Las preposiciones dependientes son una de las trampas más comunes del Use of English, sobre todo en la Part 1 (Multiple Choice Cloze) y la Part 2 (Open Cloze). El problema casi nunca es no saber inglés: es que en español usamos una preposición distinta y la cabeza tira hacia la traducción literal — "depend of" en vez de "depend on", "married with" en vez de "married to".
No hay una regla que las explique todas: hay que memorizarlas en bloque, como una unidad fija. Aquí tienes las más frecuentes en el examen, organizadas en tres grupos.
Adjetivo + preposición
| Adjetivo + preposición | Ejemplo |
|---|---|
| interested in | She's interested in Japanese culture. |
| afraid of | He's afraid of spiders. |
| good/bad at | I'm good at maths but bad at chemistry. |
| married to | She's been married to him for ten years. |
| responsible for | He's responsible for the whole project. |
| famous for | The city is famous for its architecture. |
| similar to / different from/to | This model is similar to the old one. |
| proud of | We're really proud of you. |
| capable of | She's capable of doing much more. |
| satisfied/disappointed with | I was disappointed with the results. |
Verbo + preposición
| Verbo + preposición | Ejemplo |
|---|---|
| depend on | It depends on the weather. |
| rely on | You can rely on her completely. |
| believe in | I believe in second chances. |
| apologise for | He apologised for being late. |
| complain about | Stop complaining about the noise. |
| succeed in | She succeeded in passing the exam. |
| insist on | He insisted on paying for dinner. |
| consist of | The course consists of six modules. |
| deal with | I'll deal with it tomorrow. |
| look forward to (+ -ing) | I'm looking forward to seeing you. |
Nombre + preposición
| Nombre + preposición | Ejemplo |
|---|---|
| reason for | What's the reason for the delay? |
| interest in | She has no interest in politics. |
| solution to | We need a solution to this problem. |
| increase/decrease in | There's been an increase in sales. |
| demand for | There's high demand for this product. |
Los errores más típicos por interferencia del español: "married with" (correcto: married to), "depend of" (correcto: depend on), "interested on" (correcto: interested in), "good in" (correcto: good at). Si alguna vez dudas, piensa en la preposición como parte de la palabra, no como una pieza suelta que se traduce aparte.
Ejercicio
Elige la preposición correcta
She has always been interested ………… art history.
in. "Interested in" es la forma fija correcta; "interested on/at/for" no existen.
My brother got married ………… a doctor last summer.
to. En inglés "married to" usa "to", no "with" como en español ("casado con").
It all depends ………… how much time we have left.
on. "Depend on" es una de las combinaciones fijas más frecuentes del examen.
He apologised ………… forgetting her birthday.
for. "Apologise for doing something" — nunca "apologise about/of".
The exam consists ………… four separate papers.
of. "Consist of" describe de qué partes se compone algo.
She has always been really good ………… languages.
at. "Good/bad at" + habilidad es la forma fija, no "good in/for".
Scientists are still looking for a solution ………… this problem.
to. Atención: "solution to a problem" usa "to", no "for" ni "of" — es una excepción que confunde mucho.
I was really disappointed ………… the hotel's customer service.
with. "Disappointed with" (una persona, servicio o cosa concreta); "disappointed about" también existe para situaciones, pero "with" es la opción estándar aquí.
Sigue practicando toda la Part 1 y la Part 2 del Use of English con corrección al instante.
Ver ejercicios de Use of EnglishSi todavía te cuesta esta parte del examen, repasa también las collocations B2 más frecuentes — muchas preposiciones dependientes son, en realidad, un tipo de collocation.