Chapter 43: Prepositions and Prepositional Phrases
CHAPTER 43CONNECT: Why are prepositions tricky to use correctly? The Top Twenty, “Wrong Word”; 43a
CREATE: Keep a log of the questionable preposition usage you find in your own writing or in texts you encounter, and note the context.
REFLECT: Write or record a reflection about the prepositions that cause you the most trouble and what you plan to do to teach yourself to use them more effectively.
WORDS SUCH AS to, from, over, and under show the relations between other words; these words are prepositions, and they are one of the more challenging elements of English writing. If you speak languages other than English, knowing which preposition your home language uses in an expression will not necessarily help you figure out which preposition to use in English. And if English is your home language, you may still choose the wrong prepositions from time to time in formal communication. Thus, you will almost certainly want to pay very careful attention to these little words.