Prepositions by Patrícia de O. Lucas and David Hughes
Prepositions
by Patrícia de O. Lucas and David Hughes
Prepostions show relantionships such as
direction, time, location, or ownership
Most prepositions are one word (of, from, in, on), but some prepositions are two
words (next to, because, according to) or even three
words (in front of, in addition to). Here is a list of common
prepositions.
aboutabove
according toacrossafter
againstalong
along withamongaround
as well asat
because ofbeforebehindbelow
beneathbeside
betweenbeyond
bydespitedowndue toduringexcept
except forfor
fromin
in addition toin back of
in front ofinside
in spite ofinstead of
intolikenear
next toofoffon
ontoout
out ofoutside
over
pastsince
throughthroughtout
tillto
towardunder
underneathunlikeuntilup
uponwith
withinwithout
Examples
Movies are all about making money these days.
What’s she so angry about?
They arrived late at the airport.
She’s at Tom’s (Tom’s house).
There’s a letter for you.
We got a new table for the dining room.
The kids were playing in the street.
She was lying in bed.
The love of a mother for her child.
The role of the teacher.
There’s a mark on your skirt.
The diagram on page 5.
I walked to the office.
He gave it to her sister.
She lives with her parents.
A girl with (= who has) red hair.
Preposition + noun
A preposition is usually combined with a noun or noun phrase to make a prepositional
phrase
The library is on this floor
It is unusual to see a person with green eyes
Verb + Preposition
Prepositions also occur in combination with verbs. Some
of these combinations have idiomatic meanings and follow
special rules; they are called phrasal verbs.
look atlook up to
look down tolook forward to
look after
The following verbs are usually followed by a particular
preposition. Could you try to guess what the prepostion is?
I listen ____ the radio a lot.
My brother never agrees ____ me.
I may go to the beach; it depends ____ the weather.
She suffers ____ a type of diabetes.
He got married ____ a woman he met in Brazil.
I’m going to apolozige ____ the mistakes we made.
She has applied ____ a new job.
They were waiting ____ me when I arrived.
Don’t worry ____ your exam; it’ll be OK.
She complained ____ the waiter ____ the food.
He spends a lot of money ____ clothes and CDs.
That dictionary belongs ____ Maria.
Changes in meaning
Sometimes a different preposition changes the
meaning of a verb.
He shouted to me.
He shouted at me.
She threw the ball to me.
She threw the ball at me.
Adjective + Preposition
There are many idiomatic adjective + preposition
combinations
good athappy about
tired ofinterested inmarried to
Examples
I was never very good ____ math.
He is afraid ____ flying.
I’m crazy ____ cats.
She is similar ____ her sister, but very different ____ her brother.
He’s very interested ____ antique furniture.
I was surprised ____ (or ____) his reaction. I thought he’d be happy to hear the
news.
I think she is aware ____ the problems in her class.
I’m tired ____ studying foreign languages.
The streets are full ____ trash.
There’s something wrong ____ this TV.
Special Tips!
1. To can be a preposition or part of an infinitive.
We went to the supermarket to buy some fruit.
The first to is a preposition. It is followed by a noun phrase (the
supermarket). The second to is parti of the infinitive to buy.
2. Some prepositions are also subordinating conjunctions
A subordinating conjunction is followed by a subject and a verb, and a preposition is
followed by a noun or noun phrase. There is no verb after a
preposition.
We went shopping after we ate lunch.
After = subordinating conjunction
we = subject
ate = verb
We went shopping after lunch
after = preposition
lunch = noun
Position
As its name tells us, a preposition is normally “placed before” a noun phrase or some
other element. The preposition + noun phrase
together form a PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE.
Sometimes the prepostion goes at the end of a clause or sentence.
Social usage: the preposition at the end is common in (speech) and (informal writing). But some people regard it as
“more correct” to put the preposition at the front of the clause. This is possible
for (I) and (II).
(I) For whom is she working? (formal)
(II) The town in which he was born. (rather formal)
But the preposition at the front is common only in (formal
writing). In general, do not be afraid to put the preposition at
the end.
Position of prepositions in different kinds of sentence.
In (I) – (VIII), the first example in each section shows the preposition at the end of the sentence, and the second example
shows the preposition in its usual position, at the front of its noun phrase.
(I) Question: Who is she working for? (She’s working
for a friend)
(II) Relative clause: the town (that) he was born in. (He was
born in the town of Omsk)
(III) Indirect question: I wonder which team he plays for. (He plays for the
home team)
(IV) Exclamation: What a terrible situation she’s in! (She’s in a terrible
situation)
(V) Passive: He’s being well looked after. (They’re looking after him well)
(VI) Comparative: She’s been to more countries than I’ve been to. (I’ve been
to fewer countries)
(VII) Infinite: This pen is difficult to write with. (It’s difficult to write with
this pen)
(VIII) Emphatic word order: Some games I’m quite good at...but I’m
hopeless at golf
Common patterns
Many expressions are formed by a preposition + noun.
ExamplesA play by Shakespeare, a movie by
Steven Spielberg, a song by Madonna.
You can go for a walk, for a dinner.
You can go in the morning, at night.
Fixed Expressions
Sometimes it is difficult to know why particular
prepositions are used, so you have to learn them as fixed
expressions.
I took your pen by mistake.
I met them by chance.
I can’t talk. I am in a hurry.
In time or on time?
Sometimes two prepositions can be used with the same noun, but the meaning is
different.
We got home in time for / in time to see The Voice. (early
enough)
Class begins at 8:30 and I always arrive on time. (at 8:30)
In the end, we went home. (finally, after a long period)
At the end of the book, they get married.
The two people are in business. (They are
businesspeople)
The two people are in Mexico on business. (They are there
for work, not on vacation)
I’ll see you in a moment. (very soon)
I can’t speak to you at the moment. (right now)
Time to Practice
Thanks for coming!