1.5.5: Prepositions

Prepositions

The following is a list of the prepositions in English.  Prepositions are the words in English that show place, time, ownership, means, and method.  They are also often attached to verbs and adjectives to change the meaning of the verbs and adjectives.  They are usually easy to spell and very very easy to make mistakes with.  Prepositions are important because they can change the meaning of a sentence very much.  For example, look at the following sentences and notice how the propositions completely change the meaning of the sentences.

The man looked at his book.
The man looked for his book.

I wrote a letter to my mother.
I wrote a letter for my mother.

The boy took the pencil to the student.
The boy took the pencil from the student.

I put the picture above the table.
I put the picture below the table.

Prepositions are followed by a noun, a pronoun, or the ING form of the verb (gerunds).  What follows the preposition is called the object of the proposition.  In the following sentences, notice the preposition and its object.  These are called prepositional phrases.

The man went into the bank.

The boy is sitting in his chair with his legs beneath the desk.

You are interested in learning English in this class every day.

The boy is running across the street near his friend’s house.

The sofa is against the white wall in the living room.

The helicopter flies from Seattle to Tacoma on business every day.

Prepositions and Phrasal Prepositions

 

aboard                 about                       above                  according to       

across                  after                        against                 ahead of

along                   among                     around                 as                 

at                        away from                before                  behind  

below                  beneath                    beside                  besides        

between              beyond                     by                        close to              

despite                down                       during                   except

except for            far from                   for                        from            

in                        in addition to           in back of              in favor of                        

in front of            inside                      in spite of              instead of           

into                    like                          near                      next to

of                       off                           on                        on top of            

out                     over                        past                      since                   

through               throughout              till                        to                 

toward(s)             under                     underneath           until                    

up                       upon                      with                      within          

without

Please note that time words are not prepositional phrases.  Words such as every day, now, today, last night, yesterday, last year, every morning, sometimes, etc. are not prepositions or prepositional phrases.

Note:  Be very careful with the word “to.”  To can be a preposition when it is followed by some form of a noun.  However, when “to” is followed by the base form of a verb, it is an infinitive marker (a verb).

Examples:

The boys are walking to their school.

My sister drove her grandchildren to their mother’s house in her car on Sunday evening.

1.  The boys put their clothes in the closet.

2.  We went to the movie with our friends after school.

3.  The carpenter is fixing the roof on my house.

4.  The boys rowed their boat across the river near their friend’s house.

5.  We spoke to the children at school about crossing the street.

6.  My neighbor planted some flowers next to my garden in front of my house.

7.  During the snow storm, the children slid down the hill in back of their house.

8.  Pat and Bob sit behind Tom in the classroom in school.

9.  My sister smoked her cigarette outside her house after dinner.

10.  I sometimes work in my garden without a shirt.

11.  The girl put her new clothes upon the shelves in her bedroom.

12.  I swam in the lake during the day during the summer with my sons.

13.  I waited for the girl in my office for two hours.

14.  The boy walked toward the dangerous dog inside his neighbor’s yard.

15.  In spite of the danger, the young boy drove his car fast on the freeway on a rainy night.

16.  The man’s new car is in his garage next to his house.

17.  The man put his shoes underneath his bed in his bedroom.

18.  According to the boy’s father, the boy was aboard the bus this morning.

19.  The story was written by a famous man in Seattle in 1922.

20.  People kept walking through my yard throughout the night.