{"id":424,"date":"2026-08-27T15:14:45","date_gmt":"2026-08-27T07:14:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/imtiajwrites.com\/blog\/?p=424"},"modified":"2026-08-27T15:14:46","modified_gmt":"2026-08-27T07:14:46","slug":"prepositions-non-native","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/imtiajwrites.com\/blog\/prepositions-non-native\/","title":{"rendered":"Prepositions That Mark You as Non-Native"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The pattern I see most often when reviewing copy from non-native professionals is not a vocabulary gap or a grammar breakdown. It’s a single wrong word in an otherwise clean sentence, and that word is almost always a preposition. The writing is fluent, the argument is sharp, and then someone “discusses about<\/strong>” a plan or is “responsible of<\/strong>” a team, and a native reader flinches without quite knowing why.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prepositions are the last error to survive fluency. You can master tense, articles, and sentence structure and still get caught by them, because they don’t follow the rules the rest of your English does. That’s what makes them the clearest tell, and also the most fixable once you understand why they behave the way they do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Why prepositions resist everything you know<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The uncomfortable truth: there is no reliable rule. You cannot derive the correct preposition from logic, and any teacher who gave you one taught you a pattern with more exceptions than cases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why is it “good at your job” and not “good in your job”? There’s no reason. Why “depends on” and not “depends of,” when many languages use their equivalent of “of”? No reason. Why do you “arrive at” a small place but “arrive in” a country? Convention, not logic. Prepositions pair with specific verbs, adjectives, and nouns by habit that built up over centuries, and native speakers learn these pairings one at a time through sheer exposure, not by rule.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This matters because it tells you the fix. You cannot study your way to correct prepositions through grammar. You build a list, the same way natives did, except deliberately and faster. The instinct is real, but it’s a memorized instinct, not a derived one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your first language makes this harder in a specific way. It has its own preposition pairings, and your brain imports them. If your language says the equivalent of “depend of,” you’ll write “depend of” in English and it will feel correct, because it is correct, in the wrong language. The error isn’t ignorance. It’s interference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The common offenders<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

These are the pairings that catch non-native professional writers most often. Each \u274c feels right if your first language pushes you toward it, which is exactly why they slip through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u274c We need to discuss about the roadmap.
\u2705 We need to discuss the roadmap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Discuss” takes no preposition. This one is near-universal among non-native writers because so many languages require a preposition after their verb for “discuss.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u274c She is very good in her job.
\u2705 She is very good at her job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Good at” for skills. “Good in” exists but means something else, like “good in a crisis,” a situation, not a skill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u274c The outcome depends of several factors.
\u2705 The outcome depends on several factors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Depend on,” always. Never “depend of,” despite what your first language may insist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u274c He is responsible of the onboarding process.
\u2705 He is responsible for the onboarding process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Responsible for” a task. “Responsible to” a person you answer to. Never “responsible of.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u274c On the end, we shipped it a week late.
\u2705 In the end, we shipped it a week late.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“In the end” means finally, after everything. “On the end” is a physical position, like standing on the end of a pier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u274c Please arrive to the office by nine.
\u2705 Please arrive at the office by nine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Arrive at” a specific place, “arrive in” a city or country. Never “arrive to,” though almost every Romance language pushes you there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Notice these are all correct-sounding to someone whose first language pairs them differently. That’s the signature of the preposition tell: it doesn’t feel like an error while you’re making it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n