Dependent & Figurative Prepositions

Article excerpt · target grammar marked

BP's calculator was effective not at reducing emissions but at redirecting blame. Fossil fuel companies spent decades casting doubt on collective solutions and lobbying for a system that externalised its costs onto future generations.

Grammar Reference · Dependent & Figurative Prepositions

Dependent prepositions

Fixed combinations of verb or adjective + preposition. She was averse to collective solutions. — must be memorised as a chunk.

Figurative

Prepositions used metaphorically to show direction of force or blame. The industry redirected attention onto the individual.

Formal register: at /

High-register phrases use at, in, on in fixed patterns. This was done at enormous public expense. — at for cost or risk.

Common error: in vs.

In a decade (ambiguous) vs. within a decade (boundary clear). Use within for time limits.

01Exercise 1 — Form · Write the Correct Form

Dependent & Figurative Prepositions

1.The campaign was effective shifting public attention away from corporate accountability.

2.Think tanks spent years casting doubt the credibility of binding international agreements.

3.Critics argue that the industry is responsible externalising enormous costs onto the atmosphere.

4.The policy was eventually lobbied existence through decades of sustained industry pressure.

5.Researchers documented how fossil fuel companies redirected blame consumers through the carbon footprint concept.

6.The article argues that the aggregate impact of individual choices falls far short what a carbon tax could achieve.

02Exercise 2 — Transform

rewrite with the new structure

1.The industry moved the blame towards the consumer deliberately.

2.She felt guilt about her personal emissions.

3.The subsidy came from public money and it was huge.

4.The companies questioned whether collective solutions were reliable.

5.The system was created because of successful lobbying.

6.The individual's choice happens inside a designed system.

7.They focused the debate on personal behaviour.

8.She had a dislike of collective regulation.

03Exercise 3 — About You

in your notebook

Personalise: complete five sentences about yourself using the target grammar.

Dependent & Figurative Prepositions01classplan.ai