Name: Hina waqas

Topic: Preposition

Group: Improve your English

Admins: Miss Hina waqas,

MR saif Ulla,

An’nam chaudary

What is a Preposition? - Definition, Uses & Examples:

Prepositions are essential to sentences because they provide additional and necessary details. In this lesson, we will explore the definition and roles of the preposition.

Definition

There are approximately 80-100 prepositions in the English language. Prepositions are words that introduce the following information to the reader:

1. Where something takes place (at the store)

2. When or why something takes place (before dinner)

3. General descriptive information (the girl with the cool tattoo)

Examples of Prepositions

Here are commonly-used prepositions:

about above across after against

along behind below beneath beside

besides between down during except

for from in off on

onto opposite out outside till

to toward under underneath until

with within without

Prepositions don't stand alone. They work in groups of words that we call prepositional phrases. A prepositional phrase begins with a preposition and ends in a noun. That noun is called the object of the preposition.

Prepositional Phrases

Here are some examples of prepositional phrases:

under the desk during the lecture

across the yard after lunch

behind the tree'

The word in italics is the preposition, and the words that follow the preposition make up the prepositional phrase. Think about a mountain, for instance. A prepositional phrase is just about anything that we can say in relation to a mountain, like: to the mountain, over the mountain, under the mountain, toward the

mountain. This is a good way to test a group of words in order to see if they do, indeed, fit the definition of prepositional phrases.

Object of the Preposition The object of the preposition is the noun that follows the preposition. It is also the stopping point for each prepositional phrase. For instance, we might say, 'to the store.' To is the preposition, and stories the object of the preposition. Here's another example, in the light. In is the preposition, and light is the object of the preposition.

Roles of Prepositions

Now, let's go back to that list of information we saw at the beginning of the lesson. Prepositions, in the form of prepositional phrases, provide specific information in a sentence for the reader. The reader would not know key and necessary facts about a sentence without a prepositional phrase. For instance, here is a barebones sentence:

My mom laughed.

It is a perfectly good sentence, but it doesn't tell us very much. When we add a prepositional phrase, we better understand the situation. Here is the sentence with a prepositional phrase:

My mom laughed at the joke.