I love to teach prepositions! In this post, I want to teach you some common examples of adjectives with the preposition OF.
I wrote lots of natural examples using this grammar. Examples that native speakers use in natural conversation.
Adjectives of feeling + OF
Here are some adjectives of feeling that make us uncomfortable
| afraid of | Jason is afraid of clowns. |
| frightened of | Are you frightened of anything? |
| scared of | I’m not scared of spiders. |
| terrified of | Pauline is terrified of cockroaches. |
Adjectives like afraid, frightened, and scared are used with of – then the subject. Adjective with feeling + of + the thing that gives us that feeling.
For example:
“Walter is afraid of heights.” = He doesn’t like high places.
“When I was small I was afraid of the dark.”
“Shelly is scared of dogs, she got bit by a dog when she was 7.” = Shelly doesn’t like to be around dogs.
“My dog is very small and gentle so maybe Shelley would like him. He is also really scared of other dogs.”
A: “Do you want to see my pet spider?”
B: “No thanks! I’m terrified of spiders!”
Some other Adjectives with the preposition OF
MORE Adjectives of feeling
| proud of | My brother lost 4 kgs. I’m very proud of him. |
| fond of | I’m not fond of horror movies. |
| jealous of | Felicity has always been jealous of her older sister. |
| ashamed of | I’m ashamed of how I acted at the party. |
Adjectives like proud, fond, jealous, and ashamed are used with of – then the subject.
proud – feeling pleased and satisfied about something that you own or have done, or are connected with
“My son just won his first karate tournament! I’m so proud of him!”
“I’m proud of you son!”
“Why did I eat so much! I’m not very proud of myself. Ugghhhh….”
jealous (of somebody/something) feeling angry or unhappy because you wish you had something that somebody else has
“Robert’s co-worker Henry always gets more interesting assignments than him. Robert is jealous of him.”
“Young children can feel jealous of a new baby who takes everyone’s attention.”
ashamed feeling shame or feeling embarrassed about somebody/something or because of something you have done
“It’s natural to feel sad. It’s nothing to be ashamed of.”
“I ate 3 pieces of cake at lunch, I’m ashamed of myself now.”
Even more Adjectives with the preposition OF
| aware of | I was not aware of that. |
| full of | Next year will be full of opportunities for everyone. |
| tired/sick of | I’m tired of bad news. I want to hear something positive. |
Aware of – to know something, to have some information.
“The company president spent $50,000 on business lunches last year! Were you aware of that?” – Did you know that?
“$50,000?! I’m shocked! Are the company shareholders aware of that.”
“Main street is becoming a one way street on Saturday! I wasn’t aware of that.” – I didn’t have that information.
Full of – a large amount
“Oscar’s homework was full of mistakes so the teacher asked him to do it again.” – There were many mistakes.
“My neighbor’s marriage was full of problems, I heard them fighting all the time. I’m not surprised they got a divorce.” – They had a lot of problems.
Sick/Tired of – to have too much of something, we don’t want any more.
“We have spaghetti every night for dinner. Let’s have pizza tonight, I’m tired of spaghetti.” – Recently we’ve had too much spaghetti, I don’t want any more.
“Andrew is always late. Our boss is getting tired of his behavior.” – Andrew has been late too many times, our boss doesn’t want him to be late any more.
“Andrew you’re late again! I’m tired of waiting for you!”
“Oh no! Not more spaghetti! I’m sick of spaghetti!”
3 MORE Adjectives with the preposition OF
| typical of | They raised the prices again! That’s typical of this store. |
| sure of | It will rain tomorrow, I’m sure of it. |
| capable of | People are capable of amazing things! |
Typical of – it’s usual; it happens very often. * This is used with a negative meaning most of the time.
“Andrew is late again! That’s typical of him to make us wait.”
A: “Sorry Brad, your brother Derrick ate the last brownie at lunch.”
B: “That’s typical of Derrick, he’s very selfish.”
Sure of – to be positive that something will happen.
“Andrew will be late again tomorrow, I’m sure of it.”
“The clouds look very dark, the sky is almost black. It will rain soon, I’m sure of it.”
“Better take an umbrella, the rain is coming. I’m sure of it.”
Capable of – can do (something); is able to do (something)
“Eric gave a great speech yesterday! I didn’t think he was capable of talking to such a big audience.”
“People don’t know what they’re capable of until they are in a stressful situation.”
“I’m always nervous right before I give a speech. I’m never sure of what will happen!”
Definitions are from Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary
Has today’s blog post been helpful for you? Do you feel more confident to use these prepositions? Be sure to check out my other preposition blog posts, videos, and more. Have a look at my Resource page too for more helpful English tools courses and freebies.
- English Prepositions with Verbs ending in -ING (+ Video)
- 50 of the Most Common English Prepositions (Examples + PDF)
- Nouns + Prepositions – 75 Examples + Video (Intermediate)
- General English Preposition Quiz (Test your Knowledge)
- Adjectives + Prepositions (95 Combinations + Video)
- How to Use the prepositions IN AT ON (Graphics, Story, Videos)
- ON time or IN time? (Learn FAST with Video)
This is fantastically helpful!
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