Prepositions

Prepositions

Prepositions

All words in the English language can be classified as one of the eight different parts of speech.

Understanding the different parts of speech is important in understanding how words can and should be
joined together to make sentences that are both grammatically correct and readable. An understanding
of the parts of speech is also important for knowing how to correctly punctuate sentences.

The eight parts of speech are:

• Nouns
• Pronouns
• Verbs
• Adjectives
• Adverbs
• Conjunctions

• Prepositions

• Interjections.

Prepositions

A preposition is a word that tells you where or when something is in relation to something else.

Examples of prepositions include words like after, before, on, under, inside and outside.

The house was on the hill beside a tree.

In this sentence 'on' and 'beside' are prepositions which show you exactly where the house was.

A preposition shows the relationship between a noun or pronoun and some other words in the
sentence.

This relationship is spatial, temporal, or directional.

For instance, in the sentence:

Mark walked towards the house.

The word towards is a preposition since it shows direction.

When linked with nouns or pronouns, prepositions create word groups referred to as prepositional
phrases. (In the previous example, towards the house is a prepositional phrase.)

© ice-training 11/2021 ver. 1 2

Prepositions Common Prepositions

about before for on
above out
across behind from over
after through
against below in to
among toward
around beside inside under
at up
between into with

by near

down of

during off

Less Common Prepositions

aboard despite past underneath
along
amid except per unlike
as
beneath following plus until
beyond
but like regarding upon
concerning
considering minus round versus

next save via

onto since within

opposite than without

outside till

Prepositional Phrases

Prepositional phrases start with a preposition and end with a noun, although several different types of words can
come in between them. Because there are endless possibilities, there is no comprehensive prepositional phrase
list, but here are several examples:

Prepositional phrase examples

preposition + noun
after midnight
since yesterday
preposition + proper noun
on Mount Everest
outside Buckingham Palace
preposition + article + noun
under the table
along a route
preposition + adjectives + noun
before your first day
unlike the last English paper

© ice-training 11/2021 ver. 1 3

Prepositions

Prepositions and Verbs

Sometimes, you might see a preposition followed by a verb. This can only happen if the verb is a gerund, which is
a verb ending in -ing that denotes an action or state and thus functions as a noun in a sentence.

Prepositional phrase examples with gerunds

She beat me home by running the whole way.
I managed not to fall during ice skating for once!
Between cooking and cleaning, I wasn’t able to get anything else done today.

Then there's "to"—a tricky proposition that often appears with verbs. However, when "to" is followed by a verb,
it is called an infinitive, not a prepositional phrase.

An infinitive is an unconjugated form of a verb

Infinitive examples

• to be
• to run
• to drive

Prepositions and Idioms

An idiom is a phrase, saying, or a group of words with a metaphorical (not literal) meaning, which has become
accepted in common usage.

An idiom’s symbolic sense is quite different from the literal meaning or definition of the words of which it is
made. There are a large number of Idioms, and they are used very commonly in all languages. There are
estimated to be at least 25,000 idiomatic expressions in the English language.

Idioms evolve the language; they are the building blocks of a language and civilization. They also have great
intensity to make a language exciting and dynamic. Idiomatic expressions bring a spectacular illustration to
everyday speech and provide compelling insights into the use of words, languages, and their speakers’ thought
processes. Idioms have a sense of mystery and fun about them.

There are many prepositional phrases that make up idioms. Here are just some examples:

across the street down the street Idioms up in the air
along the way down to the wire with open arms
at any rate for a living of course with regard to
at last for sure on demand within reason
behind the scenes in any case on sale
beside the point in common on time
beyond me in fact out of the blue
by accident next in line out of the ordinary
by the way under control
under the circumstances

© ice-training 11/2021 ver. 1 4