Preposition
Definition
A preposition is usually a short word placed before a substantive (or a pronoun) and indicating the relation of that substantive to other parts of the sentence (mostly verbs).
Example
"I was reading a book in the living-room."
The preposition “in” specifies, where exactly “I was reading a book”. It is placed directly before the noun “living-room” (not counting a sometimes optional article like “the”).
Categories
Prepositions, as a class of words, can be divided in five categories.
- Preposition of time (temporal) e.g. in, on, at, etc.
- Preposition of place (spatial) e.g. in, on, at, etc.
- Preposition for direction e.g. to, towards, into, through etc.
- Preposition for device, instrument or machines e.g. on, by, with, etc. and various semantic roles e.g. of, for, etc.
This classification is not disjunct: a lot of preposition fall in more than one group, e.g. “in” can be used for “in the car” (spatial) or for “in five years” (temporal).
There is some overlap with transitions words, conjunctions and linking words in general. Keep in mind, that the main purpose of a preposition is the determination of the relationship in time or place. Thus, contrary to other “small words”, they are not an element of style, but absolutely mandatory.
To find the correct preposition is difficult, even for advanced ESL speakers, since a 1:1 translation from your mother tongue is usually wrong. To make matters worse, no real rules exist, when to use which preposition. So the only way is, to memorize them. As always, reading books or watching movies helps a lot.
The following lists contain some of the most frequently used prepositions in English.
Prepositions – Time
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Prepositions – Place
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Prepositions – Direction / Movement
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Other important Prepositions
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List of Prepositions
Please feel free to download this concise list of prepositions as a 3 page cheat sheet List of Prepositions — the PDF contains all the prepositions listed on this page.
Prepositions — IN & ON & AT
Short overview of the 3 prepositions in & on & at and their use from more general to more specific describtions of Time & Place.
Grammar
A preposition is a word that creates a relationship between words to indicate relative positions in space or time.
The doctrine that a preposition may not be used to end a sentence was promulgated by 18th-century Latin-obsessed grammarians introverts. The rule has since become one of the most venerated maxims of schoolroom grammatical lore. Alas, unjustified so.
Examples
In fact, English syntax allows and sometimes requires final placement of the preposition.
- That depends on what you believe in.
- What did you step on?
- Elias had no-one to play with.
- Five excited puppies are almost too many to put up with.
- A good medium raw steak should not be so hard to come by.
- Ending a sentence with a preposition is nothing to be afraid of.
Abbreviations
Although there are no commonly accepted abbreviations for some of the basic terms used on this page, most grammarians (and dictionaries) employ some of these abbreviations.
- BrE, BE - British English
- AmE, AE - American English
- sth. - Something
- sb. - Somebody
- etc. - et cetera (other unspecified things or persons)
- e.g. - Exempli gratia (For example)
- pron. - pronunciation
- sp. - spelling
- gram. - grammar
- etym. - etymology
- n. - noun
- v. - verb
- obj. - object
- adj. - adjective
- adv. - adverb
- pr. - pronoun
- prep. - preposition
- conj. - conjunction
- art. - article
- interj. - interjection
- abbr. - abbreviation
- aux. - auxiliary
- pref. - prefix
- suff. - suffix
- tr. - transitive
- intr. - intransitive
- sing. - singular
- pl. - plural
- def. - definite
- indef. - indefinite
Examples of Prepositions
Some special examples on how to use prepositions ;-)
- Has not been heard from since
- At your disposal
- It's not true I had nothing on. I had the radio on. [Quote from Marilyn Monroe]
- By all means
- Once and for all
- Drinks on the house
- On and off
- Sth. is important to me
- above such foolishness
- Mary has much to be angry about.
- Very young children are incapable of abstract reasoning.
- Go with the tried and trusted basics.
- It is strictly between you & me.
- Of, by, for - short for "... government of the people, for the people and by the people" - The Gettysburg Address (November 19, 1863); a speech by U.S. President Abraham Lincoln (1809 – 1865) during the American Civil War (1861 to 1865).
- Child to parent:
What did you bring that book that I don't like to be read to out of up for? - An even longer version, via David Richerby (and yes, we know, "Down Under" is a proper noun ...):
What did you bring that book that I don't like to be read to out of about Down Under up for? - We will reach our judgments not on intentions or on promises but on deeds and on results. [Margaret Thatcher]
Phrasal verbs
Many prepositions are also used as phrasal verbs (or idiomatically). There are no specific rules these expressions must be memorized. Here are some examples:
- look up
- add up to sth.
- call sth. off
- applied to
- depend on
- identical to
- opposed to
- preoccupied with
- prohibited from
- recover from