Nouns, adjectives and verbs are often followed by prepositions. The question on most writers’ minds is which preposition to use. Guessing is not a good idea as you are likely to choose the wrong one. The only way to be sure is learn the combinations which you often use in your writing. As there are no rules governing these combinations, you should try your best to remember them. The more often you use each combination, the more natural they will become to you.
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Here, we'll look at nouns that are followed by prepositions. Here is a list of nouns, commonly used in business writing, and the prepositions normally used with them:
1) Common Noun + Preposition Combinations
| alternative to invitation to advice on benefit of cost of example of increase in, of decrease in, of lack of opinion of reason for rise in, of solution to reply to difference between |
order for demand for tax on request for price of need for interest in fall in, of trouble with cheque for application for advantage of experience of rate of matter with |
2) Example Sentences
| I would like your advice on this matter. Could you explain the difference between the two models? Recently, there has been an increase in demand for our products. I will try my best to find a solution to the problem. We regret that your application for a loan has not been successful. Could you let me know the rate of tax on company profits? There has been a lot of interest in our Tigger line of toys. |
3) Increases and Decreases
Words referring to increases and decreases can be followed by, in or of. In refers to something that has risen or fallen; of refers to a quantity or amount:
| There has been a large fall in unemployment over the last few months. An increase in profits has helped push up the company's share price. There was a fall of 4% on the London Footsie last week. A rise of 8% has been proposed for staff salaries next year. Costs have risen by 25% over the past six months. The company share price dropped by 6% in trading |