PREPOSITIONS

What is Proposition?

A preposition is a word placed before a noun or pronoun to show the relation between the noun or pronoun and some other word in a sentence.

• Swim in the river.
• Go by bus.
• Walk to school.

Prepositions are so called because they are ‘proposed, i.e., they are put before nouns or noun phrases:

•  Flowers grow in gardens.
• The lion passed through a thick forest.

 Note: See how ‘in’ is put before the noun ‘garden’ and ‘through’ before the noun phrase ‘a thick forest’.

EXCEPTIONS

(1)   The proposition is placed at the end of a sentence

(a) When the object of a preposition is the Relative pronoun that (The relative pronoun could  be omitted.)

• This is the book (that) I was searching for.

(b)When the object of a preposition is an interrogative pronoun:

• What are you looking at?
• Who (m) are you talking about?

(2)  The proposition may be placed sometimes at the beginning of a sentence:

• About whom are you talking?
• In which box did you keep my money?

KINDS OF PREPOSITIONS

Prepositions are of five different kinds:

(i) Simple Prepositions: In, of, by, up, to, off, with, at, for, etc.

(ii) Compound Prepositions: Without, within, into, outside. inside, behind, besides, beneath, below, across, between, etc.

(iii) Double Prepositions: Outside of, out of,  from out, from behind, from beneath.

(iv) Participle Prepositions: Notwithstanding, concerning, pending, considering, they are participles of verbs used as prepositions.

(v) Phrase Prepositions: By means of, because of, On account Of, in opposition to, with regard to, for the sake of, instead of, on behalf of, With a view to, in the event of etc.

 Note- There are several words which can be used as prepositions as well as adverbs. If the word used as a Preposition will have a noun or pronoun as its object.

(Adverb modifies the verb, adjective or another adverb.)

Proposition                                        Adverb

The tiger is in the cage.                      Please come in.

They stood before me.                        He came here before.

Keep the book on the table.                Let us move on.

He will come after a week.                He arrived soon after.

KINDS OF RELATIONS INDICATED BY PREPOSITIONS

The common types of relations indicated by the prepositions are that of Place, Time, Manner Cause, Reason, Purpose, Instrumentality, Possession, Measure, Contrast, Inference, etc.

PREPOSITIONS  OF TIME AND DATE 

(at, on, In, to, till/ until, by, for, during, since, from, before, after, within, then, afterwards, between)

At: At is used for point of time, chiefly clock time.

• (At 5 o’clock. at 3:15 p.m, at noon, at midnight)

for holiday periods

• (at Christmas, at the weekend)

and for time phrases

• (at night, at that time, at an early date).

On, in: On is used for days and dates

• (on Sunday, on the second of October or on October the second)

it is used with the names of months and years or with morning, afternoon, evening,

• (In the morning/evening, in January, in the twentieth  century)

For, from………. to during They express is duration:

• I stated in Delhi for two months. (all through)
• I stayed there from February to/till March.
• The moon shines during the night.

Before, after, since, until/till : These are used with point of time :

• This happened before/after 1975.
• I have been writing since morning.
• We waited till/until midnight, (‘We didn’t wait after that time .)

BETWEEN, BY, UP  TO

• He will be arriving at any time between 4 and 6 o’clock.
• By that time we were fully exhausted.
• Up to last week, he was not here

SOME, OTHER TIME PREPOSITIONS

He waited through the night, five minutes to ten, towards evening, behind time, by 7 o’ clock.

PREPOSITIONS OF PLACE

 at, in, on, to

• He will meet you at the station.
• The Kangaroo is found in Australia.
• He had been bitten on the head.

 ‘At’ is used for small places while ‘in’ is used for countries, large places.

• I live at Sai Apartment
• I live in Delhi

 ‘On’ for a place of work.

• On the shop. on the railway station, etc.

To- To show  a direction

• I walk to the temple.

In: For things at rest.

• He is in the room.
• The water is in the pot.

into: It is used to show movement towards the inside of anything.

• The snake crawled into its hole.
• He translated the Gita into English.

PREPOSITIONS OF TRAVEL AND MOVEMENT

• Travel on foot/bicycle/motorbike/horse back 
• Travel by train/bus/aeroplane/car/air/sea/ship/ boat
• Travel from one place to another
• Arrive at (specific address)
• Get in/into a vehicle
• Get on/onto a bicycle/bullock-cart/horse carriage.

USE OF CERTAIN PREPOSITIONS 

Between and Among:

 ‘Between’ is used for two persons or things and ‘among’ is used for more than two:

• Divide this property between two brothers.
• Distribute these sweets among students.

 Beside and Besides:

 ‘Beside’  is used to show near position and ‘Besides’ means in addition to.

• The house stood beside the hill.
• Besides being fined the boy was turned out.

By and With:

‘By’  is used with the agent or doer of the action while ‘with’ is used before the instrument of the action :

• The dog was killed by the robbers with a rod.
• He always writes with a gel pen.

On and Upon:

‘On’ is used in speaking of things at rest and ‘upon’ of things in motion:

• He sat on a chair.
• The dog sprang upon the eat.

But and Than:

• ‘But’ means ‘except’.
• Everything was available but sugar.
• I can’t accept less than fifty rupees for it.

 Within and In :

‘In’ is used to show the end of a period of time while ‘within’ is used to indicate the completion an of work before the end of a period of time.

• I shall finish my work in a month. (at the close of )
•  She will recover within a week. (before a week is over )

 Alter and Afterwards:

‘After’ is a preposition and afterwards is an adverb.

Under and Underneath:

‘Underneath’ is used with  things only

• He travelled under the name of Colonel Verma.
• Keep this paper underneath the mattress.

EXERCISES:-

Preposition Exercises-1, 2, 3 &  4