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Fashion101 Posted 18 years ago
Grammar

Trouble with prepositions

0Hello - Sometimes I find myself struggling with prepositions. Which one of these two sentences is correct. I would think the first one.02br
02br
00"She gives her a poke in the shoulder."02br
02br
00"She gives her a poke on the shoulder."02br
02br
00Thanks 0-
  

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6 Answers
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1u00In those sentences02u00, use 01u00poke in02u00 and 01u00tap on.02u02br
02br
00She gives her a poke 01u00in the shoulder02u00 if she says anything wrong.02br
02br
00He poked her 01u00in the ribs.02u02br
02br
00She gives her a tap 0
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0Usually if there is some force or pressure involved, we use the preposition 'in':02br
00He punched me in the face.02br
00She kicked me in the leg.02br
00They poked him in the shoulder. 02br
00If there isn't as much force or pressure involved, we use the preposition 'on':02br
00 He tapped me on the knee.02br
00She kissed me
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0Thank you. By the way, is there a book, website or cd/dvd that teaches prepositions exclusively. English is my second language and as aspiring writer, I find myself struggling quite a bit with prepositions. Any advice is much appreciated. 0-
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0Ganesh, 02br
00As much as I hate to disagree, I have to say this is not a valid generalization. It has nohting to do with how much force is exerted. 02br
00 She slapped him 01sup00on the face02sup00 after he attempted to kiss her. Slapping usually is quite heavy but we can't use "in the face" as the correct expression02br
02br
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0Some questions are a pain01u00 in the neck.02u0-
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