Idioms are speech forms that follow no easily specified rules. The English say “Bernice went to hospital,” an idiom strange to American ears, which are accustomed to hearing the in front of hospital. Native speakers of a language seldom have problems with idioms, but prepositions (such as with, to, at, and of) sometimes cause trouble, especially when they follow certain verbs and adjectives. When in doubt, consult a dictionary.
| unidiomatic | idiomatic |
| abide with (a decision) | abide by (a decision) |
| according with | according to |
| agree to (an idea) | agree with (an idea) |
| angry at (a person) | angry with (a person) |
| capable to | capable of |
| comply to | comply with |
| desirous to | desirous of |
| different than (a person or thing) | different from (a person or thing) |
| intend on doing | intend to do |
| off of | off |
| plan on doing | plan to do |
| preferable than | preferable to |
| prior than | prior to |
| superior than | superior to |
| sure and | sure to |
| think on | think of, about |
| try and | try to |
| type of a | type of |
Because idioms follow no particular rules, you must learn them individually. You may find it helpful to keep a list of idioms that you frequently encounter in conversation and in reading.