Parts of Speech
Prepositions
Preposition
A preposition shows the relationship of the noun or pronoun
following it to some other word in the sentence.
The dog with the yellow collar trotted merrily
down the street.
With is the preposition, collar
is the object of the preposition, and with the yellow collar
is the complete prepositional phrase.
Down is the preposition, street
is the object of the preposition, and down the street is
the complete prepositional phrase.
Prepositional phrase
A prepositional phrase consists of the preposition, its
object, and any modifiers between these two words.
To determine the prepositional phrase, take the preposition and ask whom? or what? after it.
For example, take the preposition with and ask with whom? or with what? and you get the answer collar in the above sentence. Therefore, collar is the object of the preposition.
All the other words between the preposition and its object are the modifiers.
The prepositional phrase consists of the preposition (with) + modifiers (the yellow) + its object (collar). Therefore, the
entire prepositional phrase is with the yellow collar.
Prepositional phrases are used as adjectives modifying nouns or pronouns, or as
adverbs modifying verbs, usually.
The prepositional phrase with the yellow collar identifies
which dog trotted merrily down the road, so it is used
as an adjective and modifies the noun dog.
The other prepositional phrase is down the street. Since
it tells us where the dog trotted, it is used as an adverb
and modifies the verb trotted.
List of Common Prepositions
|
aboard
|
about
|
above |
across
|
after
| against |
| along | amid | among | around | at | before |
| behind | below | beneath | beside | besides | between |
| beyond | but (except) | by | concerning | considering | despite |
| down | during | except | excluding | following | for |
| from | in | inside | into | like | minus |
| near | of | off | on | onto | opposite |
| out | outside | over | past | per | plus |
| regarding | round | since | through | throughout | till |
| to | toward | towards | under | underneath | unlike |
| until | up | upon | with | within | without |
Compound preposition
A compound preposition consists of more than one word,
but it acts in the same way as a single preposition. Some examples are according to,
because of, by means of, in spite
of, instead of, and on account of.
-
The fundraiser by the Lion's Club
on Thursday night was a great success
by all standards.
-
The organizers raised a thousand dollars by
selling tickets for $10 each
on a door key.
-
The owner of the winning key won a dinner
for eight guests; the meal will be prepared
in his home by the
chefs at CONA.
-
Instead of the lobster dinner that was
planned, the chefs served steaks because of
the scarcity of lobsters
at this time of the year.
-
In spite of that, everyone had a great time
at the auction, at
the dinner, and at the casino night.
