Hello everyone! I've got a question about the phrase "to have experience" and the gerund which follows it. According to Oxford Dictionary we can use prepositions "in" or "of" in such cases like in "I have experience in/of teaching English to kids". However, in one of my prompts I asked AI to write about my experience and it answered "I have experience teaching English...". Is it correct not to use preposition between "experience" and "teaching" and why? Which grammatical rule governs it.
I would really appreciate your help!

Question

Hello everyone! I've got a question about the phrase "to have experience" and the gerund which follows it. According to Oxford Dictionary we can use prepositions "in" or "of" in such cases like in "I have experience in/of teaching English to kids". However, in one of my prompts I asked AI to write about my experience and it answered "I have experience teaching English...". Is it correct not to use preposition between "experience" and "teaching" and why? Which grammatical rule governs it. 
I would really appreciate your help!

Answer

Yes. The preposition can be omitted when 'experience' is followed by a gerund (like teaching). The preposition cannot be omitted when 'experience' is followed by a true noun. For example, you can say 'I have experience teaching children' but you have to say 'I have experience of/in primary education'.

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