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Prepositions in English can be troublesome and confusing. For today’s English lesson I want to show you some prepositions that come after the verb work.
Here are the example sentences
We use work at followed by a place or a task:
- Jack works at a bank downtown.
- The boss was working at his desk all day.
- I had a problem with my computer and I was working at it for a few hours until it was solved.
We use work for followed by a company, a cause or a person:
- Jack works for NYC Finance downtown.
- Jenny has been working for animal rights all her life.
- Teddy used to work for Jack Welch.
We use work in followed by a field or industry:
- Jack works in finance.
- I’ve been working in international education for more than 20 years.
We use work on followed by a task:
- Jack works on finance reports for the bank.
- I was working on my lessons all morning.
We use work with followed by a body part, a tool or a person:
- Jack works with a computer and a financial calculator.
- I worked with Greg and Nobi in my previous job.
- Freddy is a plumber, so he works with his hands.
By the way, work out is also phrasal verb, which means exercise:
- Danny works out at the health club on 53rd Street.
- I need to start working out, but it is so difficult to get started!
If you know anyone who might be interested in this English language point, why not help them out! Just share this lesson with them. Thanks for studying today!
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Comments 10
Hi Michael
As I realized you started to work in an international education 20 years ago (since 1994),
Although you are interested in to work for companies like facebook and twitter but you prefer to work for yourself so good luck .
Thanks Nasrin. Yes….in this modern age of downsizing and restructuring, big companies only care about money, not workers….so I’m the company and the worker!
Hi Michael,
Here are my answers.
1. Michael started to work in international education.
2. Michael prefers to work for himself.
You look much more lively now than you used to be in a suit!
Thanks Ryo. I think that photo is like 5~10 years old…..too funny!
thx u for all these. but i can't understand differences between work at and work on. cause both of them you said followed by task.
1)I had a problem with my computer and I was working at it for a few hours until it was solved.
2)Jack works on finance reports for the bank.
I was working on my lessons all morning.
Michael DiGiacomo thx so much ✌️
The words that are next to "work" are collocations, phrasal verbs or verb + preposition??????
Hi Brady, "work out" is a phrasal verb. The others are usual collocations with "work" just like "listen to" and "look at"
which one is correct ?
My husband is working in BHEL.
My husband is working at BHEL.
Both are correct, but “My husband is working at BHEL.” is more common.