when an attempt helps you better understand something

[alpacinou]

Hello.

When an attempt helps me better understand something, can I use the word "grasp"?

Is this correct?

The study I conducted for my thesis helped me get a better grasp of the methods used in the field of marine biology.

 

[GoesStation]

Yes, but you get a grasp on something.

 

[jutfrank]

Yes, but you get a grasp on something.

That doesn't sound right to me. If a non-native had used on there, I would have said it's incorrect.

The normal preposition is of.

 

[GoesStation]

That doesn't sound right to me. If a non-native had used on there, I would have said it's incorrect.

The normal preposition is of.

It appears to be equally split with on in British English. American English strongly favors on. To my mind, logic also favors on; getting a grasp is, after all, what you do when you firmly hold on to something.

By the way, after years of stagnation, the Google Ngrams viewer's user interface has had a very nice update.

 

[Tarheel]

That doesn't sound right to me. If a non-native had used on there, I would have said it's incorrect.

The normal preposition is of.

Interesting. I favor of also.

 

[jutfrank]

It appears to be equally split with on in British English. American English strongly favors on.

I don't think that data is very useful or accurate, for a few reasons. If you look at the BNC, "grasp of" returns 401 results whereas "grasp on" returns just 35. For COCA, the ratio is 2413:675. However, these numbers speak nothing of differences in usage.

To my mind, logic also favors on; getting a grasp is, after all, what you do when you firmly hold on to something.

Right, but this pertains to the difference in use/meaning between the two forms. When the sense is more to do with understanding, of is more appropriate. In uses with a literal sense of taking something in the hand, on is more appropriate.

Also, when the verb is stative have as opposed to processive get, again of is preferred. Look at the following example, which has a stative and non-literal sense and consider how well on works:

She has a very good grasp of quantum theory.

 

[GoesStation]

Look at the following example, which has a stative and non-literal sense and consider how well on works:

She has a very good grasp of quantum theory.

That's a great point. "Of" wouldn't work there at all for me. Have you checked "get a grasp on" vs "of" in the other corpora, as I did in Googles'? I think the verb makes a significant difference.

 

[jutfrank]

Have you checked "get a grasp on" vs "of" in the other corpora, as I did in Googles'?

The ratios of on:of are as follows.

BNC: 0:3
COCA: 56:23

These data only include instances where get immediately precedes a grasp. In many cases, the verb is located elsewhere, which partly explains the paucity of results.

I think the verb makes a significant difference.

Oh, yes, I strongly agree. Another factor here, I think, is the similarity with the semi-fixed expression get a grip on, which I suspect may be influencing things.

 

[GoesStation]

The ratios of on:of are as follows.

BNC: 0:3
COCA: 56:23

These data only include instances where get immediately precedes a grasp. In many cases, the verb is located elsewhere, which partly explains the paucity of results.

Can you include a wildcard to allow for an interposed adjective, like get a ** grasp on? You'd need to make it accept both a and an, too.

 

[jutfrank]

Can you include a wildcard to allow for an interposed adjective, like get a ** grasp on? You'd need to make it accept both a and an, too.

Have a tinker with this site and see if you can't work out how to use the new Fall 2020 wildcard search facility.

https://www.lextutor.ca/conc/eng/