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 lot of different topics related
to learning a language. Okay? So, just don't forget to ring
the bell, because if you ring the bell, you will see what new
videos are coming out. You can also check out my website at
www.teacheremma.com, and there you can find even more
resources. So, thank you for watching; and until next time,
take care.
