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Fix Your Prepositions Mistakes
Fix Your Prepositions Mistakes
AccurateEnglish
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15:59 · May 1, 2026
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Is it in or on?
0:01
Is it for or from?
0:04
Is it by or with?
0:06
English prepositions can be so confusing.
0:09
Even my most advanced students often tell me that prepositions are their biggest struggle.
0:15
As many of you know,
0:16
I teach the American accent to professionals who are quite fluent in English,
0:21
and they use English every day at work,
0:24
but they still struggle with using the correct preposition.
0:27
Prepositions don't always follow clear rules,
0:30
and they don't often translate directly from your native language.
0:34
And some prepositions don't make any sense.
0:38
For example, why do we say Christmas is in December,
0:42
but Christmas is on December 25th?
0:45
Why do we say in Los Angeles, but at the post office?
0:49
I will teach you some of the most common mistakes.
0:52
I will start with some easier rules, and then later in the video,
0:56
the rules and the patterns will get more advanced.
0:59
And I will give you a chance to test yourself as we go.
1:02
Okay, let's get started.
1:04
Let's start with an easy one.
1:06
Let's look at in versus at when we're talking about places.
1:10
Why do we say in New York, but at the airport?
1:14
We use in for larger areas.
1:17
For example, I live in Los Angeles.
1:20
She works in New York.
1:22
We also use in for enclosed spaces.
1:26
They are in the room.
1:28
They're inside the room.
1:30
He's in the building.
1:31
And we use at for specific locations,
1:34
especially when we think of being at a place for an activity
1:38
or for a purpose.
1:39
For example, I'm at the market.
1:42
I'm there to do the shopping.
1:44
He's at the bus stop.
1:46
They're at the restaurant.
1:48
Let's compare these two examples.
1:50
What is the difference in meaning?
1:52
Let's meet at the restaurant.
1:54
Let's meet in the restaurant.
1:56
If I say at the restaurant, I mean at that location.
2:00
We're going there to eat.
2:01
That's an activity.
2:02
However, I'm not specifying
2:04
if we're going to meet in front of the restaurant
2:07
or in the parking lot
2:08
or inside the restaurant.
2:10
But, if I say, let's meet in the restaurant, that means inside the restaurant,
2:16
not outside, inside the physical building.
2:20
Here's another example.
2:21
I saw her when I was at the market.
2:24
I was there shopping.
2:25
I can't talk right now.
2:27
I'm in the market,
2:28
but I will call you back as soon as I get out.
2:31
You see the difference?
2:33
Let's look at another confusing prepositions pattern.
2:35
Let's look at on and at with addresses.
2:39
When we mention just the name of the street, we say on.
2:43
She lives on Main Street.
2:45
My office is on Washington Boulevard.
2:48
But, when we add the number of the street, we use at.
2:53
She lives at 537 Main Street.
2:57
The office is at 1356 Washington Boulevard.
3:01
So, in if you just say the name of the street,
3:05
and at if you give the full address with the number.
3:08
I remember there used to be a billboard,
3:11
an advertisement for a car dealership in Los Angeles.
3:14
It said, in Santa Monica, on Santa Monica.
3:18
Do you understand that?
3:20
Native speakers do.
3:22
It means that it's in the city of Santa Monica.
3:25
For cities, we use the preposition in,
3:27
and native speakers understand that on means on Santa Monica Boulevard.
3:33
So, the advertisement was saying
3:35
that you can find this car dealership in the city of Santa Monica on
3:40
Santa Monica Boulevard.
3:41
But, remember, with very specific locations, we use at.
3:45
At the intersection of at the corner of.
3:50
Let's meet at the corner of Broadway and Wall Street.
3:54
Let's look at another confusing prepositions rule.
3:57
Let's look at dates.
3:59
If we only say the month, we say in.
4:02
In July, in August, in September.
4:05
But, when we add a specific day of the month, we say on.
4:10
On July 4th, on August 22nd, and so on.
4:15
So, we would say, her birthday is in April.
4:19
Her birthday is on April 10th.
4:21
Okay, and now it's going to get a little more advanced.
4:24
Let's look at some adjectives followed by prepositions.
4:28
And these are some very common mistakes.
4:30
Let's look at the adjectives good and bad.
4:34
What do we say in this case?
4:35
I'm good math.
4:37
He's good tennis.
4:40
Which preposition do we use?
4:42
We use at.
4:43
I'm good at math.
4:45
He's good at tennis.
4:47
And let's look at bad.
4:49
It follows the same pattern.
4:51
Bad at.
4:52
I'm bad at remembering names, but I'm good at recognizing faces.
4:57
He's bad at understanding fast speech, but he's good at reading English.
5:03
And terrible follows the same pattern.
5:06
Terrible at.
5:08
I'm terrible at remembering names.
5:10
Let's look at some more adjectives that follow prepositions.
5:14
Let's look at known.
5:15
We can say, he's well known.
5:18
He's known his scientific research.
5:22
Do you know the correct preposition?
5:24
You say it.
5:25
Did you say known for?
5:27
If you did, good job.
5:29
That's a hard one.
5:31
Known for means famous for something, recognized for a skill or for a characteristic.
5:37
We can say, she's known for her beautiful voice.
5:41
This restaurant is known for its pasta.
5:44
Who is he, and what is he known for?
5:47
Here's another common mistake with the preposition followed by an adjective.
5:51
Married.
5:52
She's married John.
5:55
What's the correct answer?
5:56
You say it.
5:57
Did you say to?
5:59
Yes, that's correct.
6:00
She's married to John, not she's married with John.
6:04
And engaged is the same when two people agree to get married.
6:09
Engaged to.
6:11
He's engaged to Emily.
6:13
She got engaged to her high school sweetheart.
6:17
Married to, engaged to.
6:20
Not with.
6:21
Let's go on to the next one.
6:23
Let's look at disappointed.
6:25
This one has two possible answers depending on the meaning.
6:29
I'm disappointed you.
6:32
I'm disappointed the film.
6:35
Different preposition is required.
6:37
If I say I'm disappointed you, which preposition should I use?
6:42
In.
6:42
I'm disappointed in you.
6:44
I'm disappointed in you for lying to me.
6:48
Disappointed in when it's a person.
6:50
I'm disappointed in myself for failing the exam.
6:54
But, look at this example.
6:56
I'm disappointed the movie.
6:58
A movie is a thing, not a person.
7:01
So, what would we say in that case?
7:03
Which preposition would we use?
7:05
I'm disappointed with.
7:07
I'm disappointed with the movie.
7:10
When we're talking about things or situations or results, we would use with.
7:15
I was disappointed with the hotel.
7:18
They are disappointed with the quality of the product.
7:22
So, remember, disappointed in a person, disappointed with a thing.
7:27
Let's look at another adjective, absent.
7:30
He was absent work yesterday.
7:33
What is the correct preposition?
7:35
You say it.
7:37
Absent from.
7:39
He was absent from work yesterday.
7:41
He's been absent from class 3 days this month.
7:44
Let's go on to the next one.
7:46
This one is also confusing.
7:50
Dressed.
7:50
Why are you dressed black?
7:52
You're wearing all black.
7:54
What do we say?
7:54
Dressed.
7:55
Dressed in.
7:57
He's dressed in black.
7:59
He's dressed in an elegant suit.
8:01
Dressed in.
8:02
Let's go on to the next one.
8:03
Actually, this one may not be that hard.
8:06
I have a feeling many of you know this one.
8:08
Composed.
8:09
Water is composed hydrogen and oxygen.
8:14
What do we say?
8:16
Composed of.
8:17
The team is composed of strong players.
8:21
Did you know that one?
8:22
I have a feeling you did.
8:24
Okay, now let's look at some verbs with prepositions.
8:28
Let's look at the verb to make in the passive voice, made.
8:32
It can have three possible prepositions with three meanings.
8:37
We can say made of, made from, or made out of.
8:42
They're slightly different.
8:43
We use made from when the original material is changed or transformed,
8:48
and you can't clearly see it anymore.
8:51
For example, paper is made from wood.
8:54
Wine is made from grapes.
8:56
We would not say wine is made of grapes or out of grapes.
9:01
Cheese is made from milk.
9:03
Let's look at made of.
9:06
We use made of
9:07
when the original material is still visible
9:10
or it's recognizable in the final product.
9:13
For example, the table is made of wood.
9:17
Let's compare these two sentences.
9:19
Paper is made from wood.
9:21
The table is made of wood.
9:24
You see the difference?
9:25
Wine is made from grapes.
9:28
We can't see the grapes anymore, but the ring is made of gold.
9:33
We still see the gold.
9:35
Cheese is made from milk.
9:37
The house is made of bricks.
9:41
And instead of saying made of, some people say made out of.
9:45
And sometimes they have the same meaning, but they can also be slightly different.
9:50
We use made out of
9:52
when we want to emphasize the meaning of creativity
9:55
or improvisation or unusual use.
9:59
For example, she made a basket out of caps.
10:03
He made a heart out of paper.
10:06
So, let's review.
10:07
Made of, the material is visible.
10:10
Made from, the material is transformed.
10:13
And made out of is
10:15
when it's creative or
10:16
when it's unusual in the way it's used.
10:19
Let's listen to some native speakers using all three, made of, made from,
10:23
and made out of.
10:25
In the rural areas, they are usually made of wood.
10:27
>> The LEGO bricks are made of plastic.
10:29
What is your car made of?
10:32
Is it made of metal?
10:34
You know, the lemonade that's made from actual lemons.
10:38
This is made out of a We can see it's made out of clay.
10:42
But a 40-ft tall dog made out of bushes in the middle of New
10:45
York City.
10:46
And this next postcard was made out of one of those photos.
10:50
And now, let's learn about some verbs that are followed by prepositions.
10:54
And these can be confusing.
10:56
Let's look at the verb to decide.
10:58
We have three different preposition options.
11:01
You already know this one, decide to.
11:04
I decided to do it.
11:06
She decided to go there.
11:08
I decided the blue one.
11:11
Which preposition should we use?
11:14
On.
11:15
I decided on the blue one.
11:17
When you have to choose something.
11:19
I can't decide on which restaurant to go to.
11:23
She couldn't decide on which dress to wear.
11:26
And let's look at another example with decide.
11:29
If you decide not to do something, I decided doing it.
11:34
Which preposition do we use in this case?
11:36
I think this is a difficult one.
11:39
Do you know it?
11:40
I decided against doing it.
11:43
So, you can say I decided not to do it,
11:46
or you can say I decided against doing it,
11:49
and you have to use ing with the verb after against.
11:53
I decided against going there.
11:55
So, instead of saying I decided not to go to the party,
11:59
you can say what with against?
12:02
I decided against going to the party.
12:05
Make sure you use the ing.
12:07
I decided against buying the new car.
12:10
>> >> Ray Charles decided against playing the guitar at a very young age.
12:15
>> Ultimately, Buchanan decided against accepting the nomination.
12:18
>> They actually decided against using a new.
12:21
Let's look at the verb to consist.
12:23
Do you know the preposition?
12:25
I have a feeling you might.
12:26
This one is probably not that hard.
12:28
This course consists 10 video lessons.
12:32
What is the preposition?
12:34
Consists of.
12:36
The meal consists of rice and vegetables.
12:40
Let's go on to the next one.
12:42
Which preposition do we need with the verb to discriminate?
12:46
For example, it's wrong discriminate others.
12:51
What do we say?
12:52
A lot of my students don't use any preposition
12:55
and they just say discriminate others,
12:57
but that's not correct.
12:58
You need a preposition.
12:59
The preposition is against.
13:02
Discriminate against.
13:04
It is illegal to discriminate against an employee based on age.
13:09
Laws protect people from being discriminated against.
13:14
You have to use that preposition.
13:15
They are discriminated against in the workplace >> >> and the world.
13:19
Have you ever been discriminated against?
13:22
You're too young, you're too old, you're too this color, too that size.
13:27
They're more likely to feel underpaid and maybe even discriminated against.
13:31
Let's look at the verb to plan.
13:33
We can use the verb to plan in two ways.
13:36
We can say I plan to do it.
13:38
We use to.
13:39
But, we can also use plan with an ing verb.
13:44
In that case, we need a different preposition.
13:47
I plan on doing it.
13:49
I plan to buy it.
13:51
I plan on buying it.
13:55
Don't forget the ing.
13:56
So, what is the difference between I plan to and I plan on?
14:01
They're both very commonly used, but there is a subtle difference.
14:05
If you say I plan to do it, that's a clear intention.
14:09
You have made a decision and you will do it.
14:12
And plan on doing it is an intention,
14:15
but it's also an expectation or preparation.
14:19
It can imply that you expect something to happen.
14:22
You're preparing for it, but it may sound slightly less definite.
14:27
It's a plan, but maybe it's not 100% decided.
14:31
Both are correct and they're often interchangeable,
14:34
but if you want to sound more certain,
14:36
then say I plan to do it.
14:39
If you want to express expectation or early preparation,
14:43
say I plan on doing it.
14:46
I plan to finish the report by tomorrow.
14:49
We plan on visiting our friends next week.
14:52
We will probably visit our friends, but it's not 100% certain.
14:57
We're in the course of planning it.
14:59
How did you do?
15:00
The key to improving is to pay attention.
15:04
Listen carefully to the patterns that native speakers use.
15:07
Both prepositions and articles can be difficult for non-native speakers.
15:12
These are small words,
15:14
but they make a big difference in how natural and how fluent you sound.
15:19
And if you also struggle with articles, a, an, and the,
15:24
I have a full course called The Articles Course,
15:27
where I teach all of the rules and exceptions for using articles.
15:32
The course includes 13 video lessons plus pronunciation practice
15:37
and many quizzes so
15:39
that you can test your progress
15:40
and build your confidence.
15:42
And to learn more about The Articles Course
15:45
and all of the other Accurate English courses to help you reach the final
15:49
level of fluency,
15:50
click on the link in the description below
15:53
or go to Thanks for watching
15:57
and keep practicing.
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