Quick Help: Strategies for learning prepositions idiomatically

Quick Help: Strategies for learning prepositions idiomatically

Strategies for learning prepositions idiomatically

1. Keep in mind typical examples of each preposition.

IN The peaches are in the refrigerator.
There are still some pickles in the jar.
The book you are looking for is in the bookcase.

Here the object of the preposition in is a container that encloses something.

ON The peaches are on the table.
There are still some pickles on the plate.
The book you are looking for is on the top shelf.

Here the object of the preposition on is a horizontal surface that supports something with which it is in direct contact.

2. Learn other examples that show some similarities and some differences in meaning.

IN You shouldn’t drive in a snowstorm.

Here there is no container, but like a container, the falling snow surrounds the driver. The preposition in is used for other weather-related expressions as well: in a tornado, in the sun, in the rain.

ON Is that a diamond ring on your finger?

The preposition on is used to describe things we wear: the hat on his head, the shoes on her feet, the tattoo on his back.

3. Use your imagination to create mental images that can help you remember figurative uses of prepositions.

IN Michael is in love.

The preposition in is often used to describe a state of being: in love, in pain, in a panic. As a way to remember this, you might imagine the person immersed in this state of being.

4. Try to learn prepositions not in isolation but as part of a system. For example, in identifying the location of a place or an event, you can use the three prepositions at, in, and on.

At specifies the exact point in space or time.

AT There will be a meeting tomorrow at 9:30 AM at 160 Main Street.

Expanses of space or time within which a place is located or an event takes place might be seen as containers and so require in.

IN I arrived in the United States in January.

On must be used in two cases: with the names of streets (but not the exact address) and with days of the week or month.

ON The airline’s office is on Fifth Avenue.
I’ll be moving to my new apartment on September 30.