One of the clearest indications that a person reads little and doesn’t hear much formal English is a failure to use the standard preposition in a common expression. You aren’t ignorant to a fact; you’re ignorant of it. Things don’t happen on accident, but by accident (though they do happen “on purpose”). There are no simple rules governing preposition usage: you just have to immerse yourself in standard English in order to write it naturally.
Monday, August 4, 2014
prepositions (wrong): Common Errors in English Usage Entry for Monday, August 4, 2014
prepositions (wrong)
One of the clearest indications that a person reads little and doesn’t hear much formal English is a failure to use the standard preposition in a common expression. You aren’t ignorant to a fact; you’re ignorant of it. Things don’t happen on accident, but by accident (though they do happen “on purpose”). There are no simple rules governing preposition usage: you just have to immerse yourself in standard English in order to write it naturally.
One of the clearest indications that a person reads little and doesn’t hear much formal English is a failure to use the standard preposition in a common expression. You aren’t ignorant to a fact; you’re ignorant of it. Things don’t happen on accident, but by accident (though they do happen “on purpose”). There are no simple rules governing preposition usage: you just have to immerse yourself in standard English in order to write it naturally.
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I see this often at work as: "All staff are responsible to do [this]" rather than "All staff are responsible for doing [this]."
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