[General] Good at vs Strongest in

[DANAU]

Hi.

I am having difficulty to know the correct preposition to place after certain adjectives.

#1 - He is good at writing.

#2 - She is strongest at/in sports.

I know the first sentence should be correct, but I am unsure about the second.

Is there certain book or rule that I can refer to for such usage?

 

[tedmc]

Hi.

I am having difficulty [STRIKE]to know[/STRIKE] with the correct preposition to place after certain adjectives.

#1 - He is good at writing.

#2 - She is strongest [STRIKE]at/[/STRIKE]in sports.

I know the first sentence should be correct, but I am unsure about the second.

Is there certain book or rule that I can refer to for such usage?

There is no rule that I am aware of when it comes to prepositions, which makes learning difficult. You basically have to acquire (through lots of reading) the sense of what sounds natural. I think natives speakers are born with it; we have to acquire it.

 

[DANAU]

I think natives speakers are born with it; we have to acquire it.

That is so sad. ESL students like me will have a hard time acquiring it, worse - some cases there can be more than one correct prepositions, which will complicate things further.

 

[Rover_KE]

I think natives speakers are born with it ...

No—we have to acquire it, too, like children everywhere do, through hearing their native language first from their family members then from their teachers and friends before reading more and more as they grow up.

 

[DANAU]

Hi Rover_KE.

I am just curious if there is no fixed rule then how does the English writers decide which is the right preposition to use. For instance, in the case of “please confirm on/for the price”, both sound correct to me and there are many of such examples.

 

[tedmc]

No—we have to acquire it, too, like children everywhere do, through hearing their native language first from their family members then from their teachers and friends before reading more and more as they grow up.

Okay, I was exaggerating when I said you were born with it. But it is certainly much easier when you learn it as your mother tongue, right from birth, and are nurtured in an English-speaking environment. Your learning process is a subconscious one, compared to a non-native learning it as a second language in a non-English-speaking environment, which takes a lot more time and conscious effort.

 

[emsr2d2]

I am just curious to know, if there is no fixed rule, [STRIKE]then[/STRIKE] how [STRIKE]does the[/STRIKE] do English speakers/writers decide which is the right preposition to use? For instance, in the case of “Please confirm on/for the price”, both sound correct to me and there are many [STRIKE]of[/STRIKE] such examples.

Please see my corrections above.

You picked a bad example - no preposition is required in that sentence. We say "Please confirm the price". As Rover said, though, we acquire our knowledge of prepositions simply be hearing/reading/experiencing them along with all the other parts of language acquisition.

It's like asking a Spaniard how on earth they learn/remember which nouns are masculine and which are feminine. There are a few rules (based on the last few letters of the noun) but, in general, they simply learn whether to use "el" or "la" before each noun by hearing and reading them repeatedly while they are acquiring their native language as children.

 

[DANAU]

Hi emsr2d2.

It would be nice if you can recommend me certain category of books that can help me pick up faster on the right usage of prepositions.
I do not like fictions as they are generally full of dialogues. How about biographies or books that are more narrative?
For example, I know Old Man and The Sea is both a classic and a well-written book with good English.

 

[emsr2d2]

I don't think it's helpful for other people to recommend books. You need to read things you're interested in. In addition, it's impossible to suggest a book specifically to learn preposition use. Just read! Read news stories in English (from reputable sources, of course), and find books that interest you (author/subject matter/genre). You'll learn nothing if you're reading a book you're not enjoying.

 

[tedmc]

Read materials that you enjoy reading so that you can sustain your reading habit. They don't have to be novels. I find your local newpaper website very good: https://www.straitstimes.com/global

 

[Tdol]

It would be nice if you can recommend me certain category of books that can help me pick up faster on the right usage of prepositions.

You don't need to read novels. You can simply go online and read about subjects that interest you or are useful to you. Reading articles is as useful as reading long novels. Simply exposing yourself to a lot of reading will help you develop a sense for prepositions. If, say, you're interested in science, get reading some of the journals that are free online.