Participle Modifiers and Prepositions: describing emotional reactions

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Participle + Prep Complements
Participle Modifier & Preposition List
Common Mistakes
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Participle Modifiers with Prepositions

Describing emotional reactions

Participle modifiers are paired with specific prepositions.

Compare the word forms:

ACTIVE VOICE (verb)	PASSIVE VOICE (verb)	PARTICIPLE MODIFIER
A verb is the past tense focus on the action.	A passive verb focues on the receiver. With the by-phrase, the clause is clearly passive. Without ithe by-phrase, the word form coudl be a modifier.	A participial modifier complements the verb be. The optional prepositional phrase adds additional information.
NP	BY PHRASE	PREP PHRASE
The question surprised the President.	He was surprised (by the question.)	He was surprised at the question. (with, by)
The response confused the President.	He was confused (by the response.)	He was confused by the response.
The news amused the President.	He was amused (by the news.)	He was amused with the news. (with, by)
He entertained the press.	The press was entertained (by the President.)	The press was entertained by the President.
The problem concerned the President.	He was concerned (by the problem.)	He was concerned with the situation. (over, about)
The situation frustrated the President.	He was frustrated (by the situation.)	He was frustrated with the situation. (by)

See Part Mod 2 -ed / -ing

Categories: NP –noun phrase; N – noun; VP – verb phrase; V – verb; Det – determiner; PP – prepositional phrase; P – preposition; AdvP – adverb phrase; Adv – adverb; AdjP– adjective phrase; Adj – adjective

Participle + Preposition

Verb Complements

Comedian Fred Armisen /Barack Obama

Participle+Preposition Complements

NOUN or GERUND COMPLEMENT
A "be" verb (stative verb) commonly occurs before a participle + preposition combination. The expression is often followed by a noun phrase or a gerund clause.
PARTICIPLE + PREP	NP / GER COMPLEMENT
The President was surprised at	Fred's gestures. (NP) his gesturing. (GER)
He was amused by / with	his style of speaking. hearing his speech patterns.
He was impressed with	Fred's talent. his being so talented.
He was entertained by	the comedian's routine. watching his routine.
He was pleased about	the crowd's response. their responding well.

WH-CLAUSE COMPLEMENT
In a similar way, the participle + preposition combination may be followed by a wh-clause (who, whom, who, where, when, how, why).
PARTICIPLE + PREP	WH-CLAUSE COMPLEMENT
The President was surprised at	how good Fred was.
He was amused by / with	what Fred said.
He was impressed with	how talented Fred was.
He was entertained by	how Fred's routine.
He was pleased about	how they responded.

complement – a word, phrase or clause which is necessary in a sentence to complete its meaning.
gestures (n.) – movement with hands, head, and facial expressions
(NP) – noun phrase; (GER) – gerund or gerund clause (nonfinite clause)

You can use the COCA(BYU) database to find out how a particular expression is used in current writing and journalism. Enter the two-word expression and click search and check "context": http://corpus.byu.edu/coca/

Participle Modifier

Paired Preposition List

Participles Paired with Prepositions (Use may vary.)

ABOUT	AT	BY	FROM
aggrieved about (unfairly treated)	adept at (skilled)	amused by / with	alienated from
annoyed about the delay	alarmed at	confused by	divorced from
concerned about	amazed at	distressed by	made from / of
confused about / by	amused at / by / with	embarrassed by	protected from
delighted about	angry at / with	encouraged by	removed from
excited about	astonished at	entertained by	refrained from
pleased about	delighted about / at	exhausted by	stopped from
undecided about	gifted at (skilled)	frightened by	separated from
	pleased at / with	impressed by
AGAINST			FOR
discriminated against	puzzled at	overwhelmed by	known for
rallied against	skilled at	relaxed by	prepared for
	surprised at/ by/ with	terrified by	qualified for
	talented at	worried by	remembered for

IN	OF	TO	WITH
bathed in sunlight	ashamed of	accustomed to	amused with
clothed in	composed of	addicted to	acquainted with
covered in / with	convinced of	committed to	annoyed with
disappointed in / by/ with	frightened of / by	connected to	associated with
dressed in	made of / from	dedicated to	blessed with
engaged in work	scared of	devoted to	bored with
interested in	terrified of	engaged to	coordinated with
involved in	tired of	limited to	covered with
rooted in (origin)		married to	crowded with
		opposed to	disappointed with/in
		related to	fascinated with/by
	ON / UPON
	based on		filled with
	bent on		finished with
	(dependent on)		frustrated with
	(intent on)		furnished with
			impressed with/by
			pleased with
			satisfied with
			upset with

(CaGEL 6 §.3.1)

Common Mistakes

Errors and Solutions

ERROR	SOLUTION
He was interesting seeing the movie.	He was interested in seeing the movie. (The preposition "in" may be heard as -ing . Use the -ed form with "in")
I was embarrassing what she said.	I was embarrassed by what she said.

ERROR

SOLUTION

He was interesting seeing the movie.

He was interested in seeing the movie. (The preposition "in" may be heard as -ing . Use the -ed form with "in")

I was embarrassing what she said.

I was embarrassed by what she said.

Practice 1

Pairing Prepositions with Participle Modifiers

Decide which preposition to use with each participial modifier.

Select the word from each menu that best completes the sentence. (Preposition usage varies among English speaking communities.)
Compare your response to the answer by clicking the "check" button.