A rise in, a reason for

  • B2 · Upper-intermediate
  • Grammar lesson
  • 60 min
  • noun + preposition

Nouns and their prepositions: a rise in prices, the reasons for the increase, demand for new flavors, an effect on sales. The student reads a local business story about the price of ice cream, finds and chooses the prepositions, turns verbs into nouns (prices rose → a rise in prices), and gives a short business report on prices where they live.

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a rise ina reason fordamage tocause of

What's in the lesson

  1. 1Warm-up
  2. 2In this lesson
  3. 3Reading: the price of a scoopReading comprehension
  4. 4What does it mean?Grammar exercise
  5. 5Find the nouns and their prepositionsGrammar exercise
  6. 6Nouns and their prepositionsGrammar rule
  7. 7Choose the prepositionGrammar exercise
  8. 8Say it with a nounGrammar exercise
  9. 9Find the mistakeGrammar exercise
  10. 10Questions for your teacherGrammar exercise
  11. 11Say it naturallySpeaking practice
  12. 12The business reportSpeaking practice
  13. 13About youGrammar exercise
  14. 14Wrap-up

Homework

  1. 1Homework: choose the prepositionGrammar exercise
  2. 2Homework: the evening newsGrammar exercise
  3. 3Homework: find the mistakeGrammar exercise
  4. 4Homework: a business news storyDiscussion

Two slides from the lesson

Warm-up

A few questions about you before we start.

  1. What costs more now than it did a year ago where you live?
  2. What is something you always buy, even when the price goes up?
  3. Do you read or watch business news? Why, or why not?

Grammar rule

Nouns and their prepositions

Many nouns take their own preposition. Learn the noun and its preposition together. After the preposition comes a noun, a pronoun or -ing: an interest in cooking.

PrepositionNounsExample
ina rise, an increase, a fall, a drop, a decrease, a change, interestHave you noticed a change in her behavior?
fora reason, demand, a need, a cure, an excuse, a talent, a recipeDo you have a good recipe for banana bread?
onan effect, an impact, a tax, a ban, pressureOur town has a tax on hotel rooms.
ofthe cost, the price, a shortage, a lack, the causeThe cause of the fire is still unknown.
toa solution, an answer, access, a reaction, an alternative, damage, the keyThe storm caused damage to the roof.
between · witha difference, a link, a relationship · a problem, an argument, a relationshipThe relationship between the two neighbors got better. I had an argument with my brother.

Watch out

  • in or of? A word of change + in + what changed, + of + how much: a drop in temperature · a drop of ten degrees.
  • The verb often has no preposition, but its noun has one: The noise affected my sleep. → The noise had an effect on my sleep. · Fans demanded refunds. → their demand for refunds · We lack space. → a lack of space. Not affected on or We lack of space.
  • the reason for + a noun or -ing: the reason for the delay · the reason (why) + a sentence: the reason (why) they left.
  • One noun, two prepositions: the effect of the noise (the cause) on my sleep (what changed).
  • A few nouns take two prepositions: a limit on spending / there's a limit to what I can do; a solution to (or for) a problem.

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