PREPOSITIONS
What is a Preposition?
A preposition links nouns,
pronouns and phrases to other words in a sentence. The word or phrase that the
preposition introduces is called the object of the preposition.
A preposition usually appears before
certain nouns, pronouns, noun phrases to indicate the temporal, spatial or
logical relationship of its object to the rest of the sentence as in the
following examples:
·
The book is on the table.
·
The book is beneath the table.
·
The book is leaning against the table.
·
The book is beside the table.
·
She held the book over the table.
·
She read the book during class.
Note: In each of these sentences, a
preposition locates the noun "book" in space or in time.
Sometimes the preposition may appear
at the end of the sentence.
Ex: He is the person I buy shoes from.
Kinds of Prepositions:
1.
Simple Prepositions:
They are formed with a single word.
Ex: at, by, on, in, from, for, off, of, up, with, till etc.
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He is waiting at the bus stop.
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I am coming from Vijayawada.
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Please wait till completion of my work.
2. Compound Prepositions:
These are formed by prefixing a Preposition usually a
or be to a Noun, an Adjective or an Adverb. Ex: about, above, across, along, amidst,
among, amongst, around, before, behind, below, beneath, beside, between,
beyond, inside, outside, underneath, within, without.
o The child is playing between two trees.
o Child is sitting beside her mother.
o Among four people one should be gent.
o Headmaster ordered not leave the room
without his permission.
3. A
prepositional phrase is made up of the preposition, its object and
any associated adjectives or adverbs. A prepositional phrase can function as a
noun, an adjective, or an adverb.
·
Ex: according to, agreeably to, along with,
away from, because of, by dint of, by means of, by reason of, by virtue of, by
way of, by the way, conformably to, for the sake of, in accordance with, in
addition to, in(on) behalf of, in case of, in comparison to, in compliance
with, in consequence of, in course of, in favor of, in front of, in lieu of, in
order to, in place of, in reference to, in regard to, in spite of, instead of,
in the event of, on account of, owing to, with reference to, with regard to
·
In case of need call me
·
By virtue of the power vested on me, I hereby order ….
·
In consequence of his illness, he could not finish the work in time.
·
Owing to his illness, he retired from business
·
With reference to your letter ……
·
In course of I see you talented
·
On behalf of the staff, she paid the amount
·
She preserved in spite of difficulties
·
Instead of talking, prove yourself
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In accordance with your instructions, we have declared holiday
·
For the sake of devotees’ beliefs, Durga temple authorities allowed men to perform
pooja.
·
In course of his project, he faced many difficulties
·
He handed over all his property in favor of his eldest son.
barring, concerning, considering,
during, notwithstanding, pending, regarding, respecting, touching and a few similar words which are
present participles of verbs used absolutely without any noun or pronoun being
attached to them. For all practical purposes, they have become Prepositions,
and are sometimes distinguished as participle prepositions.
·
Barring (= excepting, apart from) accident,
the mail will arrive tomorrow.
·
Concerning (=about) yesterday’s
fire, there are many rumors in the street.
·
Considering (=taking into account) the
quality, the price is high
·
During (=in between) holidays
my son comes to me.
·
Notwithstanding (=in spite of) the
resistance offered by him, he was arrested Pending further orders, Mrs.
Bhavani will act as Headmistress
·
Regarding your inquiries, I regret to say that I
am not in position to do your work.
·
Respecting the plan mention by you, I shall write
you hereafter
·
Touching (=with regard to) this matter,
I have not completed my work properly.
Functions of
Prepositions:
Prepositions have
different functions: to indicate time, place, purpose, direction, movement,
means/instrumentality, concession, compassion, source and manner.
Prepositions of Place: These are at, on and in.
Ex: She is at table, The book is on the table, Book
is in the table.
AT: At is
one-dimensional.
We use it when we see something as a point in space:
·
Ex: The car is waiting at the corner. ; There is someone at the door.
We
also use at + an event as follows:
·
We met him at the marriage party. ;I saw that lady at
the meeting.
We
use at + building when we are talking about the normal purpose of the
building.
·
She is at the theatre
·
I am a teacher. I get my salary at school
·
ON: On is two-dimensional.
We use it for a surface as follows:
·
Don’t leave the glass on the floor.
·
There are lots of pictures on the wall.
·
Maripeda is on NH -563.
·
I have a house right on the main road.
We also use on in the following special purpose:
·
I haven’t got any money on/with me at the moment.
IN: In
is three-dimensional.
We use it when we see something as all around:
·
I had five rupees in my pocket.
·
Who is that man in the green suit?
·
There is a beautiful girl sitting in the waiting room.
We also use in for a country or
town:
·
I live in Krishna District
·
There are brave soldiers in India.
·
I have to change my train at Vijayawada.
·
Now I am at Agra, further I have to go a long way. Using at
and in with buildings
·
I am at home (=I am residing at home)
·
It is very hot in my home during summer (=inside the room)
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Observe the following phrases: |
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At 22 Bunder Road |
On 9thRoad Banjara Hills |
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In Hyderabad |
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At your home |
On the 3rdfloor |
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In Hyderabad Road |
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At the station |
On the platform |
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In the lesson |
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At home/work/school |
On the page |
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In a book/newspaper |
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At the seaside |
On the screen |
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In the photo/picture |
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At the back of / end of a queue |
On the island |
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In the country |
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On the right |
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In the middle |
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On the back of an
envelope |
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In the back/front of a car |
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In a queue/line/row |
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ABOVE, OVER, BELOW and
UNDER:
We do not use above to
mean horizontal movement.
• The plane flew over the houses
And we do not use above for an
area or surface
• Thick black smoke hangs over
the town
• Somebody had spread a sheet over
the body.
We
prefer over before a number
• There are over fifty thousand
people in the stadium
But
we use above with measurement that we think of as vertical, such as
temperature
• Temperature will rise above
freezing
• The two leaders discussed world
affairs over lunch (= while having lunch)
We
use over for movement to the other side, or position on the other side
of a line
• The horse jumped over the wall
• We met at the entrance below/under
the clock
We do
not normally use below for a horizontal movement or for an area or
surface.
• Ravi hid under the bed to hide
himself
• The town lies under a thick
black cloud of smoke.
THROUGH, ACCORSS and ALONG:
Through is the three dimensional. You go through a tunnel, a
doorway, a crowd of people and so on
• The water flows through the
pipe.
• I looked through the telescope.
Across is the two dimensional. You go from one side to the other
across a surface such as a lawn or a playground, or a line such as a river
or a frontier
• You can get across the Godavari
by a ferry
Sometimes we can use either through or across
depending on whether we see something as having two or three dimensional
• We walked through/across the
field.
We use along when we follow a line. You go along a
path, a road, a passage, a route, and so on. Compare these sentences
• We traveled along the river for
a few miles
• We walked across the river by a
bridge
TO, TOWARDS AND UP TO
We
use to for a destination and towards for a direction.
• We are going to Vijayawada
• I am going towards Vizag, now I
am at Vijayawada.
(Go/come/walk
+ up to usually expresses movement to a person).
• A man came up to me and asked
the address
BETWEEN and AMONG
We
use between with a small number of items that we see as separated and
individual.
• The ball went between the
player’s legs.
• My home is between the School
and Hospital Among
suggests a large
number.
• I was hoping to get 1stamong
30 students.
Prepositions of Time: These are at, on and in.
AT, ON and IN: We use these prepositions in these situations
• At half past five
• At breakfast
• At that time
• At the moment
• I met her at 5 in the evening
• At Christmas, at weekend, at farewell
ON: We use on with a single day, date
• On Tuesday, on 7th August,
On that day, On New Year Day
IN: We use in with longer periods
• In the next few days, in the summer
holidays, in July, in 1972, in the 19th Century
• In the afternoon, in the mornings (but
exception is at night) We use on if we say which day
• On Tuesday afternoon, on Friday
morning, On the evening of the 12th
NOTE: We do not use at, on or in in phrases of time with last,
this, next, every,
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later, yesterday, and tomorrow |
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I
received the letter last Monday |
(NOT
on last Monday) |
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We’ve
been really busy this week |
(NOT
in this week) |
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You
can take the exam next year |
(NOT
in the next year) |
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The
same thing happens every time |
(NOT
at every time) |
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I
will see you tomorrow morning |
(NOT in tomorrow morning) |
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FOR and SINCE:
We
use for with a period of time to say how long something continues.
• Ravi plays games every day for
two hours
• Once I was in Delhi for a week
• Can I sit here for five minutes
please?
We do not use for or Since before a phrase with all
or whole
• It rained all day/whole day
• For two years, for a week, for two
days, for a few minutes,
• Since 1960, since last week, since
Monday, since half past two
We often use for and since with the perfect to say
how long something has continued or when it started.
• She has worked for two years
here
• I have not been to my native place for
a month
• We’ve been waiting for twenty
minutes
• They have lived here since 1995
• I have not seen you since
November
• We have been waiting since
twelve o’ clock
AGO and BEFORE:
We use ago for a past action at a time measured from the present.
Ago comes after the length of the time.
• She worked here two years ago
(=two years before)
• I last went to my native place months ago
•
She left the school last month. She started a tuition home two
years before (=two years before the last month)
Months back present
Chart of ago
Two years period one
month present
Chart of before
TILL, BY and UNTIL:
We
use till/until to say when something finishes.
·
I will be working here until/till April 24.
·
I waited for her in the park until/till closing time. Till/until does not express place
·
I went until the theatre but I couldn’t see the movie (wrong,
should be up to)
·
We can use not…..till/until when
something is later than expected.
·
She didn’t get up till/until ten in the morning. BY means ‘not later than’
·
I am always up by eight o’clock (=at eight or earlier)
·
Can you return my book by Friday (=on Friday or earlier)
·
Can you return my book before Friday (= not on Friday but
earlier)
Agreement Features (PREPOSITIONS)
Do not use the same preposition with
two words unless it is appropriate to each other of them
o This quality is different and inferior
to the other (wrong, say, different from)
As a general rule between is
used for two persons or things and among for more than two
o Distribute the books between John and Jack.
He stood between Ravi and Gopi.
o Distribute the money among the poor.
There is a snake among the cows.
In and at are used for things at rest, while to
and into are used for things in motion.
o He is in bed.; My pencil is my
pocket.; He is at the top of his class.
o He ran to school.; The rat ran into its hole.; He entered
into the bus.
With often
denotes instrument by agent.
o He killed two birds with one stone.
o He was stabbed by a mad-man with a
dagger
On is
used of time and to is used of place.
o He will reach on Sunday
In is
used for large places and at for small.
o He is in America
o He lives at Ramnagar in Karimnagar
For refers to the period of time and since
to the point of time, (since is always preceded by a verb in perfect
tense), From is also used to refer to point of time, but can be used
with other tenses except the perfect, Ex.
o I have been ill for a fortnight
(Period of time)
o
I have taken nothing since yesterday (Point of time)
o I started my work from 1st
November
Ago refers to the past time and before
denotes precedence between two events
o He married five years ago
o He was married five years before his
coming to Delhi
Morning, afternoon and evening are preceded by
in, Dawn, day-break, mid-day and midnight are preceded by
at, when these time phrases are qualified by last or next
they are not preceded by any preposition
o I like to listen to music in the
evening
o I shall see you at night
o I met him last evening
Do not use any proposition after order,
attach, resist, pick, pervade, request, succeed, inform, resemble, assist,
violate, combat, benefit, afford, accompany when these verbs are used in
the active voice
o They attacked on him violently (wrong,
say, They attacked him …..)
o They have violated against all rules
(wrong, say, They have violated all rules)
Beside means
‘by the side of ’, besides means ‘in addition to’
o She sat beside her husband at the
meeting.; My house is beside the temple.
o Besides being a scholar, he is a good
singer. ; He know Hindi, besides Telugu.
In means ‘at the end of the specified
period’, within means ‘before the end of the specified time’
·
I shall return in an half an hour (ie, after
the half an hour is over)
o I shall finish the job within two days
(ie, before two days are over)
On is
used in speaking of things at rest and Upon of things in motion,
o The cat was sitting on the table. The
book is on the table.
o The cat jumped upon the table. The
rider jumped upon the horse.
Till is
used of time and to of place
o I waited for him till 11 O clock
o We walked to the temple on the hill
Angry with, not against
o Note1. We get angry with a person,
but at a thing as “He is angry at the weather” (not with the weather)
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Note2. Also annoyed with, vexed with,
indignant with a person, but at a thing
Anxious (=troubled) about, not for,
·
Note. But anxious meaning wishing very much takes for
as in “Parents are anxious for their children’s success”
Arrive at, not to
·
We arrived at (and not to) the village at night
Conform to, not with
·
Note. But “comply” takes “with” as in “We will comply with your
request”
Covered with, not by
·
The entire equipment is covered with dust
Glad of or about, not from or with
·
I am glad of (or about) the news
·
Note. But a person is glad at a result, as in “He is glad
at having received good marks”
Good at, not in
·
He is good at Mathematics (not in)
·
Note. Also bad at, clever at, quick at, slow at but weak
in, as in “He is weak in grammar”
Independent of, not from
·
Till the age of 18 Ravi was dependent on his parents, but now he
is independent of them
Pleased with, not from
·
Note. We may say pleased at or pleased with if an
abstract noun or a clause follows “They were pleased at (or with) what he
said”, Mother is pleased at (or with) her daughter’s performance
Popular with, not among
·
John is popular with his friends (not among)
Take by, not from
·
He took the blind man by his arm
·
Note. Also hold by,
catch by, snatch by, grasp by
Tired of, not from
·
The children were tired of boiled eggs
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Note. Tired with means with no energy or strength left as, I
am tired with walking, I want to rest
Warn (a person) of danger, not about danger
·
They were warned of the danger
·
But we warn a person against a fault, as in The Policeman
warned him against breaking traffic regulations
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