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
also subscribe to my channel; I have many other resources on a
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you can find even more resources. So, thank you for
watching; and until next time, take care.