What is a Preposition?

preposition (noun): a part-of-speech usually coming BEFORE a noun

phrase and connecting it to another part of the sentence

A preposition is one of the nine parts of speech.

The name preposition (pre + position) means "place BEFORE".

A preposition typically comes BEFORE another word—usually a noun
phrase. It tells us about the relationship between the noun phrase and
another part of the sentence. Some very common prepositions are: in,
of, on, for, with, at, by

Look at these example sentences:

 The book is on the round table. (relationship in space)

 We will meet in November. (relationship in time)
 I sent the information by email. (relationship of method)

Several other relationships are expressed by prepositions. In addition,

more metaphorical ideas can be expressed such as: in love, beyond
doubt, under investigation

If a preposition does not come BEFORE another word, it is still closely

linked to another word:

 Who did you talk to?

 To whom did you talk?
 I talked to Jane.

Form
Prepositions have no particular form. The majority of prepositions are
single words, but some are two- or three-word phrases:

 one-word prepositions (before, into, on)

 complex prepositions (according to, but for, in spite of)
Preposition List
There are about 150 prepositions in English. Yet this is a very small
number when you think of the thousands of other words (nouns, verbs
etc). Prepositions are important words. We use individual prepositions
more frequently than other individual words. In fact, the
prepositions of, to and in are among the ten most frequent words in
English. Here is a short list of 70 of the more common one-word
prepositions. Many of these prepositions have more than one meaning.
Please refer to a dictionary for precise meaning and usage. You can also
see the long preposition list with example sentences here.

 aboard
 about
 above
 across
 after
 against
 along
 amid
 among
 anti
 around
 as
 at
 before
 behind
 below
 beneath
 beside
 besides
 between
 beyond
 but
 by
 concerning
 considering
 despite
 down
 during
 except
 excepting
 excluding
 following
 for
 from
 in
 inside
 into
 like
 minus
 near
 of
 off
 on
 onto
 opposite
 outside
 over
 past
 per
 plus
 regarding
 round
 save
 since
 than
 through
 to
  toward
 towards
 under
 underneath
 unlike
 until
 up
 upon
 versus
 via
 with
 within
 without

Preposition Rule
There is one very simple rule about prepositions. And, unlike most rules,
this rule has no exceptions.

Rule: A preposition is followed by a "noun". It is never followed by a

verb.

By "noun" we include:

 noun (dog, money, love)

 proper noun (name) (Bangkok, Mary)
 pronoun (you, him, us)
 noun group (my first job)
 gerund (swimming)

A preposition cannot be followed by a verb. If we want to follow a

preposition by a verb, we must use the "-ing" form which is really a
gerund or verb in noun form.

Here are some examples:

subject + verb prepositio "noun" note
n

The food is on the table. noun

She lives in Japan. proper noun

Tara is looking for you. pronoun

The letter is under your blue book. noun group

Pascal is used to English people.

She isn't used to working. gerund

I ate before coming.