Prepositions

What is a Preposition?

A preposition is a word which usually precedes a noun, a pronoun or a gerund. The word which follows the preposition is called the object of the preposition. It expresses the relationship between its object and another word or idea in the sentence.

Types of Prepositions

There are five basic types of prepositions:

Simple prepositions
Compound prepositions
Double prepositions
Participial prepositions
Phrase prepositions

Simple Prepositions

One-word prepositions are known as simple prepositions.

in	on	by	to	off	till	through	of
up	out	with	from	for	down	under	over

The girl in the blue dress is smiling at me. There is a package for you from Australia.

I want to go through the papers one last time.

Compound Prepositions

Prepositions formed out of prefixing ‘a-’ or ‘be-’ with a noun or an adjective are known as compound prepositions.

along	between	beneath	across	about	beside	before	amidst
above	within	without	below	around	underneath	against	among

Manish wants his family to go along with him. Place the bolster between the two cushions. You should consume two pills after meals.

Double Prepositions

Pairs of prepositions conveying the same idea are known as double prepositions.

away from	along with	apart from	from behind	up to
down on	up on	from inside	in to	outside of

You have indeed lived up to your reputation. The child was lured away from its parents.

The seer had asked for nothing apart from some water.

Participial Prepositions

When verbs ending in –ing or –ed/–en function as prepositions, they are called participial prepositions.

considering

notwithstanding

assuming

given

following

Considering that he has an immaculate track record, we should give him another chance.

Assuming that the movie has not begun, we would miss the first 30 minutes even if we were to leave now. Notwithstanding her initial dislike towards her husband, Shanti now dotes on him.

Phrase Prepositions

Phrase prepositions are formed when a group of words come together to function as a single unit. There prepositions usually have the Preposition + Noun + Preposition structure.

Preposition	Noun	Preposition	Phrase Preposition
in	accordance	with	in accordance with
by	the virtue	of	by the virtue of
in	regard	to	in regard to
in	front	of	in front of

The rituals were performed in accordance with the traditions. For the sake of argument, what if you are wrong?

The match was postponed owing to the bad weather.

Functions of Prepositions

Prepositions Indicating Place

Some prepositions indicate the spatial (related to space) relationship between the words in the sentence.

on	around	in	at	atop	amidst	inside
by	through	outside	above	under	after	down

There are strange men standing at the door. A scar could be seen above his left brow.

Is there an honest man amidst these liars?

Prepositions Indicating Time

Some prepositions indicate the temporal (related to time) relationship between the words in a sentence.

from

until

during

for

since

till

They wed on the 23^rd of December.

The boys sneaked out of the theatre during the interval.

The company has relied on the support of its investors since its inception.

Prepositions Indicating Destination

Some prepositions are used to indicate the direction of the nouns’ movement.

towards

into

for

since

till

The ship sailed towards the east.

The assailant took a shot at the Mayor. The thieves made for the exit.

Prepositions Indicating Origin

Prepositions are used to indicate origin or source of an action or movement of the nouns.

Tiny saplings sprouted out of the wet earth. Naresh’s uncle has come from Ajmer.

Prepositions Indicating Motion

Some prepositions can be used to indicate the movement of the nouns in the sentence.

across

along

out of

away

past

through

into

The kitten sprinted across the room.

The secret was kept away from his own family.

This morning, my neighbour ran past my house screaming in fear.

Prepositions Indicating Purpose

Prepositions can be used to indicate the utility or purpose of the subject of the sentence.

Canoes were provided for transportation. Dhruv had to buy books for school.

Prepositions Indicating Agent

Some prepositions indicate that something is responsible for an action done on the subject. The action is always expressed in the passive voice.

The refugees arrived at the new coast by sea. The bride’s face is decorated with religious motifs. Farida’s car was vandalised by hooligans.

Prepositions Indicating Contrast or Concession

Some prepositions are used to express contrast between two ideas in a sentence.

for

notwithstanding

with

for

despite

with

For a few exceptions, the little town is mostly crime-free. Notwithstanding her claims, she did have a criminal background. Despite all his wealth, he was far from content.

Prepositions Indicating Measure

Prepositions can be used to indicate measurement.

for

Cloth is sold by the metre.

Philip shut his eyes for thirty seconds. They completed the lap in two minutes.

Prepositions Indicating Possession

These prepositions are used to establish possession of a noun by the other.

The coat belongs to the gentleman wearing the top hat. It is the decision of the council.

The food was cooked in the honour of the guests.

General Rules for Prepositions

A preposition is always followed by a noun, a pronoun or a gerund.

in the sky

of them

by speaking

Although it is preferable not to end a sentence with a preposition, exceptions are possible if the sentence features a relative pronoun.

The sentence can end in a preposition if it is in the interrogative form.

In some cases, prepositions are left without an object. They are known as stranded prepositions.

A preposition is never followed by a verb.

Common Errors with Prepositions

Difference between ‘for’ and ‘since’

The preposition ‘for’ indicates duration.
The preposition ‘since’ indicates the beginning of a duration.

Difference between ‘among’ and ‘between’

The preposition ‘among’ is used to refer to more than two things.
The preposition ‘between’ is used to refer to two things.

Collocations

Adjectives

Adjectives such as ‘inferior’, ‘superior’, ‘junior’, ‘senior’, ‘prior’, ‘anterior’ and ‘posterior’ are followed by ‘to’.
The adjective ‘preferable’ is also followed by the preposition ‘to’.
The adjective ‘different’ is followed by the preposition ‘from’ or ‘to’.
‘Nice’, ‘kind’, ‘silly’, ‘clever’, ‘sensible’, ‘intelligent’, ‘generous’, ‘rude’, ‘thoughtful’, ‘good’ and ‘reasonable’ are followed by the preposition ‘of’.
‘Nice’, ‘kind’, ‘polite’ and ‘rude’ are followed by the preposition ‘to’.
‘Happy’, ‘pleased’, ‘satisfied’ ‘disappointed’, ‘bored’, ‘fed up’ and ‘content’ are followed by the preposition ‘with’.
‘Excited’, ‘worried’, ‘sad’ and ‘anxious’ are followed by ‘about’.
‘Sorry about’ doing something; ‘Sorry for’ something.
‘Full’, ‘short’ and ‘fond’ are followed by ‘of’.

Nouns

‘Access’, ‘alternative’, ‘exception’, ‘reaction’, ‘confession’, ‘threat’ and ‘solution’ are all followed by ‘to’.
‘Advantage’, ‘characteristic’, ‘difference’, ‘intention’, ‘notice’, ‘opinion’, ‘result’, ‘smell’, ‘use’, ‘taste’, ‘sound’ and ‘feel’ are all followed by the preposition ‘of’.
‘Love’, ‘hate’, ‘preference’, ‘need’, ‘reputation’, ‘talent’, ‘eye’ and ‘credit’ are all followed by the preposition ‘for’.

Verbs

‘Accuse’, ‘approve’, ‘dream’, ‘rid’ and ‘remind’ are followed by ‘of’.
‘Add’, ‘apologise’, ‘belong’, ‘complain’, ‘consent’, ‘explain’, ‘happen’, ‘introduce’, ‘invite’, ‘prefer’, ‘respond’ and ‘speak’ are followed by ‘to’.
‘Ask’, ‘blame’, ‘excuse’, ‘forgive’, ‘keep’, ‘pay’, ‘pray’, ‘search’, ‘vote’, ‘vouch’ and ‘work’ are followed by ‘for’.
‘Agree’, ‘comment’, ‘concentrate’, ‘depend’ and ‘insist’ are followed by ‘on’.