What is a Preposition

What is a Preposition

Words in English grammar are classified on the basis of their functions. This classification is called parts of speech. A preposition is one of the classes of words or parts of speech.

Definition of Preposition

A preposition is defined as a word or more words that show a relationship between a noun or pronoun and other words in a sentence.

Prepositions are connector words because they are used to connect or link nouns to ideas.

• I have put the book on the table.

The word ‘on’ in this example is a preposition. It shows the relationship between the book and the table.

Linguistic Facts about Prepositions

1. Prepositions are a closed class of words. There is a fixed set of prepositions. We can’t add a new preposition to the language.
2. Prepositions are fixed words and they don’t change their forms.
3. The uses of prepositions are different. One can be easily confused about prepositions.
4. Some prepositions can be used as nouns, adjectives, and adverbs.
5. A preposition can consist of one word or more words. A preposition with more than one word is called a phrasal preposition.                                                                                                                                                         
                   

Types of Prepositions (With Relation to Complement)

Differentiating prepositions helps us to understand using of prepositions properly. Complement is a word that follows a preposition. The relationship of a complement to the preposition determines the types of prepositions.

Transitive Prepositions

Transitive prepositions are those that always have their complements.

• He feels bored among the people.
• I and Ali will go to school tomorrow.

The preposition ‘among’ has its complement. We can’t write it without its complement. Traditional grammarians believe that transitive prepositions are true prepositions.

Intransitive Prepositions

A preposition that doesn’t need a complement and gives a complete thought is called an intransitive preposition.

• We live outside.

Outside is a preposition that is not followed by a complement. It does not need a complement, but you can add it. Traditional grammarians consider intransitive prepositions as adverbs.

Conjunctive Prepositions

There are some prepositions that can be followed by clauses as well as noun phrases as their complements. A preposition that is followed by a clause functioning as a conjunction is called a conjunctive preposition.

• I will call him after I study math. (Conjunction)
• After studying math, I will call him. (Preposition)

Simple Prepositions

A simple preposition is one that is made up of a single word. Simple prepositions include words like at, by, for, since, than, with, etc.

• I know that he is at home.
• I know that she is married to her cousin.

Complex Prepositions

A preposition that is made up of more than one word is called a complex preposition. It is also called a compound preposition. "On behalf of" is an example of a complex preposition.

• I saw him there on the top of the hill.
• There was a crowd in front of the press club.

Phrase Prepositions

A phrase preposition is also called a prepositional phrase. A prepositional phrase is a group of words with a preposition at the head and followed by an object or a complement. They add more to the meaning of a noun or verb. They are at home, with me, by all means, to the best of, etc.

• She left her clothes on the bed.
• They achieve their goals by all means.

Participle Prepositions

When we use participles as prepositions, we call them participle prepositions or deverbal prepositions. These prepositions include according, allowing, barring, concerning, excepting, excluding, considering, during, including, regarding, touching, wanting, given, gone, granted, etc.

• Every detail regarding the case was true.
• According to my view, he will not come tomorrow.

Other Types

Prepositions of Time

These are used to show the relationship between nouns and other words based on time. Common prepositions are on, at, from, to, for, since, ago, before, until, by, till, past, etc.

• We go to our office at 8:00 AM.
• We have completed our work since morning.
• They checked all of their tests five days ago.

Prepositions of Place

These prepositions are used to show the relationship of place between nouns and other words. Prepositions of place are on, at, in, towards, up, down, across, between, among, through, in front of, behind, above, over, under, below, etc.

• She is in the hospital.
• We stood under the tree.
• They walked into the tunnel.

Prepositions of Movement

We usually use prepositions of movement with verbs of motion. We use them to show movement from one place to another. The prepositions of movement are across, around, away from, down, from, into, off, onto, out of, over, past, to, toward, under, up, etc.

• They returned to New York.
• I took all the papers off her desk.
• Ali and I flew from Islamabad to New York.

List of Common Prepositions

Aboard	About	Above
Across	After	Against
Along	Amid	Among
Anti	Around	As
At	Ahead of	Apart from
As for	As well as
Before	Behind	Below
Beneath	Beside	Besides
Between	Beyond	But
By	Because of
Concerning	Considering
Despite	Down	During
Except	Excepting	Excluding
Following	For	From
In	Inside	Into
In front of	In spite of	Instead of
In place of	Inside of
Like	Minus	Near
Near of
Of	Off	On
Onto	Opposite	Outside
Over	On account of	On top of
Out of	Outside of
Past	Per	Plus
Regarding	Round
Save	Since	Such as
Than	Through	Thanks to
To	Toward	Towards
Under	Underneath	Unlike
Until	Up	Upon
Up to
Versus	Via
With	Within	Without
With regard to	With respect to
According (to)	Allowing (for)	Barring
Concerning	Counting	Excepting
Excluding	Failing	Following
Given	Gone	Granted
Including	Owing (to)	Pertaining (to)
Regarding	Respecting	Saving
Touching	Wanting

Key Points

Preposition at the End of Sentence

It was a rule that a sentence couldn’t be ended with a preposition, but it was ignored by some writers later. According to the Dictionary of Modern English Usage, it is the flexibility of the English language that makes you free to use a preposition at the end or omit its relatives. Consequently, you can ignore this rule and end a sentence with a preposition if you want to.

Prepositions Used as Adverbs

There are some prepositions that also belong to the word class of adverbs.

• There are more people waiting for the president outside the parliament. (Preposition)
• They wait for you outside.

Preposition Stranding

According to traditional rules, we can’t use a preposition at the end of a sentence. However, sometimes it can be separated from the word that follows it or its complement. We call this preposition stranding, but it is an informal style.

• In which room are they sleeping? (Formal)
• Which room are they sleeping in? (Informal)