About

1 About identifies a topic.

Pattern 1: noun + be + about + noun

This book is about prepositions.

Nouns commonly used before about:

argument, article, book, conversation, disagreement, discussion, joke, lecture, movie, news, play, program, report, speech, story

Pattern 2: noun + about + noun

She gave me advice about my loan.

Nouns commonly used before about:

assurance, complaint, comment, gossip, lie, question, statement, truth

Pattern 3: verb + about + noun

He often talks about his job.

Verbs commonly used before about:

agree, argue, brag, care, complain, cry, do, dream, forget, groan, hear, joke, know, laugh, lie, moan, pray, read, say, scream, sing, talk, think, wonder, worry, yell

Expressions:

to see about—

1. to delay a decision until more information is known

We want to buy a house, but we will see about that later.

2. to get information about

I called that office to see about getting a job there.

to find out about—to get information about

She called the school to find out about her daughter's behavior.

Pattern 4: verb + noun + about

She knows something about airplanes.

Typical verbs used with this pattern:

ask, find out, know, learn, say

Typical nouns used before about:

a little, a lot, quite a bit, nothing, something, very little

Pattern 5: verb + indirect object + about + noun

They asked me about my trip.

Verbs commonly used with this pattern:

advise, ask, bother, contact, harass, question, remind, teach, tell, write

Pattern 6: adjective + about + noun

They were very kind about our late arrival.

Adjectives commonly used before about:

charming, kind, nasty, nice, mean, rude, sweet, understanding, unkind

2 About can identify the cause of an emotion or condition.

Pattern: adjective + about + noun

We are excited about our vacation.