Department of English and Linguistics

Sprachpraxis: Integrated Language Skills

Jonathan Westwood, M.A.

I LS W eek 11
Prepositions, Gerunds andPrepositions,
Infinitives G erunds / Infinitives

prepositions have several functions and these may correspond to several different prepositions in
another language. At the same time, different prepositions can have very similar uses (in the
morning, on Monday morning, at night). Many nouns, verbs and adjectives are normally used
with particular prepositions (reason for, arrive at, angry with etc). Often the correct preposition
cannot be guessed and the expression has to be learned as a whole. In some expressions English
has no prepositions where one may be used in another language; in other expressions the
opposite is true.

Prepositions and adverb participles

There a up, down, and by which we call prepositions

but we can use them as prepositions or adverb participles.

A p reposition must have an object (a noun or pronoun), so it is always related to a noun:

across the road, over the wall, up the hill, down the mountain.

An adverb participle does not need an object, so it is more closely related to a verb:
walk across, drive over, come up, climb down

We can use the following words either as prepositions or adverb participles:

about, above, across, after, along, before, behind, below, beneath, between, beyond, by, down,
in, inside, near, off, opposite, outside, over, past, round, though, under, underneath, up, without.

e.g. We drove round the city. ( round has a noun object, so i

We drove round. ( round

only as prepositions, so they always have a noun or pronoun object:

against, among, at, beside, during, except, for, from, into, of, onto, on top of, out of.

e.g. Sit beside me. ( sit beside.)

We use other small words only as adverb participles, so they do not have an object:
away, back, backward(s), downward(s), forward(s), on top, out, upward(s)

Some common prepositions

Prepositions of time
Preposition Usage E xample

on days of the week on Monday

in months / seasons in August / in winter

time of day in the morning
year in 2006
after a certain period of time in an hour

* These notes draw from the collaborative work of a number of Sprachpraxis teachers past and present, including: Tommy Allan, Micha Gerrit, Claudia
Görg, Jonathan McBride, Geoffrey Miller, Timo Pfaff and Lorna Syme. Further source information can be found on your recommended reading list.

Department of English and Linguistics · Jakob-Welder-Weg 18 · 55099 Mainz

 (when?)
at for night at night
for weekend at the weekend
a certain point of time at half past nine
(when?)
since from a certain point of time since 1980
(past till now)

for over a certain period of time for 2 years

(past till now)

ago a certain time in the past 2 years ago

before earlier than a certain point of before 2004

time

to telling the time ten to six (5:50)

past telling the time ten past six (6:10)

to / till / marking the beginning and from Monday to/till Friday

until end of a period of time
til

till / in the sense of how long He is on holiday until

until something is going to last Friday.

by in the sense of at the latest

up to a certain time By 11 o'clock, I had read
five pages.

Prepositions of Place (Position and Direction)

Preposition Usage E xample

in room, building, street, town, in the kitchen, in

country London
book, paper etc. in the book
car, taxi in the car, in a taxi
picture, world in the picture, in the
world

at meaning next to, by an object at the door, at the

for table station
for events at the table
place where you are to do at a concert, at the
 something typical (watch a party
film, study, work) at the cinema, at
school, at work

on attached the picture on the wall

for a place with a river London lies on the
being on a surface Thames.
for a certain side (left, right) on the table
for a floor in a house on the left
for public transport on the first floor
for television, radio on the bus, on a plane
on TV, on the radio

by, next left or right of somebody or Jane is standing by /

to, beside something next to / beside the car.

under on the ground, lower than (or the bag is under the
covered by) something else table

below lower than something else but the fish are below the
above ground surface

over covered by something else put a jacket over your

meaning more than shirt
getting to the other side (also over 16 years of age
across) walk over the bridge
overcoming an obstacle climb over the wall

above higher than something else, a path above the lake

but not directly over it

across getting to the other side (also walk across the bridge
over) swim across the lake
getting to the other side

through something with limits on top, drive through the

bottom and the sides tunnel

to movement to person or go to the cinema

building go to London / Ireland
movement to a place or go to bed
country
for bed

into enter a room / a building go into the kitchen /

the house
 towards movement in the direction of go 5 steps towards the
something (but not directly to it) house

onto movement to the top of jump onto the table

something

from in the sense of where from a flower from the

garden

Other common prepositions

Prepositio Usage Example

n

of who/what does it belong to a page of the book

what does it show the picture of a palace

by who made it a book by Mark

Twain

on walking or riding on horseback on foot, on horseback

entering a public transport get on the bus
vehicle

in entering a car / taxi get in the car

off leaving a public transport get off the train

vehicle

out of leaving a car / taxi get out of the taxi

by rise or fall of something prices have risen by

travelling (other than 10 percent
walking or horseriding) by car, by bus

at for age she learned Russian at

45

about for topics, meaning what about we were talking about

you

Prepositions after particular words and expressions

See separate handout

Expressions without prepositions

There are some common expressions in which we do not use prepositions or can leave them out.

discuss, enter, marry, lack, resemble and approach

These verbs are normally followed by direct objects without prepositions.

We must discuss your plans discuss about your plans)
Conversation stopped as we entered the church. entered in(to) the church)
She marr married with)
lacks experience. lacks of)
The child does not resemble either of his parents. resemble to)
The train is now approaching London Victoria. approaching to)

next, last etc

Prepositions are not used before a number of common expressions of time beginning next, last,
this, one, every, each, some.

See you next Monday. on next Monday)

days of the week

In an informal style, we sometimes leave out on before the names of the days of the week. This is
very common in American English.
(on) Monday evening?

What time...? etc

We usually leave out at before what ti me.
What time does your train arrive?
(more natural than At

In an informal style, we can also leave out on before what/which day(s).

What day is your hair appointment?
Which day do you have your music lesson?

duration
In an informal style, for is often left out in expressions that say how long something lasts.
here (for) three weeks now.
How long are you staying (for)?

Prepositional Verbs vs Phrasal Verbs

Prepositional and phrasal verbs may seem similar but there is a difference in the way they are
constructed.

A phrasal verb is a verb that consists of a main verb plus an adverb.

e.g. to dig up
In the case of transitive verbs (verbs that have an object), the adverb can come before or after the
object:
dug up
dug a lot of human bones up at my o

A p repositional verb is a verb followed by a preposition.

e.g. to decide on
They decided on the ballet.

In this case the sentence cannot be reordered: the preposition must stay with the verb. (not
They decided the ballet on)

Class Exercise:
Insert the correct prepositions

with your proposal.

2. Mr Potter suffers ________ asthma. soup.
17. Can you look _____________ the
bill. children for me tonight?

money. office.
5. These two pictures differ _______ each 19. We failed ______________ our attempt
other. to win.
6. Choose ___________the two.
7. Where did you read ______________ it? him.
21. This pie tastes _______________ onion.
9. We can only guess _______________ the
truth. fairies.
10. Please wait ___________ me. 23. I succeeded ___________ starting the
11. Knock__________ the door. engine.
12. Ask ____________ the menu. 24. The police are looking _____________
13 the robbers.
14. How do you know __________ this?
15. Does this jacket belong __________
you?
C lass E xercise:
Translate the following using the correct prepositions

1. Was würdest du tun, wenn du an meiner Stelle wärest?

2. Seit dem Unfall ist er auf einem Ohr taub.
3. Es geht auf Mitternacht zu.
4. Er schwört auf seinen Zahnarzt.
5. Man kann eine Sprache nicht ausschließlich aus Büchern lernen.
6. Lass uns das doch bei einem Glas Bier besprechen!
7. Das Museum bleibt bis auf weiteres geschlossen.
8. Er wurde durch einen verlässlicheren Mann ersetzt.
9. Diese Art von Einstellung ist typisch für ihn.
10. Ich habe es im Radio gehört.
11. In einer Stunde bin ich bei dir.
12. Er fuhr mit einer Geschwindigkeit von 80 Stundenkilometern, als es zu dem Unfall kam.
13. Ich war über diese Nachricht nicht überrascht.

G er unds and Infinitives

Infinitives

Infinitives are forms like (to) write, (to) stand. Unlike verb tenses (e.g. writes, stands), infinitives
do not usually show the actual time of actions or events. They usually refer to actions and events
in a more general way like the gerund.

Besides simple infinitives like (to) write, there are also continuous infinitives (e.g. ( to) be
writing), perfect infinitives (e.g. (to) have written) and passive infinitives ( e.g. (to) be written).

Infinitives have many functions. An infinitive can be used, for example:

a) after do or modal auxiliary

Do you think
We must get some more light bulbs.

b) as the subject or complement of the clause

To watch him eating really gets on my nerves.
The main thing is to stay calm.
to talk to you.

He came to London to look for work.

d) as object or complement of a verb, adjective or noun
want to go to bed.
anxious to contact your brother.
You have the right to remain silent.

Gerunds (-ing forms)

We can use ing forms (e.g smoking, walking) not only as verbs, but also like adjectives, adverbs
or nouns. Compare:

You' re smoking too much these days (part of present continuous verb)
There was a smoking cigarette end in the ashtray. (adjective describing cigarette end)
She walked out of the room smoking. (similar to an adverb)
Smoking is bad for you. (noun: subject of sentence)

When ing
parti

Perfect, passive and negative ing forms

H aving slept for twelve hours, I felt marvellous. (perfect)

She loves being looked at. (passive)
Not knowing what to do, I went home. (negative)
not having been invited. (negative perfect passive)

-ing forms used as nouns (gerunds)

An ing form can be the subject, object or complement of the verb

Smoking is bad for you. (subject)
I hate packing. (object)
My favourite activity is reading. (complement)

We can often use determiners (for example the, my, this) with ing forms.
the opening of Parliament
your going without me.
Does my smoking annoy you?

Possessive forms are also possible.

to sleep during the wedding was rather embarrassing.
She was angry at to lie to her.

Verbs followed by infinitive or ing form

After many non-auxiliary verbs, we can use the infinitive or ing form of other verbs. For many
verbs only one form can be used. See separate handout for full list.
In a small number of cases (e.g. begin, start), it makes no difference whether an infinitive or an
ing form is used.

It began to rain / It began raining

After some verbs (hate, like, love, prefer), the ing form is used for statements in general.
I like dancing (in general)

But the infinitive is used to refer to actions that only happen occasionally. Compare:

I hate to interrupt your class, but there's a call for you. (one-off situation)
I hate interrupting her when she's working (in general)

Some verbs (advise, allow, encourage, permit, recommend, forbid) take the ing form when
there is not object but take the infinitive when there is an object.
We allow smoking here (no object)
We allow our staff to smoke here (object)

After a number of verbs we choose:

- infinitives to look forward
- -ing forms to look at the present or past

Stop + infinitive: I stopped (first action) to stretch my legs (subsequent action)

 Ithere
hate is
to not
interrupt
objectyour class,the
but take butinfinitive
there's a when
call forthere
you. is(one-off situation)
an object.
IWe
hate interrupting her when she
allow smoking here (no object) ' s working (in general)
We allow our staff to smoke here (object)
Some verbs (advise, allow, encourage, permit, recommend, forbid) take the ing form when
there is not object but take the infinitive when there is an object.
After
We a number
allow smokingofhere
verbs weobject)
(no choose:
- infinitives to look
We allow our staff to smoke here forward
(object)
- -ing forms to look at the present or past
After a number of verbs we choose:
Stop +- infinitive: I stopped
infinitives (first action) to stretch my legs (subsequent action)
to look forward
Stop +- ing-ing forms tosmoking
: I stopped look at the present
in 1998 or past
(past event)
Stop + infinitive: I stopped
Remember/forget (first action)
+ infinitive: to stretch my
Remember/don't legs to
forget (subsequent action)
pick up your keys (remember
Stop + ing : I stopped smoking in 1998 (past event)
something which should happen subsequently
Remember/forget ing : I canRemember/don't
Remember/forget++infinitive: remember goingforget
on holiday
to pick when I was
up your keysyoung (remember an
(remember
event further back in the past.
something which should happen subsequently
Remember/forget + ing : I can remember going on holiday when I was young (remember an
Regret
event + infinitive:
further I regret
back in the past. to inform you that you are dismissed (I'm about to inform you
looking forward)
Regret + infinitive: I regret to inform you that you are dismissed (I'm about to inform you
+ ing: I don't regret getting married. (something that took place in the past)
Regret forward)
looking

Regret + ing: I don't regret getting married. (something that took place in the past)
Go on + infinitive: He went on to become a doctor (this is what happened next)
Go on + ing : He went on playing tennis long after the doctor had told him to stop (he continued
Go on + infinitive: He went on to become a doctor (this is what happened next)
an activity
Go on + ingthat
: Hehe hadon
went started previously.
playing tennis long after the doctor had told him to stop (he continued
an activity that he had started previously.
After a number of verbs the meaning changes depending on whether we use infinitive or ing
form:a number of verbs the meaning changes depending on whether we use infinitive or ing
After
form:
T ry + infinitive: tends to mean 'attempt' e.g. I tried to persuade her to give up smoking
TTry
ry ++ infinitive:
ing: tendstends
to betoused
meanwith
'attempt' e.g. I tried
suggestions e.g. to
Trypersuade her toher
persuading give
to up smoking
give up smoking!
T ry + ing: tends to be used with suggestions e.g. Try persuading her to give up smoking!
M ean + infinitive: usually indicates 'to intend' e.g. I did not mean to hurt your feelings.
M ean + infinitive: usually indicates 'to intend' e.g. I did not mean to hurt your feelings.
M ean + ing: usually means 'to result in' e.g. Going to the concert means staying up late.
M ean + ing: usually means 'to result in' e.g. Going to the concert means staying up late.
Class Exercise
Class Exercise
Completethe
Complete thefollowing
followingusing
usingeither
either
thethe infinitive
infinitive or theinging
or the form.
form.

2. On ___________________(hear) her _________________(speak) everyone took her for a

foreigner.
3. Have you ever watched people_______________(try) ______________(catch) fish?
4. If you dislike____________________(peel) onions, try________________(wear) glasses
and _________________(hold) them under water while you do so.
5. I promise to give you an opportunity ____________________(ask) questions before
________________(leave) the classroom after ____________________(listen) to the lesson.
6. -
scooters.
7. I must remember ______________(remind) the students that this grammar point needs
_____________________(revise).
8.
9.
10. advise you _______________(wait) before ________________(decide)
____________(accept) that position at the supermarket.