Smart Tips for Using Prepositions and Sounding More Natural in English

Prepositions: The Hidden Reason Your English Feels Unnatural

Have you ever felt like your English sounds a little strange, even though your grammar is pretty good?

You might be missing something small – but super important: prepositions!

Those tiny words like "in," "on," and "at" can completely change the meaning of a sentence. And guess what? They often don’t translate directly from your native language!  

Why Do Prepositions Matter So Much?

Let’s look at two sentences:  

✅ "I'll meet you in the corner."  

✅ "I'll meet you on the corner."  

Same words, different prepositions – totally different meanings!  

- "In the corner" means inside a building or room.  
- "On the corner" means outside, where two streets meet.  

Imagine telling a friend to meet you in the corner of a coffee shop, but they wait on the street corner instead...

Why Your Native Language is Tricking You  

Prepositions don’t work the same way in every language. If you try to translate them word for word, you might say something that sounds strange in English.  

For example:  

• In Spanish: "En el fin de semana" → ❌ "In the weekend" → ✅ "On the weekend"  
• In Japanese: "Densha de" → ❌ "With train" → ✅ "By train"  
• In Russian: "На работе" → ❌ "On work" → ✅ "At work"  

Does this sound familiar? If you've ever made mistakes like this, don't worry – you're not alone!  

The Problem with Translating 

The problem is that English prepositions follow patterns that don’t always match other languages.  

Here are some common translation mistakes:  

❌ "Think in something" → ✅ "Think about something"  

❌ "Good in English" → ✅ "Good at English"  

❌ "Afraid from spiders" → ✅ "Afraid of spiders"  

The Most Useful Preposition Patterns

Let’s break it down into simple rules.

Prepositions of Time

Use AT for exact times:  🕒 at 3 PM, at noon, at midnight  

Use ON for days and dates:  📅 on Monday, on July 4th, on my birthday  

Use IN for longer periods:  📆 in June, in 2024, in the summer  

Example: "We’ll meet at 6 PM on Saturday in December."  

Prepositions of Place  

Use AT for a specific point:  📍 at home, at the door, at school  

Use ON for surfaces:  🖥️ on the table, on the floor, on the wall  

Use IN for enclosed spaces:  📦 in the room, in my pocket, in the car  

Example: "My keys are in my bag, on the table at home."  

Common Preposition Mistakes at Work  

If you work in English, you might make mistakes with prepositions.

For example, have you ever written an email saying:  

❌ "Let's discuss about the project"?  

Oops! "Discuss" doesn’t need "about." The correct sentence is:  

✅ "Let's discuss the project."  

Here are some more common mistakes and how to fix them:  

❌ "We need to focus in quality." → ✅ "We need to focus on quality."

❌ "I need to explain you the problem." → ✅ "I need to explain the problem to you."

❌ "She depends from her team." → ✅ "She depends on her team."

❌ "They are waiting since an hour." → ✅ "They have been waiting for an hour."

❌ "It depends of the situation." → ✅ "It depends on the situation."

❌ "He is responsible of the team." → ✅ "He is responsible for the team."

 

📌 Remember

AT = 🎯 (A point on a map – at a specific location)  

ON = 📱 (A phone on a table – touching a surface)  

IN = 📦 (Something in a box – inside something)  

 

Click here for our interactive course on prepositions.