Of the following prepositional combinations, which one tends to be relatively more difficult to learn: a. at night b. at hand?
Can you mention any relevant features that might make some prepositional combinations relatively more difficult to learn than others?
Thanks in advance for your answers/comments!
I am not sure about ease of learning, but in Midwest America, where I live, "at hand" is used more rarely than "at night." People would understand "I have those records at hand" but it would not be common usage. "I do not like to drive at night" would be very common usage.
As EFL teacher in Chile, I've seen students have a difficult time learning "at night" because they get confused with "in," which is the direct translation of Spanish "en." They would tend to say "in the night" instead of "at night." Nevertheless, it appears frequently in textbooks, topics, assessments, videos, therefore students do not really take long to learn the phrase.
On the other, "at hand" means "a la mano" in Spanish, which is commonly used in Spanish, but rarely appears in textbooks students use. In this case students would also tend to say "to the hand" as a direct translation instead of "at hand."
In summary, it's probable that due to frequency of exposure "at hand" may be harder to learn than "at night," at least for native Spanish speakers.
- Badges
- Science topic
- Similar topics
- Psychology
- Mental Processes
- Learning