Snap Language

You can “ask someone something” when you ask a question or make a request. You do not need a preposition there.

You can also “ask someone for something.” This means you want something from someone. For example, you can ask someone for help or you ask your teacher for extra time.

You can “ask (someone) about something.” This shows what the topic is.

Finally, you can “ask someone to do” something. No preposition is needed.

Things you ask and ask for

Examples: ask

• Please ask John to leave.
• May I ask you a question?
• I don’t know the answer. Why don’t you ask the teacher?

ask about

• The teacher is asking questions about the lesson.
• The students are asking many questions about the course.
• May I ask you about your project?

Examples: ask for

• The students are asking for more time to finish the exam.
• Some students are asking for a second chance.
• Children sometimes ask their parents for money to buy things.

Examples: ask someone to do something

• (To the teacher) Mr. Smith, may I ask you to explain the lesson again?
• I’m going to ask Maria to come to my birthday party.
• The students are asking the teacher to help them with their homework.

You “hear something" (for example, you hear someone talking, or you hear a noise). No preposition is needed here. It means you use your ears to perceive sounds.

You “hear about something” (for example, you hear about an accident or you hear about someone). With the preposition “about,” it means you learn some information about a person, situation, or event.

Examples: hear

Examples: hear about

• I often hear about John when I talk to his mother.
• I don’t often hear about my country in American TV news.
• I heard about the accident on the radio yesterday. (Note. This example uses the past tense.)

When you “listen to someone or something,” you pay attention to sounds with your ears. You want to hear something, so you use your ears to listen to it.

When you “listen for someone or something,” you pay attention to a specific sound or thing. You are waiting or expecting to hear that very specific sound, so you listen for it until you hear it.

Examples: Listen for

• John is coming to visit today. I’m listening for his car outside.
• When you listen to the weather on the radio, you must listen for information about your city.
• Students listen for the bell to know when class starts.

Examples: listen to

• Listen to this song. It’s beautiful.
• I listen to the radio every day.
• I hear John speaking to his mother on the phone, but I’m not listening to their conversation.

When you “meet people,” it means you all come together for the first time. It can also mean that you see people you already know. Sometimes you plan to meet people, for example, at a restaurant, at the movies, at a park, etc.

When you “meet with people,” you plan to meet them to have a meeting or discussion (for example, at work).

Note. Sometimes the difference between “meet” and “meet with” is very small.

Examples: meet

• I will meet John at the park after class.
• She meets her friends for coffee every Saturday.
• I love meeting new people when I travel.

Examples: meet with

• I need to meet with my teacher to discuss the assignment.
• We are meeting with the doctor to talk about my health problems.
• The child’s parents want to meet with his teacher because he is not doing well in class.

You show someone something. For example, you show your friend your phone.

You show something to someone. For example, you show your phone to your friend.

When using pronouns, you must use the preposition. For example, you can say, “Show John the book” or “Show him the book,” but you must say, “Show it to him."

Examples: show, show to

• I’m going to show the teacher my homework.
  I’m going to show my homework to the teacher.
• I want to show my parents my new car..
  I want to show my new car to my parents.

Examples using pronouns

• The teacher is going to show us the book.
  The teacher is going to show it to us.
• I’m going to show you my pictures.
  I’m going to show them to you.
• Show me your new shoes.
  Show them to me.

You can say “something stops.” That means it comes to an end or an action ends.

You can also say “stop doing something.” For example, you stop reading when you get to the end of a book.

When you say “you stop someone from (doing),” it means you prevent something from happening. You make sure it does not happen or continue happening.

Examples: stop

• Does the bus stop here?
• The rain will stop soon.
• This elevator does not stop at the 10th floor. Take the other elevator.

Examples: stop (doing)

Examples: stop from

You can talk to someone about something. To “talk to” someone means you want to speak to that person. It also means you want to have a conversation or to discuss a topic with them.

If you just ”talk” (without a preposition), you simply speak or discuss something.

Examples: talk

• Valentino is very quiet. He doesn’t like to talk. (he doesn’t speak very much)
• What’s the problem? Do you want to talk? (talk about what is wrong)
• I don’t want to talk about it.

talk about

• Chris, do we need to talk about our plans for tomorrow?
• Can we talk about the problem? (discuss)
• What would you like to talk about?

talk to

• She talks to her friends on the phone every day.

Using both in the same sentence

• He wants to talk to his teacher about his homework.
• I’m going to talk to my friend about our plans for the weekend.

When you think, you have ideas or thoughts in your mind.

When you “think about” something, you consider something in your mind. Sometimes you think about it carefully before making a decision. You can also think about doing something.

When you “think of” someone or something, you bring the person or thing to your mind. You remember or consider the person or thing.

Examples: think about

• Before you answer a question, think about it for a while.
• I’m thinking about going to the movies this weekend.
• You are very quiet. What are you thinking about?

Examples: think of