Prepositions

Benjamin Smith, Geoffrey Chan, Yuqi Bai, Jiyun Goth

What is it?

Definition of a preposition any member of a class of words

found in many languages that are used before nouns, pronouns, or other substantives to form phrases functioning as modifiers of verbs, nouns, or adjectives, and that typically express a spatial, temporal, or other relationship, as in, on, by, to, since.

What they tell us

Prepositions often convey spatial relationships telling us where x is in relation to y

Examples

Prepositions generally introduce prepositional phrases. Prepositional phrases look like this:

preposition + optional modifiers + noun, pronoun, or gerund

Here are some examples: At school At = preposition; school = noun.

List of common prepositionsabout

aboveacrossafteragainstalongamongaroundatbeforebehindbelowbeneathbesidebetweenbeyondbut

bydespitedownduringexceptforfromininsideintolikenearofoffonontoout

outsideoverpastsincethroughthroughouttilltotowardunderunderneathuntilupuponwithwithinwithout.

Tips and Tricks

To test whether a word is a prepositions, try putting it in front of the noun

under + the bed ( Correct )

Never + the bed ( incorrect )

examples

The hat is on the cat.

Take the hat off the cat.

The cat is wearing a hat.Where is the cat in the hat?

In the sentences on the left, a particular assertion is being explicitly stated. In the sentences on the right, the same relationship between the cat and the hat is being hidden within other forms of sentence. But in all cases, the underlying sense or meaning of the relationship between the cat and the hat is the same. Each of these statements asserts or assumes that there is some thing denoted by the collection-concept “cat”, some thing denoted by a collection-concept “hat”

Improper usage

Prepositional stranding, or using a preposition without an object, is generally considered improper use in English.

Examples:

Jim walked to fast.

What’s missing?

A word that looks like a preposition but is actually part of a verb is called a particle.

Held up is a verb meaning “to rob.”Therefore, up is not a preposition, and bank is not the object of a preposition.Instead, bank is the direct object of the verb held up.

Flesh/Purpose

Without prepositions, you wouldn’t understand basic sentences.

Ex: The dog fell out of the truck and ran to its master.

The dog fell the truck and ran its master.

Prepositions are incredibly important!

Prepositional Phrases

By using parallelism with prepositional phrases, you can make ideas clearer. – Parallelism: similar structure in a pair (or more) of words

Examples:– Joseph went to work, the city, and a

restaurant. (incorrect)– Joseph went to work, to the city, and to the

restaurant. (correct) By replacing the words with to the + noun, it

makes everything sound smooth and even.

Prepositional Parallelism

President John F. Kennedy’s speeches– The torch has been passed to a new generation

of Americans, born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage.

Each phrase begins with an adjective and then a preposition.

This use of parallelism and even rhythm makes the sentence sound eloquent.

Cardinal Sins

The most frequent prepositional sin is to replace one good, terse word with a stack of prepositional phrase.

Many prepositional phrases could be expressed more clearly through nouns and verbs.

Examples:

in order to to in answer to answer on the understanding that

understand for the purpose of for on the point of about in the absence of absent a great number of many

: When the preposition is part of a

prepositional phrase that could be replaced with a simple modifier

Example: The researchers are of the opinion that this test

produces biased results a great number of times owing to the fact that subjects exhibit a tendency to misinterpret the questions.

Better to say The researchers believe the test often produces

biased results because subjects tend to misinterpret the questions.

The object of the preposition must be expressed in the objective case.

Example: He stands behind she. He stands behind

her. I have some gifts to they. I have some

gifts to them. just between you and I just between you

and me.

The most graceful sentence does not end with prepositions.

But prepositions and their objects should not be unnaturally forced together.

We don’t say "Up whose phone number are you looking?"

Examples UNNATURAL: I don't know up with how

much more I can put. ACCEPTABLE: I don't know how much

more I can put up with. REPHRASED: I don't know how much

more I can stand.

CARNAL PLEASURES

- PEOPLE TRY TO MAKE IT INTIALIZE THE PREPOSITIONAL PHARSE

- EX. - OTOH: ON THE OTHER HAND- BTW: BY THE WAY - PEOPLE CHOSE TO DROP

PREPOSITIONS- EX. ALL THEM PLENTY ( PLENTY OF

THEM)

Phrasal Verbs

Some verbs, called phrasal verbsEX. Henry made up with GloriaEX. Henry made off with GloriaEX. Henry made out with GloriaRemember, this is the prepositional

phrase Phrasal verbs is verb plus a

prepositional or adverb which create a meaning different from the original verb.

Compound prepositions

Ex. IN BETWEEN, AND BECAUSE OF , IN FRONT OF , ON BEHALF OF

EX. THE BOOK IS IN BETWEEN WAR AND PEACE AND THE LOAD OF THE RINGS

EX. THE BOOK IS IN FRONT OF THE CLOCK

QUIZ 1. True or False? :Prepositions often convey relationships telling us where x is

in relation to y.

2. Make the sentence sound better with prepositions:– Jesse went __ church, __ __ ballgame, and __ __ dance.

3.Will you please send her an email in regard to her insurance policy.  

A. for B. about C. in regard to D. as

The following sentences, are they prepositional phrase or phrasal verb?– 4. I ran into my teacher at the movies last night.– 5.She looked the phone number up.