Good At、Interested In、Afraid Of：形容詞要識揀拍檔

"I'm interested on photography."

差啲。應該係 "interested in photography"。喺你問「點解」之前 —— 其實冇咩點解。英文形容詞後面跟邊個介詞，係由形容詞本身鎖死，就好似一條鎖匙鎖定一把鎖咁。你冇得自己揀。

好消息？呢類配對其實唔多，一旦你將佢哋當成一個單位嚟記（唔好分開兩個字），佢哋以後就唔再係問題。

快速答案

• 好多英文形容詞永久咁配定一個特定 preposition。
• 個 preposition 唔係可選、亦冇得議價 —— 佢已經焗死喺成個片語入面。
• 最佳策略：將 "good at"、"afraid of"、"married to" 當成一整嚿嚟學，唔好當成「形容詞 + 隨機介詞」。

簡單規則

• 「形容詞 + 介詞」當成一個單位，好似一個動詞時態咁。
• 個 preposition 後面如果跟動詞，個動詞要用 -ing 形式："I'm good at cooking"，唔係 "to cook"。
• "Used to" 係出名嘅陷阱："I'm used to working late"（習慣咗）vs "I used to work late"（以前嘅習慣，冇 preposition）。

真實例句

技能同能力

• She's really good at chess.
• I'm bad at remembering names - sorry, what was yours again?
• He's terrible at keeping secrets.

感受同興趣

• My brother is interested in astronomy.
• I'm afraid of spiders, even tiny ones.
• We're excited about the trip next week.
• She's worried about the deadline.
• He's proud of his daughter's results.

關係同相似

• This phone is very similar to the older model.
• My answer is completely different from yours.
• She's been married to Daniel for ten years.
• He's not very familiar with the new software.

狀態同情況

• The room was full of people.
• I'm responsible for the morning report.
• She's kind to animals.
• Sugar is bad for your teeth, but cookies are good for the soul.

特殊情況："used to"

• I'm used to waking up early.（習慣咗；動詞要加 -ing。）
• I used to wake up early.（以前嘅習慣；冇 preposition；用動詞原形。）

呢兩個睇落一模一樣，但意思完全唔同。如果 "be" 出現喺 "used to" 前面，咁就係 preposition 嗰個版本，下一個動詞要用 -ing。

常見錯誤

• ❌ "I'm interested on cooking." → ✅ "I'm interested in cooking." · "Interested" 永遠只配 "in"，從來唔配 "on" 或者 "about"。
• ❌ "She's married with a doctor." → ✅ "She's married to a doctor." · 英文入面，你嫁畀一個人係用 'to'；"married with" 通常意思係「結咗婚而且仲有...」，例如 "married with two kids"。
• ❌ "He's afraid from dogs." → ✅ "He's afraid of dogs." · "Afraid" 永遠配 "of"，唔配 "from"。
• ❌ "I'm used to wake up early." → ✅ "I'm used to waking up early." · "Be used to" 後面動詞一定要 -ing 形式，因為呢度個 "to" 係介詞，唔係不定式標記。
• ❌ "This is similar with that one." → ✅ "This is similar to that one." · "Similar" 配 "to"。"Compared with" 係存在嘅，但 "similar to" 係固定搭配。
• ❌ "I'm responsible of the project." → ✅ "I'm responsible for the project." · "Responsible" 永遠配 "for"。

考試陷阱

喺 TOEIC Part 5、TOEFL Structure 句子補全題同 IELTS writing 評分入面，「形容詞 + 介詞」配對係考官最愛嘅出題點，因為呢度幾乎冇邏輯可循 —— 你識就識，唔識就唔識。經典陷阱係畀你四個聽落都合理嘅介詞（"of / for / in / about"），但只有一個係嗰條固定拍檔。另一個陷阱係 "used to" / "be used to" 嘅分別，考官用呢個嚟測試你識唔識分「'to' 有時係 preposition（後面跟 -ing），有時係 infinitive 嘅一部分（後面跟動詞原形）」。唔肯定嘅時候，問自己：'used to' 前面有冇 'be'？如果有，下一個動詞就要 -ing。

對廣東話 learners 仲有一個額外提醒：粵語入面「叻」、「鍾意」、「驚」呢類形容詞唔係必然帶住一個固定介詞（我哋會講「數學叻」、「驚狗」，後面冇 preposition）。英文唔係咁玩 —— 你要將 'good at'、'afraid of' 當成一嚿嚟入腦。

小測試

1. She's very good _____ playing the violin.
2. I'm not familiar _____ this part of town.
3. He's afraid _____ flying, so he always takes the train.
4. I'm used _____ (drive) on the left now.
5. They're very proud _____ their new home.

答案

1. at —— "Good at" 係描述技能能力嘅固定搭配。
2. with —— "Familiar with" 係描述「對某樣嘢有認識」嘅標準搭配。
3. of —— "Afraid of" 係唯一正確嘅介詞；"from" 同 "about" 唔配 "afraid"。
4. to driving —— "Be used to" 後面要 -ing 形式，因為呢度個 "to" 係 preposition，唔係不定式標記。
5. of —— "Proud of" 係表達「為某人或某事自豪」嘅鎖死配對。

一句總結

唔好嘥時間諗點解呢啲 preposition 配呢啲形容詞 —— 佢哋就係咁配。將佢當成兩個字焗死嘅一嚿嚟記，你嘅英文即刻會少幾分教科書味，多幾分人味。