Tough, counterintuitive aspects of English grammar – 2

[Joe Carillo]

Last week, on request by a now-retired Filipina friend who had taught English as a second language (Tesol) for many years in Hong Kong, I discussed these two grammatically faulty negative constructions that she admits she now finds tough to explain why owing to her failing memory: “While I followed the instructions, it did not encouraged my friend...” and “They did not attended Mass when they went to church...”

I explained that the correct grammar for those negative constructions being counterintuitive, it often eludes the grasp of many nonnative English learners. The rule is that it’s the helping verb (“do” for both sentences) that takes the tense and not the main verb (“encourage” and “attend,” respectively). Those two statements are then correctly constructed as follows: “While I followed the instructions, it did not encourage my friend...” and “They did not attend Mass when they went to church...”

Aside from faulty negative constructions, my Filipina friend also recalls that in her years as a TESOL teacher to migrant workers in Hong Kong from Asian countries, erratic preposition usage was another major stumbling block to English proficiency. She found the problem serious enough among her Filipino OFW students that she even decided to compile notes and prepare English preposition lessons specifically for them. Now back in the Philippines as a retiree, she sees largely the same preposition usage problem not just in Metro Manila newspapers but also those in Central Visayas where she lives.

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She presented these two typical examples of preposition misuse in those newspapers: (1) “the building had parts in the 3rd floor for the storage area...”; and (2) “the discussion on taxation resulted to a misunderstanding among listeners...” (The correct preposition usage is “at” instead “in” for the first statement and “in” instead of “to” for the second.)

Not a few nonnative English speakers and learners just muddle through with preposition usage because aside from being essentially conventional and quirkish (even if not exactly counterintuitive like the grammar of negative constructions that we discussed earlier), many of the English prepositions actually have no inherent or discernible logic in themselves. Indeed, in the two particular instances of flawed preposition usage that my Filipina friend presented, it isn’t easy to pinpoint any logical distinction between “in,” “on,” and “at” as prepositions of place and location nor between “to” and “in” as prepositions of movement and direction. How then do we identify the correct prepositions for specific situations?

Many nonnative English speakers take an unduly long time to master preposition usage because such mastery requires memorizing practically all of the prepositions for specific situations according to established English usage. It’s a process that becomes even more  complicated as the learner advances to the prepositional phrases and prepositional idioms, which often have nonliteral or figurative meanings.

I do share my teacher-friend’s concern about the inadequate grasp of English preposition usage among many Filipinos, and I think that right now is as good a time as any to learn their proper usage in a more focused and organized manner. One good way to start this learning process is to first clearly recognize that prepositions are function words crucial for establishing space, time, or logical relationships between ideas within a phrase, a clause, or a sentence.

THE BIG UNIVERSE OF ENGLISH PREPOSITIONS

As such, prepositions are generally classified into these five groups:

1. The prepositions of place and location: “in,” “at,” and “on.”
2. The prepositions of motion: “to,” “toward,” “in,” and “into.”
3. The prepositions of movement and direction: “to,” “onto,” and “into.”
4. The prepositions for specific points of time: “on,” “at,” “in,” and “after.”
5. The prepositions for periods or extended time: “since,” “for,” “by,” “from…to,”
    “from…until,” “before,” “during,” “within,” “between,” and “beyond.”

Next week, this column will begin a five-part series taking up most everything that the learner has to know about the usage of English prepositions.

(Next: A full-dress review of English preposition usage)     March 28, 2019

This essay, 1,136th of the series, appeared in the column “English Plain and Simple” by Jose A. Carillo in the Campus Press section of the March 21, 2019 print edition of The Manila Times, © 2019 by the Manila Times Publishing Corp. All rights reserved.
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ALTOGETHER, HERE IS THE FORUM'S FULL 7-PART REVIEW OF ENGLISH PREPOSITION USAGE:
To read and study each part of the review, simply click the link to the desired part)
1. Tough, counterintuitive aspects of English grammar - 1
2. Tough, counterintuitive aspects of English grammar - 2 (THIS POST)
3. A full-dress review of English preposition usage – 1 (Place and Location)
4. A full-dress review of English preposition usage – 2 (Motion and Direction)
5. A full-dress review of English preposition usage – 3 (Time and Duration)
6. Prepositions at work in literal prepositional phrases
7. Prepositions at work in prepositional idioms