Preposition Collocations

Preposition collocations are fixed phrases where prepositions combine with other words to create set expressions. Common patterns: BY (by accident, by chance, by mistake, by heart); ON (on purpose, on time, on fire, on sale); IN (in general, in particular, in common, in advance, in detail); AT (at least, at most, at last, at once); FOR (for sure, for example, for instance); WITH/WITHOUT (with difficulty, without doubt). These must be learned as complete expressions because the preposition choice is idiomatic.

• • Preposition collocations = fixed expressions (memorize as complete phrases)
• • BY: by accident, by chance, by mistake, by heart, by hand, by car/bus/train
• • ON: on purpose, on time, on fire, on sale, on vacation, on foot
• • IN: in general, in particular, in common, in advance, in detail, in fact, in trouble
• • AT: at least, at most, at last, at once, at times, at random, at risk
• • FOR: for sure, for example, for instance, for good, for fun, for free
• • WITH/WITHOUT: with difficulty, with ease, without doubt, without fail
• • Can't substitute prepositions → 'by purpose' ✗ (must be 'on purpose')

1. 1

   BY — manner, means, unintentional

   "by accident" (unintentional) / "by chance" (randomly) / "by mistake" (error) / "by heart" (memorized) / "by hand" (manually)

2. 2

   ON — intentional, state, condition

   "on purpose" (intentional) / "on time" (punctual) / "on fire" (burning) / "on sale" (discount) / "on vacation" (holiday)

3. 3

   IN — general sense, advance, detail

   "in general" (usually) / "in particular" (specifically) / "in common" (shared) / "in advance" (beforehand) / "in detail" (thoroughly)

4. 4

   AT — minimum/maximum, finally, immediately

   "at least" (minimum) / "at most" (maximum) / "at last" (finally) / "at once" (immediately) / "at times" (sometimes)

5. 5

   FOR — certainty, examples, permanence

   "for sure" (certainly) / "for example" (instance) / "for good" (forever) / "for fun" (enjoyment) / "for free" (no cost)

6. 6

   WITH/WITHOUT — manner, certainty

   "with difficulty" (struggling) / "with ease" (easily) / "without doubt" (certainly) / "without fail" (definitely)

• Fixed expressions — must memorize complete phrases
• BY: accident, chance, mistake, heart, hand
• ON: purpose (intentional), time (punctual), fire, sale, vacation
• IN: general, particular, common, advance, detail, fact
• AT: least (minimum), most (maximum), last (finally), once (immediately)
• FOR: sure (certainly), example, instance, good (forever), free
• WITH/WITHOUT: difficulty, ease, doubt, fail

Explaining what happened