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surprised
E.g. They were annoyed at being disturbed. With some of these adjectives dis/pleased, disappointed,
bored, dis/satisfied, annoyed, etc. the preposition "with" is quite common. "With" indicates what a state,
quality or action relate to.
It is used with
acquainted infected mixed up
confronted intoxicated occupied
connected
E.g. The prisoner was confronted with accusers. He is connected with the Smiths by marriage. He is
occupied with a translation of a French novel.
"With" is also used to indicate that something is filled or covered with a substance or with things after
the following adjectives:
adorned embroidered inlaid packed
covered engraved littered patterned
draped filled loaded stuffed
edged furnished overgrown suffused
E.g. The walls were covered with bookshelves. A dark veil was embroidered with lace.
One other grammatical structure with a preposition that may cause a difficulty with non-native
speakers is an of N phrase.
Of N is common with inanimate nouns: the topic of the lecture, the roof of a shed.
In measure, partitive and appositive expressions the of N phrase is usual except for temporal measure
(a month's rest) and in idioms such as "his money's worth," "at arm's length" (note: for the life of
me/him).
The of N and N's N phrases are sometimes interchangeable, we can say: my friend's name — the name
of my friend, but: your father's car and the beginning of the term.
We use an of-pattern with people when there is a long phrase or a clause. E.g. In the hall hung photos
of well-known sportsmen of this area.
Both patterns are used with nouns that do not refer directly to people but suggest human activity or
organization:
Scotland's rivers — the rivers of Scotland
the company's head office — the head office of the company.
Double possessives incorporating "of" and N's are common with proper nouns when the reference is
definite and personal:
a novel of Conrad's
a symphony of Beethoven's
a friend of my father's
a painting of Picasso's.
Complete the conversation with the possessive 's form or "of."
Jenny: What's the name of the shop (name/shop) where you bought your new trousers?
Jane: 1 ... (Luciano/Boutique). The owner's Italian.
Jenny: Where is it?
Jane: Oh, dear. I know where it is, but I can't remember 2 ... (name/street). It isn't far from 3 ...
(Charly/Cafe). You turn right and it's at the 4 ... (end/street).
Jenny: Well, I suppose I'll find it. What was the 5 ... (name/ assistant) who served you?
Jane: Angela. She lives next door to us. She usually works in the 6 ... (men/department) but when it's
busy she works in the 7 ... (ladies/department) as well.
Jenny: How much were the things you bought?
Jane: I've forgotten the exact 8 ... (price/blouse), but the trousers were 12.99 pounds.
Jenny: That's cheap. I'll go there this afternoon.
Key: 1 Luciano's Boutique; 2 name of the street; 3 Charly's Cafe; 4 end of the street; 5 name of the
assistant; 6 men's department 7 ladies' department; 8 price of the blouse.