Prepositional Words and Phrases

INFORM

Inform about: tell someone about someone or something.

e.g. I will inform you about your son’s academic progress from time to time.

Inform of: provide facts about.

e.g.  The lawyer will inform us of the decision of the court.

Inform on: tell the authorities of someone or something.

e.g. We must inform the police on the disappearance of the documents.

e.g. I think he was the guy who informed on you.

RUN

Run against: compete with.

e.g. I am going to run against him in the coming election.

Run away: leave; escape.

e.g. The burglar ran away before the police arrived.

Run down: hit with a vehicle; stop functioning.

e.g. The old man was run down by the bus.

e.g. My lawn mower is running down; I need to get a new one.

Run into: meet by accident

e.g. Yesterday, I ran into an old friend that I had not seen for decades.

Run over: come by for a quick visit.

e.g. Can you run over for a minute? I’ve something important to tell you.

Run out of: do not have any more of something

e.g. Hurry! We're running out of time!

e.g. He could not make the dessert because he ran out of milk and sugar.

 POKE

Poke one’s nose into: pry into.

e.g. Don’t poke your nose into my affairs; it’s none of your business.

Stephen Lau     

Copyright© by Stephen Lau

Learn Words and Prepositions

Words Easily Confused

To be proficient in a language, you must know its basic vocabulary, its common idioms and everyday expressions. To write well, your choice of words is important. There are many English words that are frequently confused and misused, especially by ESL learners:

FEWER / LESS

Fewer is used for items that can be counted; less is used for items that cannot be counted.

e.g. Fewer people came to the meeting today than yesterday.

e.g. We have less money to spend on this trip than we used to have.

REAL / REALLY

Real is an adjective; really is an adverb.

e.g. The firefighter was really brave when he saved the child.

e.g. What you saw was real, and not your imagination.

ANXIOUS / EAGER

Anxious means worried; eager means impatiently desirous.

e.g. He was anxious about his future.

e.g. The children are eager to open their Christmas presents.

IN REGARD TO / AS REGARDS

Both mean with reference to.

e.g. As regards your performance, I think you did a good job (no “to”).

ITS / IT’S

Its is the possessive of the pronoun “it”; It’s is a contraction of “it is” or “it has.”

e.g. It’s a fact that the earth is round.

e.g. The company has lost its control over the market in Asia.

MORAL / MORALE

Moral as a noun means a standard of behavior or teaching of a story; morale as a noun means a positive state of mind with reference to confidence.

e.g. Not to take advantage of the poor is a moral act (as an adjective).

e.g. The moral of the story is that dishonesty never pays off.

e.g. This victory has increased the morale of the soldiers.

FARTHER / FURTHER

Father refers to greater distance; further means more or greater intensity.

e.g. Our new house is farther from the lake than from the river.

e.g. The demonstration only led to further racial tension.

Stephen Lau

Copyright© by Stephen Lau

Knowing Their Differences

PERISHABLE / PERISHING

Perishable: liable to die or perish quickly.

e.g. Fresh vegetables are perishable if you don't put them in the refrigerator.

Perishing: causing suffering.

e.g. Negative thinking may cause perishing emotions and thoughts.

SEDATIVE / SEDENTARY

Sedative: calming or soothing.

e.g. Without her sedative medicine, she could not go to sleep.

Sedentary: accustomed to sitting; physically inactive.

e.g His sedentary work -- sitting in front of the computer -- took a toll on his health.

e.g. Most seniors have a sedentary lifestyle as they continue to age.

FRAGILE / FRAIL

Fragile: delicate, easily broken.

e.g. This piece of antique is fragile; please handle with care.

Frail: weak in health; without strong support.

e.g. He looks pale and frail.

e.g. The Senator received frail support from his party.

PERIODIC / PERIODICAL

Periodic: occurring again and again.

e.g. The singer has never really retired with periodic appearance on TV.

Periodical: published at regular intervals.

e.g. This is a periodical magazine -- published once a month.

   

REMOVABLE / REMOVED

Removable: can be dismissed or removed.

e.g. This is a removable position, not a permanent one.

Removed: distant, remote, separate.

 e.g. He is my removed relative.

IMPAIR / REPAIR

Impair: weaken or repair.

e.g. Spending too much time on the computer may impair your vision.

Repair: fix

e.g. Eye exercises can repair your vision

 Stephen Lau

Copyright© by Stephen Lau

Learn Some Common Idiomatic Expressions

Dance to another tune: change to a different attitude or behavior

e.g. If your parents were here, you would dance to another tune.

Make a stab at: try to do something

e.g. I knew you would make a stab at finishing the project.

Go ballistic: fly into a rage; be over enthusiastic

e.g. After she heard the bad news, she went ballistic and was uncontrollable.

Stick one’s neck out: take a risk

e.g. If I were you, I wouldn’t stick my neck out for that ungrateful friend of yours

All systems are go: everything is good and ready as planned

e.g. Everything is in order, and all systems are go. We can now launch the rocket.

Sleep on something: think seriously

e.g. I’ll sleep on what you just told me. I’ll give you an answer tomorrow.

Go through the roof: very angry

e.g. When he found out that you took his money, he went through the roof.

That’s the ticket: what is needed

e.g. That’s the ticket! If you do as I tell you, you will succeed.

Call it a day: quit work and go home

e.g. I’m tired; let’s call it a day.

Talk through the hat: talk nonsense

e.g. During the whole evening, your friend had been talking through his hat.

Talk until one is blue in the face: talk a great deal

e.g. I talked until I was blue in the face, but she would not change her mind.

Stephen Lau     

Copyright© by Stephen Lau

Confusing Words and Phrases

The following pairs of words may look alike, but they don't mean the same:

Noteworthy / Noticeable

Noteworthy: deserving attention; noticeable: easily seen.

e.g. The candidate's accomplishments are noteworthy.

e.g. The flaws in the Governor's character are easily noticeable to the public.

Waive / Wave

Waive: forgo or relinquish; wave: move.

e.g. If you sign this document, you will waive all your rights.

e.g. He was waving his hands at you.

Partake of / Take part in

Partake of: share; take part in: perform.

e.g. The children will partake of the Christmas dinner.

e.g. The children will take part in the carol singing.

Freehand / Free-handed

Freehand: done by the hand. free-handed: generous.

e.g. His freehand sketch of the White House is really beautiful.

e.g. The rich man was free-handed with his donation.

Pleased about / Pleased with

Pleased about: happy about (denoting a feeling of pleasure); pleased with: showing approval and satisfaction.

e.g. I am pleased about your success.

e.g. My boss is pleased with my performance.

Habitable: that can be lived in; habitual: acting by habit.

e.g. This house is under construction and is not habitable.

e.g. Don't believe what he says: he is a habitual liar.

Wait / Await

Wait: stay or stop without doing anything (requiring an object); await: be ready for or in store for.

e.g. I will wait for him.

e.g. Act now and don’t wait for the announcement.

e.g. He did not realize that good fortune was awaiting him.

e.g. We await your reply with interest.

Right / Rightly

Right: immediately; rightly: justly, correctly.

e.g. Do it right now.

e.g. Do it right away.

e.g. I rightly canceled the trip.

e.g. We refused the offer, and rightly so.

Recollect / Re-collect

Recollect: remember; re-collect: gather together, or regain calmness of mind.

e.g. Do you recollect what happened last night when you were dead drunk.

e.g. For this investigation, we have to re-collect all the data.

e.g. Calm down, and re-collect yourself.

  

Stephen Lau

Copyright© by Stephen Lau

ENGLISH WORDS AND PHRASES FREQUENTLY CONFUSED AND MISUSED

Words are neither effective nor ineffective; they just impart different meanings to the sentences in which they are used. It is the writer's effective use of words and phrases that makes sentences effective or ineffective.

The English language is made up of nearly a million words and phrases. A writer, especially one whose English is not his or her first language, may face two major problems in writing: not knowing "enough" words; and not knowing how to choose the "right" words. 

Writing is made up of words. Effective writing requires having a good stock of vocabulary, as well as selecting the most suitable words and phrases to express the intended ideas.

There are many English words and phrases that are frequently confused and misused by ESL learners. This book provides hundreds of those words and phrases with examples to show how they should be used correctly.

Books By Stephen Lau

Prepositional Words and Phrases

PREPOSITIONAL WORDS AND PHRASES

Prepositions are words that indicate the relationships between various elements within a sentence. In formal English, prepositions are almost always followed by objects.

e.g. The policeman shot (verb) the man (object) with (preposition identifying the man being shot) a knife.

e.g. I put (verb) the pen (direct object) on (preposition indicating the position of the pen) the table (indirect object).

e.g. I put (verb) the pen (direct object) under (preposition indicating the position of the pen) the table (indirect object).

Prepositional phrases always consist of the object and the preposition. Prepositional phrases can act as adjectives or adverbs. When they are used as adjectives, they modify nouns and pronouns in the same way single-word adjectives do. When prepositional phrases are used as adverbs, they also act in the same way single-word adverbs and adverb clauses do, modifying adjectives, verbs, and other adverbs.

Prepositional words and phrases are difficult, especially for ESL learners, because different prepositions may impart different meanings to the prepositional words and phrases. Even the same preposition may have different meanings to the same verb.

Break in: enter without permission; interrupt; train; get used to something new.

e.g. A burglar attempted to break in last night but without success.

e.g. Don’t break in while someone is talking; it’s rude!

e.g. The manager has to break the new employees in so that they may know what to do.

e.g. You should break your new car in before you drive on the highway.

This book has hundreds of prepositional words and phrases with explanations and examples, just like the ones illustrated above, for you reference. Improve your English with your mastery of prepositional words and phrases.

Stephen Lau

Books by Stephen Lau

Your FREE Book to Lose A Few Extra Pounds!

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All-Round Weight Loss

by Stephen Lau

Everybody wants to lose some weight; some even want to lose a lot more. But almost everybody gains back all the pounds that have been lost, and then some.

Why is that? Because weight loss is not just about eating less—after all, everybody wants to eat more, not less. Weight loss is about everything, just as Oprah Winfrey once said: “My greatest failure was in believing that the weight issue was just about weight.” Oprah was right. Weight loss is all-round; that is, it involves the body, the mind, and the spirit. To illustrate, weight loss is also about the thinking mind; it is the thoughts that make you fat, more than anything else. According to Esther and Jerry Hicks' bestseller "Money and the Law of Attraction," people not only want the food but also believe that the food will make them fat, and thus have created that which they do not want; unfortunately, their thoughts attract what they do not want, so their bodies respond to the thinking mind, and gain instead of losing weight.

Therefore, going on a fad diet, abstaining from certain types of food, reducing calorie consumption-all these only contribute to the weight-loss hype that sustains the billion-dollar weight-loss industry. The consumers forever lose in the battle of the bulge.

ALL-ROUND WEIGHT LOSS is holistic weight management in that it covers every aspect of weight loss, beginning with the mind, the body, and then the spirit, to make weight loss natural and permanent. Only holistic weight management guarantees lasting weight loss. Do not waste money on diets, and weight-loss products and programs that do not work. Follow the author's simple but comprehensive holistic approach to wellness and weight management. Remember, if you are healthy in body, mind, and soul, you will not have any weight problem.

Click here to go to the page to get your book ABSOLUTELY FREE!

Stephen Lau

Get Your FREE Book to Learn ESL

A HANDBOOK FOR ESL LEARNERS

By Stephen Lau

This is a book on the basics for all ESL learners. Learning English as a second language is not an easy task with respect to speaking and writing. In speaking English, one has to adjust to certain phonetic sounds that are unique to the English language. In writing English, one has to learn new words and phrases, as well as idioms and colloquial expressions, in addition to the complexity of the English grammar.

Having said that, knowing the basics, and following the right pathway, you can still master ESL and speak and write as if English is your native language. Learning ESL is all about practice, practice, and more practice, with the right know-how.

Get this book for FREE. Click here to go to the page to download this FREE book.

Stephen Lau

Slang and Colloquial Expressions

Learning a language takes time and effort, especially if it is not your first language. Even if it is your mother tongue, you still need time and effort to master it because almost every language has its own slang and colloquial expressions, and the English language is no exception.

Language is forever changing. What is currently acceptable or popular may be replaced by something else in years to come, and the use of slang is a strong testament to that. Slang is just an alternative way of saying something. It is sometimes hard to identify what is slang and what is not. Slang and colloquial expressions are often acceptable in informal writing because they are used in communication in movies, newspapers, radio, television, and other mass media The more you learn, the more you will know when to use or not to use them in your formal writing. No matter what, knowing these common everyday expressions is a plus for all ESL learners.

Also, read my other book on American Idioms. 

Stephen Lau