GRAMMAR I

INTRODUCTION TO PREPOSITIONS

In the most general terms, a preposition is a function word that expresses a relation between
two entities, one being that represented by the prepositional complement. Of the various types of
relational meaning, those of place and time are the most prominent and easy to identify. Other
relationships such as instrument and cause may also be recognized but it is more difficult to
describe prepositional meanings systematically in terms of such labels.

A prepositional phrase consists of a preposition followed by a prepositional complement

which is characteristically a noun phrase, or a wh- clause or V-ing clause.

preposition prepositional complement

at the bus stop
from what he said
by signing a peace treaty

That clauses and infinitive clauses, although they frequently have a nominal function in
other respects, do not occur as prepositional complements. Alternations between the presence and
absence of a preposition are observed in cases like:

her remark
He was surprised at her saying this.
what she said.

He was surprised that she said this.

Other verbs and adjectives which can have either prepositional complements or that clauses
are: decide (on), inform (of), insist (on), afraid (of), aware (of), sorry (about), sure (of).

Most of the common English prepositions, such as at, in, and for are simple, they consist of
only one word. Other prepositions are complex because they consist of more than one word.
There are several categories of complex prepositions:

Adverb or prep. + prep. : along with, as for, away from, out of, up to, etc.
Verb / adjective / conjunctions / etc. + prep.: owing to, due to, because of, etc.
Prep. + noun + prep.: by means of, in comparison with, in front of, on top of, etc.

PREPOSITIONAL MEANINGS:

PLACE:

Dimension: when we use a preposition to indicate place, we do so in relation to the

dimensional properties, whether subjectively or objectively conceived, of the location concerned.
Consider the following:

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 My car is at the cottage.
There is a new roof on the cottage.
There are two beds in the cottage.

The use of at makes the cottage a dimensionless location, a mere point in relation to which
the car’s position can be indicated. With on the cottage becomes a two-dimensional area, covered
by a roof. With in the cottage becomes a three-dimensional (height, width, depth) object which in
reality it is.

Positive position and direction: at, to, etc.: between the notions of simple position (or
static location) and direction (movement with respect to destination) a cause-and-effect relationship
obtains:

Direction Position
Tom went to the door as a result: Tom was at the door
Tom fell on(to) the floor as a result. Tom was on the floor
Tom dived in(to) the water as a result: Tom was in the water.

A prepositional phrase of ‘position’ can accompany any verb, although the meaning of
‘direction’ generally, but not always, requires a dynamic verb like go, move, fly, etc.

The contrast between on (surface) and in (area) has various implications according to
context.

The frost made patterns on the window. (glass surface)

A face appeared in the window. (framed area)

Robinson Crusoe was marooned on a desert island. (surface)

He was born in Long Island. (institutional identity)

In is generally used for continents, countries, provinces, large cities, sizeable territories of
any kind. For towns, villages, etc. either at or in is acceptable.
With buildings, both at or in can be used, the difference is that at refers to the building in its
institutional or functional aspect, whereas in refers to it as a three-dimensional structure.
She is at school. They are at church.
She is in school. They are in church.

There is a parallel cause and effect relation with negative prepositions away from, off, out
of, etc.

Direction Position
Tom went away from the door as a result: Tom was not at the door
Tom fell off the wall. as a result. Tom was not on the wall.
Tom walked out of the room. as a result: Tom was not in the room

Relative position: by, over, under, etc. apart from simple position, prepositions may
express relative position of two objects or groups of objects:

He was standing by the fountain. (at the side of)

I left my keys with my wallet. (in the same place)

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 The prepositions : above, over, on top of, under, beneath, below, before, in front of, behind,
after all express relative position whether vertically or horizontally. The antonyms are not positive
and negative but opposites.

The picture is above the mantelpiece.
Michael is in front of John.
The keys are under the book.
The castle stands on a hill above the valley.
The doctor was bending over the patient.
The mantelpiece is below the picture.
John is behind Michael.
The desk is beneath the lamp.
(indicates on a higher level)
(indicates a spatial proximity)

By, over and under, etc (generally not above and below) can sometimes indicate relative
destination.

It started to rain so we dashed under the roof.

We ran behind the car but couldn’t stop it.
He walked by the lake.

Passage: by, over, under, etc. with verbs of motion, these prepositions express an idea of
passage.

The ball rolled under the table.

We jumped over the ditch.
They ran behind the house and got away.

Passage: across, through, past. These prepositions depend largely on context to know
what kind of movement they indicate.

The ball rolled through the grass. (the grass is long)

The ball rolled across the grass. (the grass is short)
The ball rolled past the goal post. (by the side of)

Direction: up, down, along, etc. the prepositions up, down, along, across, (a)round with
verbs of motion express movement with reference to an axis or directional path, either vertical or
horizontal. (Up and down are used with a horizontal idiomatic meaning).

We ran up the hill. They ran (a)round the corner.

The old man walked across the road. We walked along the High Street.
He ran up and down the platform not knowing what to do.

Orientation: beyond, over, past, etc. most prepositions that are used to indicate relative
position can be used in a static sense of orientation, apart from the two things spatially related we
have a third which is the position of the speaker.

He lives across the moors.

She lives in the village through the woods.
In the shop down the road you’ll find stamps.
She lives across from us.
Up the stairs they have a small office.

These prepositions can also be used with a resultative meaning:

The dog managed to get over the gate and ran away.
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 We were able to get across the river even though it was running wild.

The prepositions all over, all through and throughout have a pervasive meaning.

The children were running all over the garden.

TIME:

Time when: at, on, in: these prepositions of time ‘when’ are in some extent parallel to the
same items as positive prepositions of position although in tome sphere there are only two
dimensions ‘point in time’ and ‘period of time’.
At is used for points in time, chiefly clock time i.e. at ten o’clock, at half past six, at noon, at
midnight. And also idiomatically for holiday periods i.e. at Christmas, at weekends, at Easter and
for phrases i.e. at that time, at night.
On is used with phrases referring to days i.e. on Monday, on May (the) first, on the following
day.
In also indicates periods of time and sometimes during i.e. in the evening / morning, in
August, in summer, in the eighteenth century, during Holy Week.

Duration: for, throughout, over, all through, over and from … to: duration is expressed
by for, and also in idiomatic expressions like for ever and for good. Over, all through and
throughout also have a durational and pervasive meaning parallel to their pervasive meaning in
place, over is used in the same way but generally refers to a shorter period. From …to or from
…through (Am. English) is less ambiguous than the first and includes the second period mentioned.

We camped by the lake for the summer.

We camped by the lake throughout the summer.
I stayed there over Holy Week.
She stayed at my place over the weekend.
James worked there from January to April.
James worked there from January through April.

The preposition for is often omitted in phrases of duration:

He stayed (for) three weeks.

The bad weather lasted (for) the whole time we were there.
(For) a lot of time I never saw him.

Before, after, since, until / till: as prepositions these occur almost exclusively as
prepositions of time and are followed by either (a) a temporal noun phrase: before next week,
before the weekend, (b) a subjectless V-ing clause: since leaving school, before getting married or
(c) another noun phrase: until the fall of Rome, before the war.
Until specifies a terminal point with positive and a commencement point with negative
predications:

We slept until midnight. = We stopped sleeping then.

We didn’t sleep until midnight. = We started sleeping then.

Between, by and up to: these are also prepositions of time. By specifies a commencement
point.

I’ll phone between lunchtime and four o’clock.

Up to last week I hadn’t received a reply
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By that time he was exhausted. = He was then exhausted.
Until that time he was exhausted. = He was then no longer exhausted.

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