Summary
#e article aims to shed some light on the problems faced by non-native speakers in the 
formation of so-called prepositional collocations (i.e. typical, recurrent combinations of 
verbal, nominal or adjectival bases with prepositional collocators). #e reasons for frequent 
mistakes mainly lie in the meaning of the preposition used as part of collocation, which 
tends to be even more dispersed, abstract and difficult to define than that of the preposition 
used in a free combination. However, the preposition when used as a collocator seems to 
act, at least to some extent, as a carrier of some content; this can be proven by valency 
patterns: meaning-related content words (collocational bases) tend to regularly combine 
with identical prepositions. #e fact that prepositions used in collocations also have their 
semantic part to contribute to the whole unit should also be considered in the classification 
of collocations into grammatical and lexical ones.
 Povzetek
V prispevku skušamo osvetliti vzroke za težave, s katerimi se govorci tujega jezika srečujejo pri 
tvorbi t.i. predložnih kolokacij (povezav nosilne besede – glagola, samostalnika ali pridevnika 
– s predlogom). Razloge za pogoste napake je treba iskati predvsem v pomenu predloga, ki 
je v kolokacijskih povezavah šibkejši, še bolj abstrakten in težje določljiv kot takrat, kadar 
je predlog rabljen v prosti zvezi. Vendar je tudi predlog kot del kolokacije nosilec določene 
vsebine, kar dokazujejo vezljivostni vzorci: pomensko sorodne polnopomenske besede 
(kolokacijske osnove) se praviloma vežejo z istim predlogom. Dejstvo, da tudi predlogi v 
kolokacijah prispevajo svoj semantični delež, bi morali upoštevati tudi pri delitvi kolokacij 
na slovnične in leksikalne.
DOI: 10.4312/elope.1.1-2.37-46

When non-native speakers of English try to write or speak English accurately, they often 
face problems connected with the combinability of words. #is, however, is not a problem 
limited solely to the English language. Most non-native speakers of any foreign language 
may experience difficulties when trying to express themselves in a natural way in that foreign 
tongue. If one wants to speak or write naturally, it is important to know not only about 
individual words, their forms and meanings, but also about the way words combine with other 
words. One must get used to mastering the combination of words into phrases, sentences, and, 
finally, texts.
In every language, certain words regularly combine or collocate with certain other words. 
#e study of regular word combinations or collocations has attracted quite some attention 
in the past decades, particularly in those sections of British and German linguistics where 
collocations have been recognized as one of the most difficult areas of linguistic knowledge 
to master for non-native speakers. However, in one’s mother tongue, collocations are seen 
as something quite unproblematic: word associations of the collocational type are relatively 
uniform within one language community and as soon as native speakers hear or read a certain 
word, they often know which word to expect after it (see, for example, Herbst 1996, 389-90) 
unless, of course, the collocation belongs to some specialized field or technical language (e.g. 
peripheral vision – periferni vid – peripheres Sehvermögen).
 Collocations are a very natural phenomenon in every language, they allow a certain degree of 
syntagmatic predictability which the native speakers have gradually learnt to master; however, 
non-native speakers, even those very advanced ones, often lack this type of knowledge. While 
they may have command of large vocabularies and observe all grammatical rules, they still often 
combine their words in an untypical and unusual way. Although grammatically correct, the 
(written or spoken) texts they produce may lack the idiom of that particular language. Or, as 
Anthony P . Cowie (1994, 3168) rather succinctly puts it: ‘native-like proficiency of a language 
depends crucially on knowledge of a stock of prefabricated units’. Such institutionalized or 
lexicalized chains are then stored in speakers’ long-term memories and activated when the 
need arises as units or ‘chunks’ (see Pawley and Syder 1983, 191-2; Lewis 1993).
Naturally, collocations have been defined from different points of view, often depending on the 
authors’ linguistic ‘orientation’ and their objectives (theoretical, lexicographical, pedagogical, 
statistical, etc.). It is therefore not surprising that certain definitions of collocations are 
quite different from others (cf., for example, Sinclair 1991, 110, 173; Herbst 1996, 381; 
Bahns 1996, 11; Hausmann 1984, 398; 1985, 178; Benson 1989, 3). However, it seems 

that the definition provided by Hausmann
1
 and later partly accepted by the author team 
Benson, Benson, and Ilson for the compilation of their collocational dictionary ("e BBI 
Combinatory Dictionary of English 1986; "e BBI Dictionary of English Word Combinations 
1997, revised edition) has proven quite useful for pedagogical needs. For the purpose of the 
above-mentioned dictionary, collocations have been defined as ‘arbitrary, recurrent word 
combinations’ (Benson 1989, 3). #is brings us to the central theme of the present paper - 
a type of word combination which we have named ‘prepositional collocation’. Prepositional 
collocations are typical, recurrent combinations of verbal, nominal or adjectival bases 
with prepositional collocators. In "e BBI Dictionary of English Word Combinations such 
combinations are referred to as a subclass of grammatical collocations (see categories G1, 
G5 and G8D in Benson, Benson, Ilson 1997, xvi, xviii, xxi). #ese combinations of a 
collocational base with a preposition functioning as a collocator (followed by a nominal 
phrase), however, should be kept apart from prepositional free combinations, which, in 
accordance with the general rules of English syntax, follow the verb, noun, or adjective in a 
text and freely allow substitution. However, the distinction betweeen the two groups is not 
always clear-cut - while some cases may be immediately classified as either prepositional 
collocations or prepositional free combinations, others may prove to be extremely unclear 
and vague, and there are many borderline cases which may satisfy some of the syntactic 
criteria
2
 for inclusion among prepositional collocations but not others. Even if we leave the 
complex syntactic criteria aside, most speakers of English, after having reached a certain 
level of knowledge of the language, tend to ‘feel’ a difference between sentences like:
John lectures on  semantics.  /prepositional collocation/
John lectures  on Fridays.  /free combination of verb + preposition/
In the case of prepositional collocation, the link between the base and the following preposition 
is felt to be stronger than is the case with free combinations. In the latter sentence, the phrase 
boundary comes after the verb, and the preposition with the following noun forms a phrase. 
Semantic criteria for distinguishing between free combinations and prepositional collocations 
seem to be more elusive
3
, yet they often prove decisive for inclusion in one group or the other, 
especially when combined with the syntactic ones (see also Quirk et al. 1985, 1163).
On the whole, it seems that learners of English, given a certain level of proficiency, tend to 
1
 2
 - - - - 3


have less difficulty with free combinations than with prepositional collocations. #e reason for 
this may lie in the content of the preposition which is used as collocator. 
For many years, to most grammarians, prepositions, when used as part of collocations seemed 
to be devoid of any content. Linguists often distinguished between the so-called syntactic 
prepositions and lexical prepositions: the former are only used to perform a syntactic function 
within a sentence and are not carriers of meaning (i.e. when used as collocators in prepositional 
collocations), while the latter have their own semantic content which they contribute to the 
meaning of the sentence (i.e. when used in free combinations). Most German linguists dealing 
with valency maintained that prepositions in collocations were semantically empty (e.g. 
Heringer 1968, 437; Helbig and Schenkel 1975, 43-4). Since prepositions in collocations are 
mainly ‘non-substitutable’ and thus without paradigmatic opposition, their only function is, 
consequently, a syntactic one. On the other hand, prepositions used in free combinations can 
be substituted for other prepositions (the meaning of the sentence may, consequently, change), 
and therefore have both syntactic and semantic functions to perform. 
In recent decades, however, it has been established that the content of the preposition is, at 
least to some degree, present in prepositional collocations as well. Linguists have begun to 
realize that even in the case of prepositional collocations we cannot talk of ‘semantic emptiness’ 
(see Schröder 1986, 10), and that the choice of the preposition is semantically motivated (see 
also Dixon 1991, 271). It has become clear that in some collocations there is possibility of 
variation in the preposition (e.g. talk of/about/on) without a radical  change in meaning. #at 
the preposition when used as a collocator acts, at least to some extent, as a carrier of meaning, 
can also proven by valency patterns which the collocational bases enter. If these prepositions 
were entirely meaningless, we would probably not tend to combine meaning-related content 
words (collocational bases) with identical prepositions. However, in most cases, this is precisely 
what we do. 
T o illustrate this point, let us compare instances of prepositional collocations consisting of a 
verb/noun/adjective denoting sensations perceived through the nose by the olfactory nerves, 
and the following preposition which introduces a substance emitting an odour.
4
 We can see 
that in English practically all these bases regularly combine with the preposition of; similar 
combinability with a preposition seems to be present in other languages as well. Below, 
comparison has been made with Slovene and German, where most verbal, nominal, and 
adjectival semantic equivalents of the English bases regularly combine with the prepositions 
po and nach respectively.
 

English verbs
Stop your home smelling of your dog. (www.tipking.com/Tips/publish/printer_135.shtml)
...just a black tangled mass where the day before had been a mass of pale blue flowers scenting of almonds  
and ... (www.gonegardening.com/xq/ASP/group_id.3/article_id.313/referer./qx/ gg_shop/article.htm)
When I would ever go into the bookies or a bar I would find that when I came out my clothes were stinking 
of tobacco. (www.dooyoo.co.uk/lifestyle/health_therapies_treatments/ smoking_in_general/ _review/
305209/)
I reeked of kerosene, the cabin reeked of kerosene and the food tasted of kerosene. (www. abycinc.org/
Resources/ABYC%20News/ galley_fireballs.htm)
English nouns
"e maid goes out with her head bowed, leaving behind barely a trace-odor of Sicilian lemons. 
(www.terrain.org/fiction/11/wilson.htm)
When is the natural scent of a woman most appealing to men? (www.pheromones.com) 
Remove the smell of vomit from carpets. (www.tipking.com/Tips/publish/tip_453.shtml)
European and Portuguese oysters filled with the salt-laden tang of the sea, fish caught in the bay, its famous 
cuisine, panoramic views from the coastal paths. (http://www.ville-cancale.fr/htm /english.htm)
the aroma of sizzling bacon (www.bartleby.com/61/22/F0292200.html) 
the bouquet of a fine wine (www.bartleby.com/61/22/F0292200.html) 
the perfume of roses (www.bartleby.com/61/22/F0292200.html)
the redolence of fresh coffee (www.bartleby.com/61/22/F0292200.html)
I wish I could bottle the fragrance of a magnolia blossom as perfume for you and for me. (home.att.net/
~SpanishMoss/fragrance.html) 
the stench of burning rubber (www.bartleby.com/61/65/S0736500.html)
the fetor of polluted waters (www.bartleby.com/61/65/S0736500.html) 
the malodor of diesel fumes (www.bartleby.com/61/65/S0736500.html) 
...like tequila which I believe might be the nastiest smell ever produced on this earth, especially when it’s 
combined with the ripe fetidness of an unwashed body ... (www.nuvein.com/ fiction14/bordertrash.html)
English adjectives
Antica Officina di Santa Maria Novella, like a 16th-century pharmacy, is wood paneled and odorous of herbs, 
flowers, and a very special potpourri. (travel.discovery.com/destinations/fodors/ rome/shopping_20383_
1.html)
Scallops are among the most odoriferous of all sea food and it takes a lot of experience to be able to identify the 
“fresh, sweet aroma.” (www.blockhead.com/scaldill.htm)
Blooms in all sorts are white and deliciously scented of orange blossom. (englishgarden. lifetips.com/PPF/id/
12016/Cat.asp)
Her clothes were redolent of moth balls and cedar closets. (www.bartleby.com/68/36/5036.html)
Rare culinary Rau kinh gio’i is a seed propagated aromatic of the mint family. (www.redwoods. quik.com/
frmstore/george/herbal.html)
"ey are perfumed of Chenin Blanc grapes and excellent with seafood appetizers or all by themselves as an 
aperitif. (www.northamptonwines.com/aloire.html)
Anyhow, this contractor was huge and smelly and his arm pits smelly of sour knob cheese. (www.computercont
ractor.net/forum/ thread.php?t_id=2430&fid=3)

A skanky dirty room reeky of stale cigarettes and mildewy carpet. (beautifulfreak.org/spunky/ sterile/24.htm)
Sometimes the vomit is fetid of odor and taste. (www.iptq.com/ct07.htm)
Slovene verbs
To je svet, ki diši po žiru, kumini, ..., po tisočerih vonjavah, kot nekoč na dišavni cesti,...  
(www.geocities.com/iren_knehtl/prijateljstvo.htm) 
Pod akacijami in orehi kmalu zadiši po kotletih in klobasah,... (www.capris-d.si/glasila/Beseda/ Beseda_1_
1999/stran11.html) 
...seveda je lepše priti v Istro, kot pa jo „vonjati“ po spletu, ampak tudi to je nekaj. (www.capris-d.si/bu/
guestbook_3.html) 
Izdelava testa je nekoliko naporna, ker je precej trdo, ko pa se peče, vsa kuhinja smrdi po amonijaku. 
(www.kulinarika.net/baze/recept.asp?ID=2206) 
Zasmrdelo je po žveplu −  pošast je bruhala ogenj. (www.smihel.si/jakob%20in%20zmaj.htm) 
...vlažni zidovi so neprijetno hladni, notranjost prostorov pa zaudarja po vlagi. (www.kema.si/ html_
datoteke_teh_listi/kemasol.htm) 
„Če ne bi od vas tako dehtelo po žganjici, bi vas raztrgala, ker sovraži ljudi. Dah po žganju...  
(www.detektiv-da.si/slo/jaga.htm)
Slovene nouns 
Z uporabo kostanja ne bomo imeli v omarah neprijetnega in močnega vonja po naftalinu. 
(mrdusan.tripod.com/nasveti/mrhtml7.html) 
Pri nas doma je bil zjutraj vedno značilen duh po sveže kuhani kavi. (www.pisateljstvo.com/ 
index.php?skodelica_kave) 
V prostoru je občasno zaznati vonj po plinu. (www.gorenjeservis.com/nasveti.asp?id_nasvet=14)
Ko zadiši po zemlji, vlagi in travi; ko se pomešajo vonjave po skuti in siru z vonjem po skrinji iz kašče;... 
(www.holdingljubljana.si/a_trznice_frame.htm) 
Kot bi dišave po hrani privabile prebivalce Vrulj, v luko se pripelje Ante v svojem ribiškem čolnu. 
(www.odisej.org/dogodki/januar98/jan98.html) 
Ponovno je nekaj počilo, smrad po žveplu je postal kar nevzdržen. (members.tripod.com/ Herostrat/s/
ukv03/ukv03-02.htm) 
 Najbolj tipičen znak prevelikih zaužitih količin selena pri ljudeh je zadah po česnu.  
(herbika.vitrum.si/arhiv/2001/clanki_st_13.htm) 
Slovene adjectives
Bili so vsaj desetkrat dražji, a zato toliko okusnejši, plesnivo dišeči po potnih, gljivičnih nogah francoskega 
kmeta z baretko. (www.angelfire.com/pa/pisk/nadja.html) 
Zelena dolina, zalita s soncem, vonjajoča po mladem žitu in zoreči travi, je podrhtevala v pesmi škerjancev. 
(www.beepworld3.de/members16/zpevec/ no4-december-2001.htm) 
Sploh mi ni jasno, kaj sem videla na njem; zanemarjen, smrdeč po vinu in znoju,... (krt.s-gim.kr.edus.si/
krt23/clanki/39.asp) 
Letos me je ob pisanju voščil spet nagovorila štalica: borna, zaprašena, pajčevinasta, zaudarjajoča po gnoju... 
(www.rkc.si/prenova/0012/zive_jaslice.html) 

German verbs
Gelegentlich wird auch heute noch die Zuckerkrankheit über die Ausatemluft erkannt. Betroffene riechen nach 
Aceton (Nagellackentferner). (www.quarks.de/peinlich/03.htm)
Er blüht im Spätsommer und Herbst und seine weißen Blüten duften nach Jasmin. (gartenforum.tv/
duftbaum-herbst.htm)
Für mich war das der normalste Geruch der Welt und nie würde ich sagen, mein Vater „stank nach Fisch“. 
(www.freitag.de/2000/21/00212001.htm)
Es roch nach Pech, Schwefel, und es müffelte nach Hunden und deren Geschäfte. (www.schlossberg.loe.schul
e-bw.de/geschich/mittelal/burgle/02burgl.htm)
German nouns 
Hinter dem Geruch nach frischem Brot steckt eine erhitzte Mischung von Prolin und Glucose. 
(www.chemieunterricht.de/dc2/tip/07_99.htm)
Erfrischender Duft nach Zitronenmelisse. (www.morgenland-express.de/Warenubersicht/ Martina_
Gebhardt/martina_gebhardt.html)
Die unaufdringliche Eleganz auf der Zunge gibt ein dezentes Aroma nach Melone frei, das in einem 
vornehmen, leicht mineralisch geprägten Nachhall endet. (www.weinkontor-mv.de/Kessler-Sektkellerei/)
Jetzt kommt heraus, dass die Rohner wusste, dass die Produktion des Fungizids Gestank nach faulem Fisch 
auslöst. (www.onlinereports.ch/RohnerImmissionen.htm)
German adjectives
Riechend nach Knoblauch, mit Schnecken und Fisch in den Bäuchen, verlassen wir Les Baux und fahren nach 
Paradou. (www.pvb.ch/documents/Organisation/Adressen/Sektionen/Reisebericht% 20#un.htm) 
Am Straßenrand verlockende Auslagen mit arabischem Gebäck und kleinen Gerichten, duftend nach 
orientalischen Gewürzen. (www.dig-frankfurt.de/telaviv/route3.htm) 
Er nimmt es gelassen, wenn er, wohlriechend nach Zypressensaft, heimkommt und Frau Suzanne sagt: Du 
mußt unter die Dusche. (www.rennertz-km.de/htmls/texte.htm) 
Bouquet etwas parfümiert nach rosarotem Bazooka-Kaugummi. (www.plus-it.com/institut/ 960510.htm) 
Er kam zurück mit schmutziger, zerrissener Kleidung und Sandalen, stinkend nach Schweinen, mit langen 
Harren [sic] und Bart. (home.pages.at/thelady/coptic/anba-gabriel/ predegt/der-verlorene-sohn.htm) 
Naturally, one can find exceptions (e.g. the noun ‘aroma’ in Slovene regularly combines with 
the non-prepositional genitival case, as in aroma sveže kave), yet the pattern which emerges 
from illustrative examples above seems distinct enough.
 #e finding that prepositions in collocations are not devoid of content, but contribute 
a certain content to the meaning of the collocational base, even if their content is even 
more abstract and difficult to define than that of prepositions used in free combinations 
(which, per definition, tend to have more general and dispersed meanings than lexical 
words with their lexical meanings), has had consequences for the very status of prepositional 
collocations. Since for many years it had been maintained that prepositions in collocations 

were semantically empty, this assumption has also been partially reflected in the compilation 
of collocational dictionaries, e.g. in the BBI ("e BBI Combinatory Dictionary of English 
1986; "e BBI Dictionary of English Word Combinations 1997, revised edition).
#e basic distinction between lexical and grammatical (including prepositional) 
collocations as explained in the BBI (Benson et al. 1997, ix) rests on the assumption that 
grammatical collocations ‘consist of a dominant word – noun, adjective/participle, verb 
– and a preposition or a grammatical construction’ while ‘lexical collocations do not have 
a dominant word; they have structures such as the following: verb + noun, adjective + 
noun, noun + verb, noun + noun, adverb + adjective, adverb + verb’. One of the typical 
characteristics of collocations is that the syntagmatic affinity between the constituent parts 
of the collocation does not work both ways or is mutually not equally strong. In the case of 
a lexical collocation, i.e. a combination of two lexical items, e.g. an adjective and a noun, 
the primary or stronger syntagmatic affinity goes from the noun to the adjective, and the 
secondary or weaker syntagmatic affinity from the adjective to the noun: 
#e adjectives ‘partial’ and ‘preliminary’ may collocationally combine with a number of 
other, semantically extremely diverse nouns (e.g. partial agreement/solution/withdrawal/ 
success/victory/ban/recovery/results/blindness/settlement; preliminary results/hearing/round/ 
report/agreement/findings/study/figures/work/tests
5
), the nouns ‘eclipse’ and ‘talks’, however, 
combine with only a very limited number of adjectives (e.g. total/full/partial/solar/lunar 
eclipse; candid/frank/exploratory/private/formal/informal talks; see Benson et al. 1997, 
114, 334). A similarly uneven, yet two-way syntagmatic affinity is noticeable in other 
lexical collocations in which, theoretically, neither of the two full lexical items should be 
semantically more dominant than the other:
a rough estimate   približna ocena   grobe Schätzung
commit suicide   narediti samomor  Selbstmord begehen
quench one’s thirst  pogasiti si žejo   Durst stillen
Interestingly, the same phenomenon can be observed in prepositional collocations, which are, 
according to Benson et al., classified as grammatical collocations. If the preposition, when used 
in a collocation, is to be assigned a certain amount of content, then we must also admit that 
prepositional collocations too have a two-way syntagmatic affinity, the stronger leading from 
the dominant word to the preposition, and the (fairly) weaker leading from the preposition to 
the lexical word:
5
 partial eclipse     preliminary talks 
 
 

invite to   povabiti na   einladen zu
argument over   prepir o   Auseinandersetzung über
angry at    jezen na   böse auf / verärgert über
In other types of grammatical collocation (e.g. where the dominant word is followed by an 
infinitive or a dependent clause) the syntagmatic affinity between the elements seems to be 
only one-way; the direction is from the lexical word to the grammatical construction, which 
as a structure is ‘meaningless’ and thus cannot influence syntagmatically the choice of the 
dominant lexical word:
begin to speak   začeti govoriti   anfangen zu reden
I’m afraid that I might  bojim se, da bi ga prizadel ich fürchte, ich könnte  
hurt him        ihm weh tun 
I felt it move   čutil sem, kako se premika ich spürte, wie es sich bewegte
 
If this difference between prepositional and other grammatical collocations is to be taken into 
account, then also our view of the rather rigid distinction between lexical and grammatical 
collocations should be slightly rectified. Due to the (weak, but nevertheless present) content 
of their prepositions, prepositional collocations are to be found somewhere between lexical 
and strictly grammatical collocations. Benson et al. have most probably classified them as 
grammatical collocations for pedagogical and lexicographical reasons, which demanded 
certain simplifications during the compilation work for the dictionary. Linguistic tradition, 
which for many years assigned very little or no content to prepositions in such combinations, 
may have contributed to the authors’ decision to grant prepositions a (semantic) status equal to 
that of an infinitival structure or a dependent clause. In view of the above mentioned findings, 
we can see that prepositional collocations should either be treated as a third, special class of 
collocations (as they are fundamentally different from ‘classic’ grammatical collocations), or 
as an important subclass of grammatical collocations with their specific characteristics (since 
grammatical combinability tends to have fix patterns and is more deterministic than lexical 
combinability, see also Carter 1987, 49).
Occasionally, the preposition and the following context may even help learners decipher or 
guess at the approximate meaning of the collocational base which they encounter for the first 
time, as in the following text:
...the mind’s eye at the neglected gravestones sticking out at all angles and recalling 
dead friends of many years ago and the redolency of flowering weeds and... 
(www.davidkozubei.com/nostalgia.html)
Obviously, this is helpful: in the apparent chaos of word combinations, there seem to appear 
certain patterns which may facilitate the memorizing of prepositional collocations for non-
native speakers, and thus in general improve the quality and naturalness of the English texts 
they produce.

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