Prepositions

Prepositions:
Locators in Time and Place
Read the following paragraph:
You can sit before the desk (or in front of the desk). The professor can sit on the
desk (when he's being informal) or behind the desk, and then his feet
are under the desk or beneath the desk. He can stand beside the desk
(meaning next to the desk), before the desk, between the desk and you, or
even on the desk (if he's really strange). If he's clumsy, he can bump into the desk
or try to walk through the desk (and stuff would fall off the desk). Passing his
hands over the desk or resting his elbows upon the desk, he often
looks across the desk and speaks of the desk or concerning the desk as if there
were nothing else like the desk. Because he thinks of nothing except the desk,
sometimes you wonder about the desk, what's in the desk, what he paid for the
desk, and if he could live without the desk. You can walk toward the desk, to the
desk, around the desk, by the desk, and even past the desk while he sits at the
desk or leans against the desk.
All of this happens, of course, in time: during the class, before the class, until the
class, throughout the class, after the class, etc. And the professor can sit there in a
bad mood [another adverbial construction].
COMMON PREPOSITIONS
about by outside according to

above down over because of
across during since by way of
after except through in addition to
against for throughout in front of
around from till in place of
at in to in regard to
before inside toward in spite of
behind into under instead of
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below like until on account of
beneath near up out of
beside of upon
besides off with
between on without
beyond out
Prepositions of Time: at, on, and in

*We use at to designate specific times.
The train is due at 12:15 p.m.
*We use on to designate days and dates.

My brother is coming on Monday.
We're having a party on the Fourth of July.
*We use in for nonspecific times during a day, a month, a season, or a year.
She likes to jog in the morning.
It's too cold in winter to run outside.
He started the job in 1971.
He's going to quit in August.
Prepositions of Place: at, on, and in

*We use at for specific addresses.
Grammar English lives at 55 Boretz Road in Durham.
*We use on to designate names of streets, avenues, etc.

Her house is on Boretz Road.
*And we use in for the names of land-areas (towns, counties, states, countries, and
continents).
She lives in Durham.
Durham is in Windham County.
Windham County is in Connecticut.
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Prepositions of Location: in, at, and on and No Preposition
IN AT ON NO PREPOSITION
(the) bed* class* the bed* downstairs
the bedroom home the ceiling downtown
the car the library* the floor inside
(the) class* the office the horse outside
the library* school* the plane upstairs
school* work the train uptown
* You may sometimes use different prepositions for these locations.
Prepositions of Movement: to and No Preposition

We use to in order to express movement toward a place.
They were driving to work together.
She's going to the dentist's office this morning.
Toward and towards are also helpful prepositions to express movement. These are simply
variant spellings of the same word; use whichever sounds better to you.
We're moving toward the light.
This is a big step towards the project's completion.
With the words home, downtown, uptown, inside, outside, downstairs, upstairs, we use no
preposition.
Grandma went upstairs
Grandpa went home.
They both went outside.
Prepositions of Time: for and since

We use for when we measure time (seconds, minutes, hours, days, months, years).
He held his breath for seven minutes.
She's lived there for seven years.
The British and Irish have been quarreling for seven centuries.
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We use since with a specific date or time.
He's worked here since 1970.
She's been sitting in the waiting room since two-thirty.
Prepositions with Nouns, Adjectives, and Verbs.
Prepositions are sometimes so firmly wedded to other words that they have practically
become one word. (In fact, in other languages, such as German, they would have become one
word.) This occurs in three categories: nouns, adjectives, and verbs.
NOUNS and PREPOSITIONS
approval of fondness for need for

awareness of grasp of participation in
belief in hatred of reason for
concern for hope for respect for
confusion about interest in success in
desire for love of understanding of
ADJECTIVES and PREPOSITIONS
afraid of fond of proud of

angry at happy about similar to
aware of interested in sorry for
capable of jealous of sure of
careless about made of tired of
familiar with married to worried about
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VERBS and PREPOSITIONS
apologize for give up prepare for

ask about grow up study for
ask for look for talk about
belong to look forward to think about
bring up look up trust in
care for make up work for
find out pay for worry about
A combination of verb and preposition is called a phrasal verb. The word that is joined
to the verb is then called a particle. Please refer to the brief section we have prepared
on phrasal verbs for an explanation.
Idiomatic Expressions with Prepositions
 agree to a proposal, with a person, on a price, in principle

 argue about a matter, with a person, for or against a proposition
 compare to to show likenesses, with to show differences (sometimes similarities)
 correspond to a thing, with a person
 differ from an unlike thing, with a person
 live at an address, in a house or city, on a street, with other people
Unnecessary Prepositions
In everyday speech, we fall into some bad habits, using prepositions where they are not
necessary. It would be a good idea to eliminate these words altogether, but we must be
especially careful not to use them in formal, academic prose.
 She met up with the new coach in the hallway.

 The book fell off of the desk.
 He threw the book out of the window.
 She wouldn't let the cat inside of the house. [or use "in"]
 Where did they go to?
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 Put the lamp in back of the couch. [use "behind" instead]
 Where is your college at?
Prepositions in Parallel Form

When two words or phrases are used in parallel and require the same preposition to be
idiomatically correct, the preposition does not have to be used twice.
You can wear that outfit in summer and in winter.
The female was both attracted by and distracted by the male's dance.
However, when the idiomatic use of phrases calls for different prepositions, we must be
careful not to omit one of them.
The children were interested in and disgusted by the movie.
It was clear that this player could both contribute to and learn from every game he played.
He was fascinated by and enamored of this beguiling woman.
**october2021**
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Prepositions

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Prepositions:

Locators in Time and Place

Read the following paragraph:

about by outside according to

Prepositions of Time: at, on, and in

*We use on to designate days and dates.

Prepositions of Place: at, on, and in

*We use on to designate names of streets, avenues, etc.

* You may sometimes use different prepositions for these locations.

Prepositions of Movement: to and No Preposition

Prepositions of Time: for and since

Prepositions with Nouns, Adjectives, and Verbs.

NOUNS and PREPOSITIONS

approval of fondness for need for

ADJECTIVES and PREPOSITIONS

afraid of fond of proud of

apologize for give up prepare for

Idiomatic Expressions with Prepositions

 agree to a proposal, with a person, on a price, in principle

 She met up with the new coach in the hallway.

Prepositions in Parallel Form

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