AT vs. IN (ADJECTIVE WITH DEPENDENT PREPOSITIONS)

Happy Friday everyone and welcome back to the Daily Vitamin!

Many adjectives also have dependent prepositions. This means that if you use the adjective with an object, you must use a preposition. Again, the best way to remember these prepositions is to learn them together with the adjective.

And also, remember that after a preposition you must use a noun or a gerund (-ing verb form).

Here are some expressions that use adjectives with the prepositions AT and IN:

⇒ To be good or bad at something
It means: to do something well or do something badly.

Example 1: I am good at thinking of new ideas, but am bad at planning.

⇒ To be hopeless or useless at something
It means: to do something very badly, to show no ability or skill in an activity.

Example 2: He is hopeless / useless at sport because he's very uncoordinated.

⇒ To be angry at something / someone
It means: to have negative feelings, to be annoyed.

Example 3: I was angry at Alison for a week after our argument; but now we're friends again.

⇒ To be interested in something / someone
It means: to have a feeling that you want to know about something or someone.

Example 4: The children are quite interested in the solar system. Why don't we take them to the planetarium?

⇒ To be lacking in something
It means: to say that something does not exist or is not available.

Example 5: This town is lacking in some very basic services, such as primary schools, public transport and medical centres.

As always, I encourage you to write your own sentences with one or more of these expressions with IN and AT and post them on one of our social media sites (Facebook or Bluesky). We will give you feedback about your writing ASAP.

I hope the rest of your day goes well, and I hope you have an excellent weekend. 

All the best!