18c Use standard idioms.

Idioms are speech forms that follow no easily specified rules. The English say “Bernice went to hospital,” an idiom strange to American ears, which are accustomed to hearing the in front of hospital. Native speakers of a language seldom have problems with idioms, but prepositions (such as with, to, at, and of) occasionally cause trouble, especially when they follow certain verbs and adjectives. When in doubt, consult a dictionary.

UNIDIOMATIC	IDIOMATIC
angry at (a person)	angry with (a person)
preferable than	preferable to
superior than	superior to
think on	think of, about
try and	try to

For Multilingual Writers

Because idioms follow no particular rules, it’s best to learn them individually. You may find it helpful to keep a list of idioms that you frequently encounter in conversation and in reading.