Your Grammar Teacher: Do you dispose somebody or you dispose of somebody?

Habeeb Waliyu

The systematic nature of language makes every language to be restricted to a particular set of rules.

Do you dispose somebody/something or you dispose of somebody/something?
The grammaticality of an expression is not meant to be known by how it sounds but by the rules of the language.

It's wrong to say: "he will dispose all his property."

Its correct to say : "He will dispose of all his property."

Further examples are:
1. That seems to have disposed most of their arguments.
2. An incinerator built to dispose of toxic waste.
3. Two goals by lionel messi disposed of Liverpool.

Dispose of is a phrasal verb. It means:
1. To get rid of something especially something that is difficult to get rid of.
2. To sell something.
3. To deal with something especially problem successfully.
4. It can also be used to defeat an opponent.


it should be noted that  "somebody can be disposed to something" which means to have a tendency towards something. E.g. : A man disposed to depression.


You can also dispose somebody to something, which means to make someone more likely to have a particular feelings or thoughts. E.g:
1. She seems favourably disposed to the move.
2.  The body releases a chemical that disposes you to sleep.