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Prepositions after verbs

Starve to or starve of?

Starve of is the standard pattern for lacking something. Starve to is usually part of an infinitive such as starve to death.

Quick answer

Which preposition goes with starve?

Use starve of when talking about a lack of food, resources, or emotional needs. Starve to is not a normal preposition pattern, but to appears in phrases like starve to death.

Many families were starved of clean water.
The plants starved of sunlight soon died.
Some animals starved to death during the winter.

Choose the pattern by meaning

These forms are not interchangeable. Choose the construction by meaning, not by which preposition appears most often.

1
starve of + resource

Lacking food or necessities

Use starve of to describe being deprived of something necessary.

The region was starved of investment.
The team felt starved of support.
2
starve for + something

Strongly wanting something

Starve for often expresses a strong emotional or physical desire.

After weeks alone, she was starving for conversation.
The market is starving for skilled workers.
3
starve to death

Describing death from hunger

To in this phrase is part of the result expression to death, not a preposition after starve.

Many people starved to death during the famine.
The stray dog nearly starved to death before it was rescued.

See the difference in context

The same subject can take different constructions because each sentence answers a different question.

Construction
Example
Meaning
starve of
The country was starved of resources.
Standard pattern meaning deprived of something.
starve to
Several animals starved to death in the storm.
Used in fixed result expressions such as to death, not as a normal preposition pattern.
starve for
He was starving for attention.
Means strongly wanting something.

Common mistakes

Some combinations appear in real text but do not mean what learners often assume.

Using starve to with a noun

Do not use starve to before ordinary nouns.

✕ The town was starved to food. ✓ The town was starved of food.

Confusing deprivation and desire

Starve of means lack something; starve for means strongly want something.

✕ She was starving of affection. ✓ She was starving for affection.

Quick practice

Choose the expression that matches the intended meaning.

1. The refugees were starved ___ medical care.
2. After the long trip, we were starving ___ a hot meal.
3. Many prisoners sadly starved ___ during the war.

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Frequently asked questions

Is starve to correct?

Only in expressions such as starve to death. It is not normally followed by a noun.

What does starved of mean?

It means deprived of something necessary or important.

Can I say starving for attention?

Yes. Starving for is a common figurative expression for strongly wanting something.

sack, by, sack, for, sack, from "sacrifice for" or "sacrifice to"? sail from, in, for, to or through? "salvage from" or "salvage in"? sanction by, for, in, with or according? satisfy with, by, in, about or after? "saturate with" or "saturate in"? save by, for, from, on or in? "say in", "say about" or "say to"? "scan for", "scan in" or "scan through"? "scar by" or "scar on"? scatter in, across, around, throughout or on?

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