A Powerful Way to Learn English Prepositions

  Read. Then read some more. Read books, articles, and more.

Don’t read books about English grammar and prepositions.

Do read books, lots of books, about things that interest you. Read books from reputable authors. Read books from major publishers. Read technical books in your field. Read fiction books in a genre you like. Read books by native English speakers.

As you read, you will encounter prepositions in many contexts, with many different verbs and nouns. Your unconscious/subconscious mind will construct a mental representation of the language and how native English speakers use prepositions. Your ‘inner ear’ will develop an understanding of which prepositions ‘sound’ right with which verbs and following nouns.

You see, as Lightbrown and Spada noted in their 2014 book on How Languages Are Learned, “Comprehensible Input remains the foundation of all language acquisition.”

 Reading about prepositions and referring to a manual or grammar book may help you in the short term when it comes to polishing your written work, but only repeated, long-term exposure to the language will allow your brain to do the work of acquisition so that you use prepositions correctly in spontaneous, unrehearsed speech.

No amount of reading or hearing ABOUT prepositions will do that. No amount of memorization will do that. No amount of ‘practice’ or filling in worksheets will do that. Only hearing and reading language you understand that contains prepositions used correctly in context will enable you to use prepositions correctly and spontaneously with confidence.

The bad news is that his happens only with massive, copious amounts of exposure to the language.

The good news is that it happens unconsciously while you are enjoying whatever you’re reading or hearing.

As the American poet Hart Crane put it, “One must be drenched in words, literally soaked in them, to have the right ones form themselves into the proper pattern at the right moment.”

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Reference: Robert Harrell, “What is the best way to learn preposition in English?” originally appeared on Quora, the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world.
Fix your English Grammar