

Each sentence below has one wrong preposition or one preposition that shouldn’t be there. Fix it before you read the answers.

1. She discussed about the issue with her teacher.
2. The committee is consisted of five members.
3. He insisted to take the exam again.
4. We have been waiting the bus since morning.
5. He congratulated me for my promotion.
6. The two plans differ than each other.
7. All the students participated on the debate.
8. The train reached to Mumbai at noon.

Round 2: fill in the blanks

Put a dash (–) where no preposition is needed.

1. The result depends ___ your last month’s revision.
2. She prefers walking ___ driving.
3. He insisted ___ meeting the manager.
4. I congratulate you ___ your success.
5. The students are waiting ___ the results.
6. Please listen ___ me carefully.
7. He succeeded ___ passing the exam.
8. This pen belongs ___ my sister.
9. She resembles ___ her mother.
10. Did you reply ___ his message?

Scored 8 or more? You’re in good shape. Scored below 6? Revisit Boxes 1 and 5, then try again tomorrow. For many more verbs with exercises and answers, my Prepositions ebook gives you a full practice bank.

Frequently asked questions

Is “discuss about” ever correct?

No. As a verb, “discuss” takes no preposition. The noun is different: “a discussion about the budget” is correct.

Can I say both “depend on” and “depend upon”?

Yes. “Upon” is more formal, and both are accepted. In exams, “on” is the usual answer option.

Why is it “prefer to” and not “prefer than”?

English fixed the pattern as “prefer X to Y.” “Than” belongs to the comparative structure “would rather walk than ride.”

How many fixed prepositions should I learn for SSC and bank exams?

Start with the 25 high-frequency verbs in this guide, then add more by category. Depth beats breadth: knowing these cold is worth more than half-knowing 200.

What’s the fastest way to remember them?

Use the five boxes, write one personal sentence per verb, and say it aloud. Five verbs a day finishes the list in five days.

Your next step

Fixed prepositions reward memory, not logic, and you now have a map: five boxes, 25 verbs, and a memory trick for each. Practise five a day, run the 5-step check in every error spotting question, and keep a list of the ones you miss.

When you want the complete treatment, with more verbs, exercises and answer keys, get my Prepositions ebook on Amazon: https://amzn.to/4k3Izyb

Which of the 25 verbs fooled you the most? Tell me in the comments, and I’ll explain it further.