| A |
Verb + to
talk / speak TO somebody (with is also possible but less usual)
- Who was that man you were talking to?
listen TO ...
- We spent the evening listening to music. (not listening music)
apologise TO somebody (for ... )
- They apologised to me for what happened. (not They apologised me)
explain something TO somebody
- Can you explain this word to me? (not explain me this word)
explain / describe (to somebody) what/how/why ...
- I explained to them why I was worried. (not I explained them)
- Let me describe to you what I saw. (not Let me describe you)
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| B |
We do not use to with these verbs:
phone / call / email / text somebody
- I called the airline to cancel my flight. (not called to the airline)
but write (a letter) to somebody
answer somebody/something
- He refused to answer my question. (not answer to my question)
but reply to an email / a letter etc.
ask somebody
- Can I ask you a question? (not ask to you)
thank somebody (for something)
- He thanked me for helping him. (not He thanked to me)
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| C |
Verb + at
look / stare / glance AT ... , have a look / take a look AT ...
- Why are you looking at me like that ?
laugh AT ...
- I look stupid with this haircut. Everybody will laugh at me.
aim / point (something) AT ... , shoot / fire (a gun) AT ...
- Don't point that knife at me. It's dangerous.
- We saw someone with a gun shooting at birds, but he didn't hit any.
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| D |
Some verbs can be followed by at or to, with a difference in meaning. For example:
shout AT somebody (when you are angry)
- He got very angry and started shouting at me.
shout TO somebody (so that they can hear you)
- He shouted to me from the other side of the street.
throw something AT somebody/something (in order to hit them)
- Somebody threw an egg at the minister.
throw something TO somebody (for somebody to catch)
- Lisa shouted 'Catch!' and threw the keys to me from the window.
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