| |
Bad |
| |
Bad at |
| |
The use of the preposition in
in the first sentence is wrong. It should be replaced with
at. |
| Incorrect |
The boy is bad in
Mathematics. |
| Correct |
The boy is bad at
Mathematics. |
|
|
| |
Worse
at, Worst at |
| |
Similarly, the use of
in for the comparative
and the superlative of bad (worse and worst) is also wrong. |
| Incorrect |
The boy's brother is worse in
Mathematics. |
| Incorrect |
His friend is the worst in
Mathematics. |
| Correct |
The boy's brother is worse at
Mathematics. |
| Correct |
His friend is the worst at
Mathematics. |
| |
|
| |
Excel |
| |
Excel
at ( an activity ) |
| |
According to English Prepositional
Idioms by Frederick T. Wood, for being extremely good at an
activity, excel in may be used but excel at
is more common |
| Incorrect |
This artist excels in
painting birds. |
| Correct |
This artist excels at
painting birds. |
| |
|
| |
Excel in ( an
attribute or quality ) |
| |
According to the same source, the use of the preposition at is not
appropriate when we use excel for qualities or attributes. |
| Incorrect |
She excels at
intelligence. |
| Incorrect |
My brother excels at
foreign languages. |
| Correct |
She excels in
intelligence. |
| Correct |
My brother excels in
foreign languages. |
|
|
| |
Good |
| |
Good at |
| |
The use of the preposition
in in the first sentence
is wrong. The correct preposition to use is
at. |
| Incorrect |
He is good in
Mathematics. |
| Correct |
He is good at
Mathematics. |
|
|
| |
Better
at, Best at
|
| |
The use of the preposition
in for the comparative and
the superlative of good (better and best) in the two sentences is
wrong. |
| Incorrect |
He is better in
Mathematics. |
| Incorrect |
He is the best in
Mathematics |
| Correct |
He is better at
Mathematics. |
| Correct |
He is the best at
Mathematics |
|
|
