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My favorite online dictionary tells me that jealousy is followed by the preposition of:

jealousy (of so.|sth.) - die Eifersucht (auf jmdn.|etw.)

(LEO)

But when I checked just-the-word, I noticed that of is used only precedent to jealousy.

Prepositions following the noun are between, about and at. Looking at the examples for jealousy about and jealousy at, it seems to me that about and at are the prepositions which are taken when referring to the reason why someone is jealous.

... that it was jealousy about her ideas.

... jealousy at the younger man's superior talents.

As I mentioned above, the dictionary says it is possible to say jealousy of sth. In my understanding, this something can just be the reason but not the thing I'm jealous of.

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  (Q1) Is it jealousy of sth or jealousy at sth or jealousy about sth when referring to the reason why someone is jealous?
  
  Note: I mean is it possible to say jealousy of the talents or must it be at as in the given example?

  
  
  

  I don't find any reliable sources that show the use of jealousy of sb. Though, I know that it is correct since there are many examples for to be jealous of:

  
  
  

  
  

  They're all jealous of me.

  
  

  
  



• (Q2) Is it common to say jealousy of sb when referring to the person I'm jealous of?




• Supplementary question: How do I combine in one sentence both pieces of information — the person I'm jealous of and the reason why I'm jealous?
  
  I could probably use a genitive as in Peter's car, but maybe my jealousy does not refer to the car or Peter himself but to his money or his parents' money (suppose they gave him the car as a present). How could I handle such a thing?

(I'm sorry for combining a couple of questions into one question but they are too related to be separated.)

Q1: Is it jealousy of sth or jealousy at sth or jealousy about sth when referring to the reason why someone is jealous?

I would think you would use the same prepositions for jealousy as for jealous.

Paul was jealous of Bill. Paul expressed jealousy of Bill.

Paul was jealous for/over his wife. Paul expressed jealousy for/over his wife.

Paul was jealous for/over Bill's car. Paul expressed jealous for/over Bill's car.

_{Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe you can use either for or over with jealous in either of the latter two senses it holds above.}

I have never heard that you could be jealous at something or about something, but if the usages are valid, I would expect that you could use them in the same with jealousy.

Q2: Is it common to say jealousy of sb when referring to the person of whom I'm jealous?

Jealousy of/for/over/at/about something is awkward and in my experience little-used. It is more common to say, "I am jealous of him," as in the example first sentences above.

One way of putting that would be to avoid prepositions altogether: I became jealous on knowing Peter's parents bought him a posh car.

A search of the COCA gives the most common prepositions following jealousy as: of, in, over, and for. If you sort by relevance, the most common are: among, toward, over, between, and of.

Your could say, I'm jealous of Mia over her beautiful hair/for being able to do a backflip.

A selection of the quotations from the OED entry on jealous:

(1828) The Chief is young, and jealous of his rank.

(1838) Several of the leading persons in the state were jealous of his glory.

(1853) God is contemplated as jealous over his people.

(1888) The people, jealous of their hardly-won liberties.

(1888) Mrs. Fausset...had been jealous of the new-comer, and resentful of her intrusion from the outset.

(1897) The Church was, as early as 1254, becoming jealous of the civil law.

It is thus somewhat clear that, generally, the most appropriate preposition is of.

It sounds like what's being discussed here is "envy" rather than jealousy. Envy is a DESIRE-based emotion. You envy someone who is richer or smarter than you, and desire to be equally rich or smart. Jealously, in contrast, is a FEAR-based emotion. You fear that a competitor threatens to replace you as a friend or lover. You fear losing something precious to you. Thus you are envious OF your neighbor or OF your neighbor's flashier car. But if you catch your neighbor eyeing or sneaking around with your spouse, you are jealous --- you fear that your spouse will leave you for your neighbor. So, are you jealous OF your neighbor's interest in your spouse? To what or whom is your jealously directed? to the neighbor? to your spouse? to the threat to your relationship? I think that the English language is unclear on these questions.

Hmm .... what preposition should follow "anger"?

• He has strong anger about health care inequality.


• He is expressing his anger against the perpetrators of inequality.


• Her anger for not having healthcare is eating her up.


• Her anger at her brother is the result of his not supporting her.


• Their anger towards the rich is exhibited by their refusal to file taxes.

Replace the word "anger" with "jealousy", "hate", "feelings", etc.

The preposition depends on the context.

What you are probably facing is confusion between

• the pairing of verbs with prepositions


• ascribing the appropriate preposition to the target context of a preceding noun or phrase.

You would ask the question "what preposition comes after xxx", when xxx is a verb.

• attend to


• conscious of


• account for


• believe in

https://www.keepandshare.com/doc/59788/prepositions-verbs-english-preposition-pairs.