The Most Common Preposition Mistakes in English: AT, ON, IN, TO, WITH...

Hello. My name is Emma and in today's video I am going to talk

about some of the most common preposition mistakes I see. So,

what is a "preposition"? Well, a "preposition" is a small word in

English that many students find very annoying. Just kidding.

What a "preposition" is, is it is a small word in English that

carries some information. It's not a verb, it's not a noun,

it's not an adjective.

A "preposition" is a word like: "in", "at", "on", "up", "down",

"around", "about", "with", "for". Okay? So, there are many

of them. And just those little words can actually change the

meaning of a sentence entirely.

Now, today we're going to look at certain verbs that have

prepositions in them, and which ones students often make

mistakes with. So, let's get started.

If you look at the first sentence I have: "Are you going

to the beach?" You might answer: "It depends _____ the weather."

With the sentence: "It depends", after "depends" many students

have trouble with what preposition comes after it. "Is

it 'at'? Is it 'on'? Is it 'in'?" What do you think? "It

depends on the weather." Okay? It depends on the situation. It

depends on my family. So, remember: When we use "depends",

the next... The preposition that comes after it is the word "on".

Now, I'm going to teach you about the ten most common

preposition mistakes I see. If you don't use these words, they

might be something you might want to study later. Focus on

the ones for now that you use a lot, and try to make sure you're

doing those ones correctly.

So: "It depends on the weather." This is another common mistake I

see. So, this is an expression in English. It starts with the

preposition and then it's: "_____ the other hand". I hear

many students say: "In the other hand" - that's not correct. In

English, we have an expression, it's: "On the other hand". Okay?

So, let's look at an example. "Healthcare costs the government

money. On the other hand, people live healthier lives if they

have healthcare." So, we use: "On the other hand" when we are

showing a contrasting viewpoint, so we're showing both sides of

an argument. Okay? For example, I might say: "Dogs can get

really dirty. On the other hand, they can make great companions."

Okay? So, I'm showing two different sides of an argument.

So, now let's look at some other common mistakes students or

learners of English make with prepositions. Okay. So, the next

common mistake I see is with this word: "waiting". We use

this word a lot in English; you know, people are always waiting

for something. So, many students get confused with what

preposition to use after the word "waiting". Sometimes I see

students not use any prepositions, like this. They

say: "She is waiting the bus." That is incorrect. Okay? So, I'm

just going to put an "x" right here so you know that's not the

right one. So, there has to be a preposition that comes after the

word "waiting". What preposition do you think it is? It might be:

"with", "for", "at", "in", "on". Any guesses? "She is waiting

for" something. "I am waiting for the bus.", "I'm waiting for

dinner.", "She's waiting for her parents to come home." Okay? So,

after "waiting", we have this preposition "for".

What's another common mistake I see? "Please come to class

_____ time." With the word "time", many students have a lot

of trouble with prepositions. Is it: "on time" or is it: "in

time"? We actually have a whole video devoted to that, but let's

look at this example: "Please come to class _____..."What do

you think? "on time". Okay? So, this means: Don't be late. "On

time" means not late.

Let's look at another example. "I bought a new dress _____ 100

dollars." A lot of people make mistakes, when we're talking

about money and how much money we spent to get something. So,

what do we use? Do we use "with" or do we use "for"? "I bought a

new dress with 100 dollars" or "I bought a new dress for 100

dollars"? In this case, we use "for". What you're saying in

this sentence is: "I bought a new dress and it cost 100

dollars.", "I bought a new book for 50 cents.", "I bought a new

purse for 200 dollars." Okay? So, when we're talking about

buying things and we're talking about money, we use this

preposition "for".

Another common mistake I see is with the word "thinking" or

"think". "Think" often has a preposition after it. Can you

think which one I'm thinking of? In this case: "I'm thinking

about joining a club. ", "I'm thinking about a number.", "I'm

thinking about a famous person." Okay, so: -"What are you

thinking about?" -"I'm thinking about" and then there's usually

a topic. Okay? So, "thinking about" something.

So, now let's look at a couple other common mistakes learners

make when it comes to prepositions. Okay. So, English

can be a very confusing language. You're going to see

what I mean by this in a moment. Here is my example with the word

"night" and "the morning". Okay? So, when we're talking about

time; when we're talking about "night", "morning", "afternoon",

"evening", let's look at the prepositions we use.

"I watch TV _____ night." So, we need some sort of preposition

here. What preposition do you think it is? If you said "at",

you are correct. "I watch TV at night.", "I like to walk at

night.", "I go out at night." But this is where it gets

confusing: "I work _____ the morning." What preposition goes

here? Can we say: "I work at the morning"? No, we can't. A

different preposition goes in "morning", "afternoon", and

"evening". That preposition is "in". "I work in the morning.",

"I work in the afternoon." and "I work in the evening." So, the

one that is special or different is "night". "Morning",

"afternoon", and "evening" all use the preposition "in",

whereas "night" uses "at". Okay?

So, now let's look at another example of a common mistake

people make. It's with this word: "married". So, when we're

talking about people who are married, there's a preposition

we need to use. Let's look at our example. "Justin Trudeau is

married _____ Sophie." Do you think it's: "with Sophie" or "to

Sophie"? "Justin Trudeau is married to Sophie." Okay? So,

"married to" someone: "John Oliver is married to a very

brave woman.", "Roseanne was married to Tom Arnold." Okay?

So, there are some examples we use "to". "My sister is married

to a British man."

Let's look at another example or another place where learners

often make mistakes. That is with the day of the week. "_____

Friday I went to a restaurant." Should this be: "At Friday", "In

Friday", or "On Friday"? If you said: "On Friday", you are

correct. "On Friday I went to a restaurant." So, when we're

talking about days of the week, we use "on": "On Monday", "On

Tuesday", "On Wednesday", "On Thursday", "On Friday", "On

Saturday", and "On Sunday".

What about with the month? I have here: "_____ June, I went

swimming." Can I say: "On June"? No. I say: "In June". "In June I

went swimming." Now, if you're looking at these two things, and

you're thinking: "Why? This is so tough. This is so difficult."

It's okay. Remember my piece of advice: Think about the words

you use the most and focus on those first.

So, I would say dates, like Friday, months we use a lot when

we talk, so really focus on memorizing that you use "on"

with days of the week and "in" with the months. Okay? Think

about which of these you're the most likely to use, and then

focus on those.

So, let's look at my final example of a common mistake

people make with prepositions. All right, so our final example

of a common mistake. That is with the words when we're

talking about cities or countries. If I say something,

like: "I'm going _____ Toronto", there needs to be a preposition

after "go". What preposition should I use? I should use the

preposition: "I'm going to Toronto." Okay? So, after "go",

we have the preposition "to". And it's not just cities or

countries; we can also use this with other places as well. "I'm

going to work.", "I'm going to the library." "I'm going to the

shopping mall."

Now, there's another exception, and that's with this word

"home". "I'm going..." Do we say: "I'm going to home"? No.

With "home", we don't need a preposition after "go". We can

just say: "I'm going home." So, with all these other things I've

mentioned, like city, country, "I'm going to France" -- we need

the word "to" after "go". Or if we have the past tense, for

example: "I went _____ Italy" we need this word "to". But with

"home" it's different.

Okay, so now let's look at another final example of when

we're talking about places and prepositions. If we're talking

about being in a place, like a city or a country. For example,

I have here the verb "live". What preposition comes after

this? "I live in Toronto." So: "I'm going to Toronto. I live in

Toronto." Or if I don't even want to use the verb "live", I

can just say: "I'm in Italy. My sister is in Italy. My brother

is in Japan." Okay? So, we can use "in" with countries or

cities when we're talking about living there or being there, but

when we're talking about "go" we use "to".

So, these are some of the most common preposition mistakes

learners make. So again, think about: "Which ones are you

likely to make?" and study those ones, practice those ones.

Remember: Practice makes perfect. So, you can actually

practice these by taking our quiz at www.engvid.com You can

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watching; and until next time, take care.