Preposition: 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.
                  

Adjectives commonly used before about:
angry, anxious, bashful, concerned, confused, crazy, excited, glad, happy, mad, nervous, objective, optimistic, pessimistic, right, sick, silly, unhappy, upset, worried                                                             

3. About (adverb) can mean approximately.                

Pattern: about + number
It is about nine o'clock.
We have about ten dollars each.
         

4. About can mean in all parts of.            

Pattern 1: be + noun + about + noun
There is a lot of excitement about town.
          

Pattern 2: past participle of verb + about + noun
Papers were scattered about the house.
                                  

Typical past participles used before about:
scattered, sprinkled, strewn, thrown               

5. About can describe a noun.                      

Pattern: something/nothing + (adjective) + about + noun
There is something about her that I like.
There is something adorable about her.
There is nothing nice about that.
                                                        

 Adjectives commonly used before about:
adorable, attractive, bad, cute, exotic, fascinating, familiar, fishy, funny, good, interesting, nice, peculiar, special, strange, unusual, weird, wonderful                                                                                         

6. About can mean in all directions.                

Pattern 1: motion verb + about + noun
We wandered about town for a few hours.
                   

Pattern 2: motion verb + about (adverb)
The baby crawls about the house.                   

Verbs commonly used with these patterns:
crawl, go, jump, look, move, poke, run, walk, wander            

7. About (adverb) can mean almost.                 

Pattern: be + about + adjective
She is about ready.                              

Adjectives commonly used after about:
complete, done, finished, perfect, ready, right, through                      

8. Expressions  

about + infinitive—ready to
The show is about to begin.                

to be about time—an expression of annoyance that a person or thing has arrived late.
''It's about time you got here," said the mother when her daughter came home late.               

to have an air about one—to seem uncaring or unfriendly
That new guy has an air about him.                                        

not about (adverb) + infinitive—not willing to
I'm not about to sign that agreement.
They're not about to go home early.
                            

about face             

    1. (verb) a military command to turn halfway around, and face the opposite direction
The sergeant ordered, "About face!"
He told his men to about face.
                                                                                                

    2. (noun) a complete change of opinion
He did an about face when he learned the facts.          

9. Phrasal verbs                  

bring about (separable)—cause
The storm brought about problems.
The storm brought them about.
                       

come about (intransitive)—happen
How did that situation come about?                

to get about (intransitive)—to be able to walk
He is ninety years old, and he gets about very well.                

to find out about (nonseparable)—to get information or news about something
When did you find out about the accident?