0I've noticed that the "smallest" misunderstandings of English frustrate people the most...
Like whether to use "to" or "for" in a sentence.
And when you're unsure, suddenly, you have to stop the conversation to think about grammar rules and translate in your head.
So, to make one of these "small" but very important parts of English easier to understand, let me help you understand prepositions (words like at, in and on) the native way!
Rather than using translations...
You must compare different prepositions in more "advanced" situations to see how their meanings differ.
Likely, you know the difference between being in or on a box...
But what about water?
When you're swimming, you're in the water. Really, your body is partly in the water and partly not. But we describe this as in.
Now, if you dive down a bit, you're still in the water, but conversationally, you're under the water.
Finally, you're on the water if you're sitting in some floating device on the surface of the water (even if part of your body is still in the water).
This is why people riding a boat say they're on the water.
"I was out on the water fishing yesterday." means you were fishing from a boat, not from the shore.
A waterfront home is also on the water.
Here's one more quick example...
When you're working with someone, you are equal. This could be a co-worker or friend helping you with a project.
But if you're working under someone, they are your manager, boss or supervisor.
This is where we get conversational terms like "underling," which is a negative way of describing someone of a lower rank.
Lower level bad guys in movies are often called underlings.
See how you start thinking more like a native when you learn this way? :)
Now, to make this even easier when you're learning by yourself, here are 3 easy ways to master prepositions:
1. If you're having trouble remembering which preposition to use, type the sentence into Google and check the results.
If Google asks something like "Did you mean...?" then click on that example and see what you get.
You should see MANY examples that will tell you if you're correct or not.
2. Compare related prepositions with a Google image search. "On the water" should give you slightly different results than "in the water."
3. The BEST way to compare prepositions is with phrasal verbs.
When you SEE the difference between turn on, turn around and turn over, English "makes sense" and you quickly start using the language correctly and automatically!
