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I was wondering what was the correct wording in that specific case, it seems to me that the rule is to say "I was taught a lot about" but with the following "how to" the more natural thing that comes to my mind is "on". So which one would be correct (if either is) I can't decide they both sound kind of weird to me.

Maybe the sentence is just not well constructed.

Thank You

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    There’s nothing wrong with on it is the the elided form of on the subject of
    – Jim
    Commented Mar 12, 2017 at 16:35

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'I was taught a lot about how to…' is very much more natural.

'I was taught a lot on the subject of…' isn't ungrammatical but it does sound weird.

I suspect the main problem here is the '… how to…'

Please explain why that is necessary or how it helps?

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  • Do you mean that you want me to explain more in details the context of this sentence ?
    – PaoloH
    Commented Mar 23, 2017 at 1:19
  • Uh… yes. There are semantic differences which depend on the 'how to' and not in the context of using 'about' or 'on…' like that. What make syou think that with 'how to' the more natural thing that comes to my mind is 'on', please? In any context, what makes you think 'how to' contributes anything to the question or to the example?
    – Robbie Goodwin
    Commented Mar 24, 2017 at 2:06
  • I'm not sure if that answers your question but I was trying to write an essay and wanted to say "I was taught a lot about how to make my learning and my work more efficient", and I felt that this sounded strange, so i thought it was the "about" that wasn't the right fit in this case but the more I read this sentence the more I'm confused maybe it's the "a lot" that is the issue. I know I can formulate this differently I was just wondering if there is a specific rule or if "about" is always the right formulation.
    – PaoloH
    Commented Mar 25, 2017 at 12:43
  • ‘How to make my learning and my work more efficient’ is a different kettle of fish. Can we replace it with ‘learning’? ‘a lot about’ is pure qualification; emphasis with no effect on the structure or real meaning but well chosen for the job you’ve given it and a perfect fit with both ends of the original, ‘a lot on (the subject of learning)’ doesn’t fit as well, elided or not. ‘a lot about’ sounds much better even there’s no hard or fast justification.
    – Robbie Goodwin
    Commented Mar 25, 2017 at 19:45
  • Okay, I agree with the changes you made, they do improve the sentence I think I'm going to write that.
    – PaoloH
    Commented Mar 27, 2017 at 13:26

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