how to use and remeber the way of using prepositions correctly

[tranthe336]

i wonder how we can use preposition correctly and remember the way of using. can any one show me please
thanks

 

[difficult cuss]

what particularly do you want to know? please give examples/context etc

 

[tranthe336]

i just want to know how we can use and how we can remember the way to use or to remember preposition.
for example: when we say : i dream of you.
and we have to remember to use preposition of

 

[caballoschica]

well, in this case, you aren't dreaming in the person, you aren't dreaming on top of the person either. you aren't dreaming right beside the person. You're thinking/dreaming of them. You aren't dreaming at the person either. You can't dream at someone. I'm gonna dream it right at ya! yeah! take that! doesn't work

 

[winklepicker]

i just want to know how we can use and how we can remember the way to use or to remember preposition.
for example: when we say : i dream of you.
and we have to remember to use preposition of

From the point of view of a non-native speaker, however, there's little to choose between them. The distinctions between 'in', 'on' and 'at' are nice indeed. At the opera, in London, on the train.

In all the years my wife taught TEFL we never managed to find a rule for this: AFAIK you just have to learn them by rote. Beastly, isn't it?

On the other hand, if someone can give me a nice simple memorable rule, I'll be most grateful And if at the same time you can give me next week's lottery numbers...

 

[tranthe336]

i'm going to teach my pupils the lesson about preposition and how to use it.so i want to have your advices. for example in;on;for;from.....
I'm looking for the best way to teach them
thanks

 

[caballoschica]

well, I don't believe there's a rule. I'd say make up a game of prepositions. They might remember that better than just straight memorization. Or else there may be a song, but I do not know.

 

[Athaulf]

i just want to know how we can use and how we can remember the way to use or to remember preposition.
for example: when we say : i dream of you.
and we have to remember to use preposition of

From my experience with learning several languages, I can say that unfortunately, there is no easy way with prepositions. You basically have to memorize which prepositions are used with each verb in each of its different meanings. You also have to memorize the proper usage of prepositions in many commonly used phrases.

The only thing that could help you is if the prepositions in some language in which you're already fluent -- or some other grammatical constructs that serve the same purpose in it -- usually have one-to-one correspondence with the English ones, i.e. there is a preposition which usually translates into "in," another one that translates into "of," etc. But even in this case, you'll find that there are many exceptions to such rules for any pair of different languages. Such correspondences make the learning only somewhat less difficult.

 

[tranthe336]

thank for all advices.It help me much.

 

[Tresley]

Hello Tranthe336,

I think, as others have said, that you just have to remember which prepositions are used after certain verbs. You ought to also teach your students that the preposition used after a verb can change the meaning.

For example:

The verb "to sit"

This verb can be followed by various prepositions, each of which gives a different meaning to the verb:

to sit about
to sit around
to sit back
to sit down
to sit in
to sit in for
to sit on
to sit out
to sit up

OR the verb to pull:

to pull away
to pull down
to pull in
to pull off
to pull out
to pull over
to pull through
to pull together
to pull up

Your students will have to learn what they all mean. There is no rule.

Your example was 'to dream'

This verb can be followed by many prepostions too, all of which change the meaning:

to dream about
to dream away
to dream of
to dream on
to dream up

The prepositions that follow each verb change its meaning and, I'm sorry to say, there is no easy answer and they will all have to be learnt.

I hope this helps.

 

[SaritaMija]

There is no rule to prepositions in English. They are difficult. Here is my favorite example:

I got in the car
I got on the bus

I got off the bus
I got out of the car.

No rhyme or reason. Just silliness.

 

[Tresley]

I think that SaritaMija just chose the verb that can be followed by the most prepositions in English. Those examples were good.

These are the prepositions that I can think of that can follow 'to get'. I'll place them in alphabetical order as I think of them:

to get about
to get across
to get ahead
to get along
to get around
to get at
to get away
to get away with
to get back
to get back at
to get back to
to get behind
to get by
to get down
to get down to
to get in
to get in on
to get into
to get in with
to get off
to get off with
to get on
to get on for
to get onto
to get on with
to get out
to get out of
to get over
to get over with
to get round
to get round to
to get through
to get to
to get together
to get up
to get up to

I didn't realise that English was so difficult before I wrote this! It must be a nightmare for foreigners!

Good luck!