Here’s a mistake that appears somewhat commonly. It involves the use of the word prefer. Note the sample sentence in the image at left. As usual, the image highlights the mistake within the sentence.
Written correctly, the sentence should appear as follows:
Written correctly, the sentence should appear as follows:
Generally, galvanic corrosion prefers zinc to iron and iron to copper.
The use of the preposition over rather than the preposition to results from the failure to separate spoken English (in which the use of the phrase prefer over is somewhat common) from written English (in which the use of the phrase prefer over is not correct).
You can understand better why prefer to is correct and prefer over is not with a little thought. Suppose that you had a choice between two physical objects, each of which has been placed before you. You indicate your preference with the common hand gesture of pointing.
Now, here is the key question: Do you point to your choice? Or do you point over your choice? Clearly, you point to your choice. And that’s why prefer to is correct in written English and prefer over is not. When you think about the functionality of the words, prefer over just doesn’t make any sense.
So always remember to prefer to, not over. Then you can prefer more effective writing to less effective writing.
You can understand better why prefer to is correct and prefer over is not with a little thought. Suppose that you had a choice between two physical objects, each of which has been placed before you. You indicate your preference with the common hand gesture of pointing.
Now, here is the key question: Do you point to your choice? Or do you point over your choice? Clearly, you point to your choice. And that’s why prefer to is correct in written English and prefer over is not. When you think about the functionality of the words, prefer over just doesn’t make any sense.
So always remember to prefer to, not over. Then you can prefer more effective writing to less effective writing.
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