Appearance
Unit 132 — Verb + preposition 1: to and at
A. verb + to
talk / speak TO somebody
talk to somebodyspeak to somebody
talk/speak with is also possible.
Example:
- Who were you talking to?
listen TO ...
listen to + somebody/something
Example:
- When I’m driving, I like to listen to the radio. (not
listen the radio)
apologise TO somebody (for ...)
apologise to somebody for something
Example:
- They apologised to me for their mistake. (not
apologised me)
常见结构：
apologise to somebody for something
apologise to somebody for doing something
例如：
- I apologised to her for being late.
explain something TO somebody
explain something to somebody
Example:
- Can you explain this word to me? (not
explain me this word)
结构：
explain + something + to + somebody
explain / describe (to somebody) what / how / why ...
Examples:
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)
注意：
explain to somebody
describe to somebody
不能直接说：
explain somebody
describe somebody
来表达“向某人解释 / 描述”。
B. phone somebody, ask somebody etc. — without to
下面这些动词后面直接接人，不使用 to。
phone / call / email / text somebody
phone somebody
call somebody
email somebody
text somebody
Example:
- I called the airline to cancel my flight. (not
called to the airline)
但是 write 不同：
write (a letter) to somebody
例如：
- I wrote to Sarah yesterday.
answer somebody / something
answer somebody
answer something
Example:
- You didn’t answer my email. (not
answer to my email)
但是 reply 要使用 to：
reply to an email
reply to a letter
例如：
- She hasn’t replied to my email yet.
ask somebody (a question)
ask somebody
Example:
- If there’s anything you want to know, you can ask me. (not
ask to me)
也可以：
ask somebody a question
例如：
- Can I ask you a question?
thank somebody (for ...)
thank somebody for something
thank somebody for doing something
Example:
- He thanked me for helping him. (not
He thanked to me)
例如：
Thank you for your help.
Thank you for helping me.
C. verb + at
look / stare / glance AT ...
look at ...
stare at ...
glance at ...
Examples:
- Why are you looking at me like that?
含义：
look at — 看……
stare at — 盯着……看
glance at — 瞥一眼……
have a look / take a look AT ...
have a look at ...
take a look at ...
例如：
- Can you take a look at this?
laugh AT ...
laugh at somebody/something
表示：
嘲笑某人 / 因某事发笑
Example:
- I look stupid with this haircut. Everybody will laugh at me.
aim / point (something) AT ...
aim at ...
point something at ...
例如：
- Don’t point that knife at me. It’s dangerous.
shoot / fire (a gun) AT ...
shoot at ...
fire at ...
表示朝某个目标射击，并不一定击中目标。
Example:
- We saw someone with a gun shooting at birds, but he didn’t hit any.
D. at 和 to 都可以使用，但意思不同
有些动词既可以跟 at，也可以跟 to，但是意思会发生变化。
shout AT somebody
当你生气或带有攻击性地冲某人喊叫：
shout at somebody
Example:
- He got very angry and started shouting at me.
可以理解为：
朝某人吼 冲某人发火
shout TO somebody
为了让远处的人听见你的声音：
shout to somebody
Example:
- He shouted to me from the other side of the street.
可以理解为：
大声向某人喊话
shout at vs shout to
shout AT somebody → 对着某人吼，通常带有愤怒或攻击性
shout TO somebody → 大声喊，让对方能够听见
例如：
My boss shouted at me because he was angry.
Tom was far away, so I shouted to him.
throw something AT somebody / something
如果目的是击中目标：
throw something at somebody/something
Example:
- Somebody threw an egg at the politician.
核心感觉：
AT = 把某人 / 某物作为攻击或投掷目标
throw something TO somebody
如果目的是让对方接住某物：
throw something to somebody
Example:
- Lisa shouted ‘Catch!’ and threw the keys to me from the window.
核心感觉：
TO = 把东西传递给某人
1. Unit 132 核心搭配总结
verb + TO
talk to somebody
speak to somebody
listen to something
apologise to somebody
explain something to somebody
describe something to somebody
不使用 TO
这些动词直接接宾语：
phone somebody
call somebody
email somebody
text somebody
answer somebody/something
ask somebody
thank somebody
特别注意
write to somebody
reply to somebody/something
虽然：
email somebody
answer somebody
不需要 to，
但是：
write to somebody
reply to somebody
需要 to。
verb + AT
look at
stare at
glance at
have a look at
take a look at
laugh at
aim at
point something at
shoot at
fire at
2. 高频搭配对照表
| Verb | Preposition | 常见结构 |
|---|---|---|
| talk | to | talk to somebody |
| speak | to | speak to somebody |
| listen | to | listen to something |
| apologise | to | apologise to somebody |
| explain | to | explain something to somebody |
| describe | to | describe something to somebody |
| write | to | write to somebody |
| reply | to | reply to somebody/something |
| phone | — | phone somebody |
| call | — | call somebody |
| — | email somebody | |
| text | — | text somebody |
| answer | — | answer somebody/something |
| ask | — | ask somebody |
| thank | — | thank somebody |
| look | at | look at something |
| stare | at | stare at somebody |
| glance | at | glance at something |
| laugh | at | laugh at somebody |
| aim | at | aim at something |
| point | at | point something at somebody |
| shoot | at | shoot at something |
| fire | at | fire at something |
3. AT 和 TO 的关键区别
shout
shout AT somebody → 生气地冲某人喊
shout TO somebody → 为了让某人听见而大声喊
throw
throw something AT somebody → 朝某人扔，目标是击中他
throw something TO somebody → 把东西扔给某人，目标是让他接住
4. Unit 132 最终思维模型
这一单元可以把 to 和 at 理解成两个不同的核心方向。
TO → 传递 / 到达对方
很多使用 to 的表达都有一种：
信息、声音、物品 → 到达某人
的感觉。
例如：
talk to me
speak to me
explain it to me
apologise to me
throw the ball to me
可以简单理解为：
A → TO → B
AT → 瞄准 / 指向目标
很多使用 at 的表达都有一种：
把某人或某物作为目标
的感觉。
例如：
look at me
stare at me
point at me
laugh at me
shoot at something
throw something at somebody
可以简单理解为：
动作 → AT → 目标
5. 一句话记忆
TO = 朝向对方 / 传递给对方
AT = 瞄准一个目标
所以：
throw it TO me = 扔给我，让我接住
而：
throw it AT me = 朝我扔过来，把我当目标
同样：
shout TO me = 大声喊，让我听见
而：
shout AT me = 冲我吼