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Prepositions after verbs

Suspect of, in, by, for or on?

Suspect is most commonly followed by of when stating a possible crime or action. Other prepositions usually add separate information.

Quick answer

Which preposition follows suspect?

Use suspect someone of something to describe a believed wrongdoing. In, by, for, and on are usually separate context phrases, not fixed patterns with suspect.

Police suspected him of fraud.
She was suspected of leaking information.
They suspected him in connection with the attack.

Choose the pattern by meaning

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

1
suspect + person of + action

Believing someone may have done something

Of introduces the crime, action, or behaviour.

Investigators suspected her of theft.
They suspected him of lying.
2
suspect + person in + situation

Connecting someone with an event

In can introduce a broader situation or involvement phrase.

He was suspected in several cases.
The group was suspected in the attack.
3
suspect + noun by/on/for + context

Adding cause, agent, or basis

These prepositions usually belong to surrounding information rather than to suspect itself.

The illness was first suspected by local doctors.
They suspected fraud on the basis of the records.

See the difference in context

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

Construction
Example
Meaning
suspect of
She was suspected of bribery.
standard pattern for possible wrongdoing
suspect in
He was suspected in the robbery investigation.
in links someone to a case or event
suspect by
The error was suspected by several engineers.
by identifies the person forming the suspicion
suspect for
He was arrested for theft, not merely suspected for it.
suspect for is generally nonstandard for accusations
suspect on
They acted on evidence that made them suspect fraud.
on is not normally selected directly by suspect

Common mistakes

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

Using for after suspect

Use of for the suspected action or crime.

✕ They suspected him for robbery. ✓ They suspected him of robbery.

Omitting of before a crime

Of is required in this pattern.

✕ Police suspected her theft. ✓ Police suspected her of theft.

Quick practice

Choose the expression that matches the intended meaning.

1. The accountant was suspected ___ fraud.
2. He was suspected ___ several cybercrime cases.
3. The problem was first suspected ___ hospital staff.

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Paste the complete sentence below. Linguix checks the preposition together with grammar, spelling, punctuation, and style.

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Frequently asked questions

Is suspect of correct?

Yes. It is the standard structure for suspected wrongdoing.

Can I say suspect for a crime?

This is generally nonstandard. Use suspect someone of a crime instead.

What does suspect in mean?

It usually links a person to a case, investigation, or event.

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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