Notes on Prepositions
Preposition is a word that shows relationship between a nominal (noun or pronoun) and another word in the sentence.
Most common prepositions: of, in, on, at, for, with, by.
- Etymology: pre (before) + pos (put)
Think of a preposition as the word that is positioned before (put before) a noun or pronoun.
Prepositions begin prepositional phrases.
Prepositional phrase is a group of words that is a unit and together this phrase functions as an adjective or an adverb.
1. There are only roughly 50 prepositions, so you can feasibly memorize them. You must memorize the most common of, in, on, at, for, with, by, & to.
2. You can replace a preposition with another preposition and it should still sound correct, even if the meaning is wrong.
The squirrel is around the tree.
I can replace the word around with on, and I get: The squirrel is on the tree. Although the meaning has changed quite a bit, the sentence still sounds fine to my ears.
3. Use the following sentence as your test:
The squirrel goes _______________ the trees.
Almost any word that sounds right in that blank will be a preposition.
4. Prepositions have objects.
Remember that prepositions always begin prepositional phrases. Prepositions are the first part of a group of words that work together.
In the sentence above (“The squirrel goes around the trees”), trees is the object of the preposition around. I know around is a preposition because it starts this phrase, or group of words that work as a unit.
1. I jumped up.
2. I jumped up the tree.
In #1 the word up is an adverb. But in #2, the word up is a preposition. The difference is that #2 has an object. Up is the first part of the phrase up the tree.
Take the following words and put them in the blank in the squirrel sentence above and see if they sound right. The following list is not every preposition.
aboard, about, above, across, after, against, along, alongside, among, around, as, aside, at, before, behind, below, beneath, beside, between, beyond, by, down, for, from, in, inside, into, near, next to, of, off, on, onto, out, outside, over, past, than, to, toward, under, up, with, within, without
Examples of Identifying Prepositions
I felt lost without my books.
The squirrel goes without the trees. The sentence is weird, but it sounds right. What happens if I change the word without with a word I am positive is a preposition—on? I felt lost on my books. Again, the sentence doesn’t make much sense, but it sounds right. In this sentence, without functions as a preposition.
She fell off the ladder.
The squirrel goes off the tree. Sounds right! She fell on the ladder. I replace off with on, and the sentence still sounds right. Off is the beginning of a prepositional phrase with the object ladder. In this sentence, off functions as a preposition.