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 prepositions
about
above
across
after
against
along
among
around
at
before
behind
below
beneath
beside
between
beyond
but
by
despite
down
during
except
for
from
in
inside
into
like
near
of
off
on
onto
out
outside
over
past
since
through
throughout
till
to
toward
under
underneath
until
up
upon
with
within
without.
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 verbs
EX. Henry made up with Gloria
EX. Henry made off with Gloria
EX. Henry made out with Gloria
Remember, 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.