Common Mistakes with Insist

Common Mistakes with “Insist”

Common Mistakes with “Insist”

What do you think about this two phrases with “insist”? Which one is correct?

Insist to
Insist on

This article is going to discuss about this difference and it tries to answer this question which is related to a common mistake in English language in using ‘insist’ with proper preposition. Let’s figure out the meaning of this verb in dictionary before everything.

Insist /inˈsist/: Verb

persist, persevere; firmly emphasize, assert; demand emphatically, firmly request, require

Demand something forcefully, not accepting refusal.

• demand forcefully to have something
• persist in doing something even though it is annoying or odd
• maintain or put forward a statement positively and assertively

 

Based on the meaning of the verb ‘insist’, it seems that a preposition is needed to be used with this verb. As you can see from you above explanation and synonyms, ‘persist’ is the first meaning which is written for ‘insist’ and it should be used with a preposition too. Both verbs ‘persist’ and ‘insist’ are used with the preposition of ‘on’.

Common Mistakes #54

There are some other prepositions which have seen to be used with these verbs including ‘upon’, ‘in’, or ‘to’, but ‘on’ should be used in most cases and ‘to’ in %99 of cases would be wrong preposition. So please be aware of this common mistake and not to use to instead of on. So notice the following table which is showing the percentage of prepositions application with the verb ‘insist’:

Insist prepositions
Prepositions	Percent of Usage
on	88%
upon	7%
in	2%
to	1%

 

Notice the following examples:

She insists to more toys.
She insists on more toys.

I insisted to paying for the food.
I insisted on paying for the food.

Donald Trump still insists to the border wall.
Donald Trump still insists on the border wall.

Note:

Please note that the preposition rule for the verb ‘insist’ would be the same for the verb ‘persist’. Example:

Tom persisted to his silly ideas.
Tom persisted on his silly ideas.

 

Click here to find other English Common Mistakes