Common English Mistake 2016

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Mistakes in the Use of Prepositions

1 Bad (i) Bad at

The use of the preposition in in the first sentence is wrong. It should be replaced with at.

• The boy is bad in Mathematics. ✘ • The boy is bad at Mathematics. ✔ (ii) Worse at, Worst at

Similarly, the use of in for the comparative and the superlative of bad (worse and worst) is also wrong.

• The boy’s brother is worse in Mathematics. ✘ • His friend is the worst in Mathematics. ✘

The correct sentences are: • The boy’s brother is worse at Mathematics.

• His friend is the worst at Mathematics.

✔ ✔

2 Excel (i) Excel at (an activity)

According to English Prepositional Idioms by Frederick T. Wood, for being extremely good at an activity, excel in may be used but excel at is more common.

• This artist excels in painting birds. ✘ • This artist excels at painting birds. ✔ (ii) Excel in (an attribute or quality)

According to the same source, the use of the preposition at is not appropriate when we use excel for qualities or attributes.

• She excels at intelligence. ✘ • My brother excels at foreign languages. ✘

It would be more appropriate to write the sentences as: • She excels in intelligence. ✔ • My brother excels in foreign languages. ✔ 1

Common English Mistakes Unit 1 Mistakes in the Use of Prepositions

3 Good (i) Good at

The use of the preposition in the first sentence is wrong. The correct preposition to use is at.

• He is good in Mathematics. ✘ • He is good at Mathematics. ✔ (ii) Better at, Best at

The use of the preposition in for the comparative and the superlative of good (better and best) in the two sentences is wrong.

• He is better in Mathematics. ✘ • He is the best in Mathematics. ✘

The correct preposition to use is at: • He is better at Mathematics.

• He is the best at Mathematics.

✔ ✔

(iii) Good with (one’s hands, feet, etc.)

The use of the preposition on in the first sentence is wrong. The correct preposition to use is with.

• He is good on his hands. ✘ • He is good with his hands. ✔

He is good with his hands means he is capable when using his hands or that he can draw, make things, etc.

(iv) Good with (children, dogs, fish, etc.)

The preposition in in the first sentence is wrong.

The correct preposition is with.

• He is very good in children. ✘ • He is very good with children. ✔

He is very good with children means he is capable when dealing with children or that he can look after children well, amuse them, etc.

(v) Good to

The preposition with in the first sentence is wrong. The preposition used should be to.

• He was very good with me when I was jobless. ✘ • He was very good to me when I was jobless. ✔

He was very good to me when I was jobless means he was very kind to me or he was willing to help me when I had no job.

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Common English Mistakes Unit 1 Mistakes in the Use of Prepositions

(vi) Good for

The preposition to used in the first two sentences is wrong and should be replaced with for.

• This medicine is good to your cough. ✘ • Eating more vegetables is good to one. ✘ • This medicine is good for your cough. ✔ • Eating more vegetables is good for one. ✔ Good for means having a useful effect on or beneficial for something or someone.

4 Poor (i) Poor at

The preposition in in the first sentence is wrong. If we wish to say that someone is not good at something, then we should write poor at.

• He is poor in English. ✘ • He is poor at English. ✔ (ii) Poor in

The use of the preposition with in the first sentence is wrong. If we want the sentence to mean having very little of something, we should write or say poor in.

• Iceland is very poor with natural resources. ✘ • Iceland is very poor in natural resources. ✔

Iceland is very poor in natural resources means that Iceland has few or very little natural resources.

5 Weak (i) Weak in/at

The use of the preposition on for weak in the first sentence is wrong. In the sentence, the meaning of weak is below standard or not good enough in ability, skill or quality. For weak used in this sense, both the prepositions in and at are correct.

• He is weak on Science. ✘ • He is weak in/at Science. ✔

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Common English Mistakes Unit 1 Mistakes in the Use of Prepositions

1 Fill in the blanks in the sentences below with the correct prepositions.

1 Eating too much fat is not good

a person.

2 That man is very good

his parents.

3 Skimmed milk is good

health.

4 That footballer is good

either foot.

5 He is good 6 I am poor

Mathematics but not English. solving crossword puzzles.

7 This part of the country is poor 8 That girl is weak 9 He excels

coal.

gymnastics. creativity.

10 The woman excels

persuading others to do what she wants.

11 They are good

telling lies.

12 My cousin is very good

dogs.

13 This liniment is good

sprains.

14 My elder brother has always been good 15 The country is poor

me.

minerals.

16 He has always been poor

getting along with others.

17 My sister has always been weak

Science.

18 You cannot blame him for failing English for he has always been weak the subject.

19 It is very difficult to excel 20 He excels

English.

writing poems.

6 Sit (i) Sit in

The first sentence is wrong because of the preposition on. If it is a chair with armrests, you sit in it.

• She sits on the armchair. ✘ • She sits in the armchair. ✔

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Common English Mistakes Unit 1 Mistakes in the Use of Prepositions

(ii) Sit on

In the first sentence, the preposition in is wrongly used.

For stools or chairs without armrests, the preposition to use with sit is on.

• The boy sits in the stool. ✘ • The boy sits on the stool. ✔

2 Fill in the blanks with either the preposition on or in.

1 My aunt sat 2 They sat 3 We sat

her favourite rocking chair. the rocks and threw pebbles into the sea. the ground and had our breakfast.

4 The monkey sat

the tree and observed them curiously.

5 The sheriff sat

his horse and waited for the robbers to come closer.

6 They sat the car with the air-conditioning on to wait for their cobbler father to finish work.

7 He sat the roof of his four-wheel-drive vehicle to watch the impromptu game of football played by his travel mates.

8 He and his girlfriend sat 9 He sat 10 He was forced to sit

seats D7 and D8 at the cinema.

his motorcycle waiting for his friend to appear. the block of ice as a form of torture.

7 In with countries and large towns, At with small towns (i) In for countries

The preposition at is wrongly used in the first sentence. The preposition in should be used for countries.

• They live at Australia. ✘ • They live in Australia. ✔ (ii) In for cities or big towns

The preposition in should be used for cities or big towns. Since Tokyo is a city, the preposition in should be used.

• His plane landed at Tokyo. ✘ • His plane landed in Tokyo. ✔ (iii) At for small towns or villages 5

Common English Mistakes Unit 1 Mistakes in the Use of Prepositions

Instead of the preposition in, the preposition at would be more suitable because Palmsville is a small fishing village.

• They arrived in the small fishing village of Palmsville. ✘ • They arrived at the small fishing village of Palmsville. ✔

3 Fill in the blanks in the sentences below with the preposition in or at.

1 He is planning to vacation 2 She lives

the United States.

Oak Ridge, a village in Eagle Valley.

3 He owns a shop

Manila.

4 His son is studying

Australia.

5 The express bus stopped their legs and to have a snack.

a small town for the passengers to stretch

6 They did some shopping

Bangkok when they visited Thailand.

7 He worked to a larger one.

8 Living

a small town for a few years before he was transferred New Zealand for a few years changed his entire outlook on life.

9 She sells chicken rice

Sydney and makes a lot of money.

10 He runs a money-changing business 11 He saw how the people

a big shopping complex.

Africa were starving.

12 He sets up his home simple life.

a small village because he wants to lead a

13 They have to spend a lot as living 14 The Chinese

a big city incurs a lot of expenses.

Shanghai are very prosperous.

15 The main means of transport 16 Living 17 Doing business

China is the bicycle.

a small town has its compensations.

Kuala Lumpur is very competitive.

18 I do not know if it is true that love.

19 Working your pay.

20 Hawker food

Japan they do not have a word for

a big town means you do not have much left over from big towns usually does not taste good.

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Common English Mistakes Unit 1 Mistakes in the Use of Prepositions

8 For for a period of time, Since for a point in time (i) For for a period in time

Many students mistakenly use since for a period of time. Actually, the preposition for should be used to show a period of time.

• She has been waiting here since two hours. ✘ • She has been waiting here for two hours. ✔ (ii) Since for a point in time The preposition at is incorrect in the first sentence. For a point in time, the preposition since should be used.

• She has been waiting here at eight o’clock. ✘ • She has been waiting here since eight o’clock. ✔

4 Fill in the blanks in the sentences below with either since or for. a long time.

1 She has known me

August.

2 Not a drop of rain has fallen

ages!

3 You have not phoned me

she was very young.

4 She has been studying English

I last saw you.

5 It has been six years 6 The child has been ill

Thursday.

7 The child has been ill

three days.

8 We have not eaten

lunch.

9 We have not eaten

six hours.

10 She has been working here

ten years.

11 She has been working here

she left school.

12 We have not seen her

she left for the States.

13 We have not seen her

more than five years.

14 She went to Jakarta to work and we have not seen her umpteen years.

15 We have not seen her 7

.

Common English Mistakes Unit 1 Mistakes in the Use of Prepositions

16 Our school has not won the inter-school football championship 1995.

17 Our school has not won the inter-school football championship more than nine years.

18 He started working in this firm after graduating from university and has been there . as long as anyone can

19 He has been working in this firm remember.

20 I went to a Christmas dinner and have not had a better meal .

9 Between you and me

In the first sentence, the use of the pronoun I as the object of the preposition between is wrong. The object form me should be used.

• Between you and I, that man cannot be trusted. ✘ • Between you and me, that man cannot be trusted. ✔ The first sentence shown below is also wrong.

As the object of the verb let, the object form me should be used instead of the pronoun I. • Let John and I go. ✘ • Let John and me go. ✔

5 Indicate whether the use of the personal pronouns in the sentences below are correct or wrong. If they are wrong, correct them.

1 Between you and I, this company is going to fold up at any moment.

2 Let Tim and she sweep the floor.

3 Between you and me, the manager is having an affair with his pretty secretary.

4 Let you and us discuss this matter over a cup of coffee.

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Common English Mistakes Unit 1 Mistakes in the Use of Prepositions

5 Between you and I, that woman is a gambling addict.

6 Let Lisa and her buy the present.

7 Between you and me, John is wasting his time with Tina.

8 Let him and I take care of the renting of the hall.

9 Between you and I, the whole thing is going to fail.

10 Let Lenny and them do the cleaning up.

10 Between, Among

The preposition among in the first sentence is wrong. When talking or writing about two persons or groups, the preposition to use is between. The second sentence is also wrong because of the use of the preposition between.

For more than two persons or groups, the correct preposition to use is among.

• The two boys shared the durian among themselves. ✘ • The many tribes fought between themselves. ✘ The correct sentences are: • The two boys shared the durian between themselves. ✔ • The many tribes fought among themselves. ✔

6 Use the word between or among to fill in the blanks in the sentences below.

1 The four robbers shared the loot

themselves.

2 The boy and his sister are always fighting 3

themselves.

the two boys, I would say the younger is more intelligent.

4 The first prize was shared

the ten winners.

5 They divided the winnings

the two of them.

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Common English Mistakes Unit 1 Mistakes in the Use of Prepositions

6 He wisely divides his time

his family and his work.

7 The food was distributed 8

the poor.

you and me, I would say he cannot be relied on.

9 They took only one bag 10 She works

the two of them.

the sick and suffering.

11 The three major powers divided the defeated country 12 The six children played

themselves.

themselves.

13 The two sisters own a fashion accessory shop 14 The two good friends have no secrets

themselves. themselves.

15 The three shareholders shared the profits

themselves.

16 The two children had a lot of fun tossing the ball

themselves.

17 Whispering themselves, the class discussed what to give to the teacher for Teachers’ Day. 18 The two children discussed their plan 19 The politician campaigned 20 They had ten ringgit

themselves. the electorate.

the two of them.

11 Prepositions to Use with Methods (Means, Tools or Instruments) and Agents (or Perpetrators)

The preposition by is wrong in the first sentence. The correct preposition to use is with. The preposition by is used for agents or perpetrators. Agents and perpetrators are people or things that do something or cause something to happen.

• The guests were entertained by traditional dancing. ✘ • The guests were entertained with traditional dancing. ✔

Traditional dancing here is a method, means, tool or instrument with which the guests were entertained. If you wish to say or write that the guests were entertained by a certain group of people (that is, traditional dancers) then the sentence should be: • The guests were entertained by traditional dancers. ✔ 10