There are no useful general rules governing the use of prepositions, since this depends on the individual lexical items with which the preposition occurs, as well as the meaning of the preposition itself. Furthermore, the meanings of the preposition and of the co-occurring lexical items are usually interdependent; that is, each is defined in terms of the other. The simplest way to categorize prepositional errors, given this situation, is not according to rules but according to the individual prepositions which are misused. The following examples illustrate the variety of prepositional errors that can occur, the final section consisting of examples of omitted prepositions. Discussion is limited to cases of particular interest, or when the preposition is acceptable in a similar context or with a different meaning from the one intended in the example.
Examples of errors:
about
Omission:
after
After can mean 'in accordance with,' particularly in the expression a man after my own heart, or 'in the style of' in expressions like a painting after the Dutch masters. Both meanings are rather limited, though, and one would not be likely to find, for example:
He lived after Robinson Crusoe (i.e. 'in the manner of Robinson Crusoe')
That's a house after Frank Lloyd Wright (i.e. 'in the style of Frank Lloyd Wright'
Look after means 'take care of (someone or something).'
as
Such as is equivalent in meaning to like or for example, and can be separated, with such preceding the first element of the comparison:
Our world is ruled by imperatives such as success and money.
Our world is ruled by such imperatives as success and money.
at
At is used for times of the day (at noon, at five o'clock), in for periods of the day (in the morning, in the afternoon), and on for days themselves (cf. (1)-(3)). The word time itself (cf. (8)) can take several different prepositions (at that time, in time, on time, during that time, etc.), but always for in the expression for the time being ('temporarily'). Coasts are usually considered lines rather than points and take on (on the coast, a house on the Gulf), but at is used with seaside. A house at the Riviera (cf. (4)) might be acceptable to some speakers. At a supermarket (cf. (6)) is possible meaning a point rather than a direction (We bought it at the supermarket). Similarly, one telephones at or from one place to another, though the verbs call and telephone both take direct objects (not prepositional phrases) as complements; (9) would only be acceptable if the phone call was made at the police station itself, which was not the intended meaning. One refers to something of a certain value, but at a certain price (cf. (15)).
by
Omission:
By means 'by means of' in sentences like the following:
He came by car.
He entered by the back door.
He passed the exam by studying diligently.
Although the restrictions on this use of by are not altogether clear, one seems to have to do with definiteness, or the specificity–as opposed to abstractness or generality–of the relationship between the prepositional phrase and the verb. In most cases, there is a one-to-one relationship (of means) between the verb, which expresses what the event or action was, and the by phrase, which expresses how it happens (or happened, will happen, etc.). In other words, how the event occurs is explained by the by phrase–at least insofar as the context requires an explanation. This is not quite so in (4) and (9). In these sentences, the relationship between the predication in the main clause and the by phrase is more indirect than in the three examples given above. Compare the following sentence with (4):
People should come to know each other by correspondence.
This expresses a direct relationship between the proposition that people should come to know each other and how they should do so (the implication of the sentence being that correspondence should ease the way to face-to-face meetings, etc.). But in (4) the intended meaning is that one of the many things literature should do for people is help them get to know other people (e.g. fictional characters, subjects of biographies, etc.). Through is preferable here, because it expresses a less direct relationship than by. Similarly, in (9) growing older cannot be understood as the direct answer to the question "How does one's memory develop?", as in, for example, the following sentence:
One's memory develops by the growth and expansion of nerve cells in the brain.
Growing older is of course a concomitant process, but it is not the direct means by which memory develops, as the by phrase implies.
(7) presents a somewhat different case. There is a one-to-one relationship between had fun and by playing the guitar, but here the oddity is that the expression of means, however direct, is not appropriate. It would be unusual to respond to a statement like I had fun last night with the question How? There are contexts, of course, where How?–the question of means–is appropriate with a verb like have fun, e.g.:
How do you have fun in an igloo?
By playing it cool!
In this pun, by playing it cool ostensibly expresses the means by which an activity (having fun) is accomplished. In (7), although there clearly is a relationship of means between the main clause and the by phrase, the intention is not to express this relationship per se, but rather a much looser one, which is harder to describe and categorize. Compare the following sentences:
He got a headache trying to figure out his tax return.
He stayed up all night waiting for her.
By in either of these sentences would imply purpose–that he wanted to get a headache and to stay up all night. Thus by phrases tend to express not only means but purposive means. We can see this in (7) as well, if the main clause is changed to something that clashes with the purposive implication of the by phrase:
*I always got so bored by playing the guitar that I decided to quit.
The sentence sounds odd because it illogically implies that I played the guitar in order to get bored. Remove by and the sentence is perfectly acceptable, just as the two examples above, with the -ing participle clauses having a rather loose and variable semantic relationship with the main clause which Quirk et al. call "supplementative":
...what they describe is a "contingency" or "accompanying circumstance" to what is described in the main clause. "Contingency" may be interpreted, according to context, as a causal or temporal connection, or perhaps most commonly of all, a "circumstantial" one. In -ing clauses, dynamic verbs typically suggest a temporal link, and stative verbs a causal link... (1972:§11-50).
The loose or protean semantic relationship that a supplementative clause has with the main clause is reflected in the fact that usually more than one paraphrase is possible. This doesn't necessarily mean the sentence is ambiguous (though it might be); the -ing participle clause may simply have all or a combination of various meanings. The most likely paraphrases of the corrected version of the sentences mentioned above are:
I always had so much fun when/while I was playing/played the guitar.
He got a headache when he tried/while he was trying/after he tried/as a result of trying/because he tried to figure out his income tax return.
He stayed up all night because he was waiting/as a result of waiting for her.
With a passive verb, by introduces the agent or instrument of the action expressed by the main verb, e.g.:
He was hit by a muscle-bound thug (agent)
He was hit by a bullet (instrument)
As it stands, (3) must be understood to mean that the replacement (agent) chose Rocky, though the intended meaning was that someone unspecified chose Rocky as the replacement (i.e. for another boxer–reference to the film Rocky).
In (8) and (6) the preposition is bound to a specific lexical item: listen to the radio, listen to something on the radio, enjoy something for (i.e. because of) certain qualities. In time in (4) is not the same as in time meaning 'punctually' (compare on time) but means 'eventually, after some time has elapsed.'
concerning
Concerning means 'involving,' having to do with.' Concerned of is not likely to occur at all. Concerned with is possible but normally refers to intellectual content of a document, speech, etc.:
The article is concerned with/concerns/is about psychoanalysis.
for
Advice for (cf. (2)) and acceptable for (cf. (3)) are acceptable, but to is more usual (except with have: I have some advice for you). The author of (9) probably confused two similar constructions:
So I changed from biology to English.
So I exchanged biology for English.
Since the author was describing a change in her course of studies, the first alternative is more appropriate. If she had been talking about a recent purchase, the second would have been better:
So I exchanged the blue one for the red one.
Example for (cf. (11)) would be possible if the intended meaning were 'example for the benefit of someone,' as in
You should set a good example for your son.
Care for (cf. (13)) is often confused with take care of or care about. Care for is used to mean 'like' in negative and interrogative sentences or to mean 'look after' or 'nurse,' as in
I don't care for westerns.
She has to care for her elderly mother.
Take care of can have the second meaning, but has a wider range of usage, including 'see to,' 'accept responsibility for,' etc.:
I'll take care of that problem later.
Will you take care of the baby for an hour?
Care about (cf. (16)) means 'consider important.' Work for is another commonly misused combination. It is possible to work for (the benefit of) oneself (cf. (17)), though there are more common ways of saying this, e.g.:
I'm fed up with doing John's work for him. Now I want to do some work of my own/get some of my own work done.
Work for as a verb, followed by a person or specified group or institution (cf. (18)),is most likely to be understood as referring to employment. Compare:
I have to work for the university.
I have to do some work for school.
The first sentence identifies the employer, the second the general purpose or nature of the work. Since the author of (18) had the second meaning in mind, one of .the following alternatives is preferable:
I spent my holidays
studying.
doing some work for school.
reading for some courses.
working on a paper
For followed by a noun phrase (cf. (21)) denoting a period of time expresses duration–the time period during which something takes place, or, in negative sentences, does not take place. In affirmative sentences for can be omitted:
I thought about it (for) a long time/three hours,, etc.
but
I haven't thought about it for a long time/three hours, etc.
When referring to the repetition of an event rather than its duration, a cardinal number or a quantifying adjective followed by times is the appropriate expression (cf. (22)):
He saw it thirty/a hundred/many/innumerable/a great number of times.
When the quantifying adjective is an ordinal number (or last), however, the prepositional construction with for is used, although again, for may be omitted:
He saw it (for) the first/second/last time today.
Thus confusion between for the thirtieth time and thirty times may have helped to lead the author of (22) astray. A further source of confusion regarding (22) may be the adverbial use of long as equivalent to for a long time in non-assertive (i.e. negative and interrogative) sentences such as
Did he stay long?
He didn't stay long.
This usage also occurs in assertive contexts with certain verbs of belief, assumption, attitude, and speaking–especially in combination with certain other adverbs (e.g. long and hard, long and carefully, etc.). For example:
Film has long been considered an art form.
I've thought long and hard about this problem.
I've long admired his ability to handle people.
This event will be long discussed.
Note that think in (22) does not mean 'have the opinion,' and thus is not a verb of belief, assumption or attitude; it refers to the mental activity of thinking, i.e. 'meditate, cogitate.'
Omissions:
in
At Lent (cf. (3)), at this time (cf. (4)) are possible if the time is considered as a point rather than as a period (compare (1) and (2)). In in (10), (12) and (13) would have a more concrete meaning than is meant here, i.e. 'inside the school building,' 'inside the TV set,' 'inside the house' (working on something else, as opposed to working on the house itself). Fall in ecstasy (cf. (19)) would also have a more literal meaning–'fall to one's knees, to the ground, etc. while in a state of ecstasy,' as opposed to the figurative sense 'slip or enter into the state of ecstasy.' One refers to a person in his or her teens, twenties, etc., but of a certain age (cf. (21)).
One steps into a house, but in a direction. Get into or in a fight, trouble, etc., but get involved in something.
Omission:
of
Of can have many different uses, depending on context, perhaps because it is semantically the most empty of the prepositions. By the same token, there is probably less chance of misunderstanding the intended meaning when of is incorrectly used, as opposed to other prepositions which have more semantic content. A student of the Gesamthochschule is one who studies the university itself as a subject, but this interpretation is not very likely. Misinterpretation of the other examples above is even less likely. The demand of nuclear power (cf. (2)), for example, could hardly be interpreted as 'the demand made by nuclear power' (analogous to the demand of Mr. Smith), since nuclear power is non-human and therefore cannot make demands. The discrimination of colored people (cf. (13)), on the other hand, could understood as 'the discrimination practiced by colored people (i.e. against others), but common sense discourages such a misreading.
Omission:
on
People are said to get or sit in a seat (cf. (1)), because the seat is conceived as a three dimensional area (i.e. the space occupied by the body). Objects, on the other hand, or people (e.g., babies) when they lie rather than sit, are put, placed, or lay on a seat. In British English it is more common to say at school, at university, while in American English in school, in college is usual. Agree on, usually with a plural subject, means 'come to an agreement on, with respect to' (e.g. We agreed on a compromise, We agreed on that point). Agree with (cf. (4)) means 'share the opinion of'-share the opinion of'–usually of a person, but one can also agree with statements, policies, philosophies, etc. that express an opinion.
(7) and (8) illustrate a rather interesting restriction. On the weekend or on weekends is only used generically; compare:
What do you do on the weekend/on weekends?
I'll do it this weekend/over the weekend/every weekend/on the weekend.
On every weekend does not normally occur. On holiday, on vacation (cf. (8)) are used only in connection with people and in a personal sense. That is, one can be on holiday or on one's Easter or spring holiday, but we cannot refer in an impersonal sense to what happens on the holiday(s) or on the Easter holiday(s).
Omissions:
over
therefore
Examples of errors:
Therefore means 'as a result, for that reason,' so semantically its use in (1) is redundant. It does not mean 'for that' (German dafür).
through
Omission:
to
Contact to (cf. (2)) instead of with is one of the most frequent prepositional errors. Agree to (cf. (3), (4)) means 'accept or approve after dispute'; e.g. one might agree to a statement in the sense of agreeing to make the statement. Agree with means 'have the same opinion as' (cf. discussion of on). Similar to (cf. (5)) means 'like,' as in Running is similar to walking. One says to my mind, but in my view /opinion (cf. (7), (8)). Look to (someone) means 'depend on for action,' as in He always looked to his grandfather for advice. The sense in (11) is 'examine' and the idiom take a look at occurs only with at. To is used with matter (cf. (16)) only in combination with animate nouns as prepositional complement (e.g. It doesn't matter to me). With regard to, with respect to, but concerning–with no preposition (cf. (17)). One lives next door to one's neighbors, but the neighbors live next door (cf. (18)).
toward(s)
under
upon
with
Examples of errors:
Right in, dressed in, retire at. One with in 4 is redundant.
Omission: