Prepositions

A preposition is a word that connect a noun or pronoun to another word or phrase in the rest of the sentence. Prepositions are common in the English language and often identify spatial relationships, time, location, direction, and possession. Examples of prepositions are “on,” “to,” “of,” “at,” and “in.”

A proposition must always be placed after the sentence’s subject and verb and then followed by a noun. Prepositions must be linked to an object of the preposition (noun or pronoun). A verb should never follow a preposition.

Typically, a preposition plays a modifying role, acting as an adjective or adverb that provides additional information to the noun, pronoun, noun phrase, or verb it modifies.

The correct use of a preposition depends on its position in a sentence.

Some common examples of prepositions are the words “for,” “from,” “before," and “with.” The following is a list of prepositions commonly used in English:

Many prepositions do not function solely as a preposition, so it is important to identify the function of the word within a sentence to determine its part of speech.

The following sentences contain one or more prepositions:

He left on the boat with the treasure they found in the middle of the island.

Did you buy a gift for Sarah’s birthday?

Once Jeff arrived at the lake, he immediately jumped into the water.

After their vacation, the Smith family spent the rest of the summer relaxing.

Leah decided she would buy a new leash for her dog at the pet store in the mall.

A prepositional phrase is a group of words that contain a preposition, an optional modifier, and an object of a preposition. The object can be a noun, gerund (verb ending in -ing), or clause.

The most common examples of prepositions used within prepositional phrases include the following:

When a writer uses a noun or verb to modify (describe) the object, they are called adjectival phrases or adverbial phrases, respectively. Therefore, each phrase is structured as follows:

Basic Prepositional Phrase: Preposition + object

Adjectival Prepositional Phrase: Preposition + noun modifier + object

Adverbial Prepositional Phrase: Preposition + verb modifier + object

Basic prepositional phrases:

The class started on time.

Preposition: on

Object: time

He forgot his homework at home.

Preposition: at

Object: home

Adjectival prepositional phrases:

The dog on Sam's porch quickly fell asleep.

Preposition: on

Object: porch

Modifier: Sam (noun)

Hazel thought the garden in her backyard was too overgrown.

Preposition: in

Object: backyard

Modifier: her (noun)

Adverbial prepositional phrases:

Violet decided it was time to step into the car.

Preposition: into

Object: car

Verb Modified: step

Ted ran out of the school when the last bell rang.

Preposition: of

Object: school

Verb Modified: ran

Grammatically, there are multiple rules to follow when using a preposition:

Rule 1: Prepositions must be linked to an object.

The object of a sentence is the person/thing that receives the action.

Mitch left the tray in the kitchen.

The preposition (in) is linked to the object (kitchen).

Rule 2: The object cannot be a verb.

Prepositions are never followed by a verb.

Incorrect: The treat was for walked.

Correct: The treat was for the dog.

Rule 3: Place the preposition before the pronoun/noun to which it has a relationship.

The prefix pre- means "before," which helps indicate the position of the preposition.

Rule 4: Pronouns following a preposition should be in object form.

The objective pronoun form consists of me, her, them, etc. The subjective pronoun form (I, she, they, etc.) should not be used following a preposition.

Incorrect: That's between him and I.

Correct: That's between him and me.

Rule 5: Prepositions do not have a specific form.

Most prepositions are simply one word; however, there are some two- or three-word phrases called complex prepositions.

One-word: at, in, of, on, and for

Complex: but for, according to, on account of, and in spite of

Rule 6: To (preposition) has a different meaning as to (infinitive).

Avoid confusing the infinitive participle "to" with the preposition "to."

Infinitive participle: The children love to sing; They were going to leave tomorrow.

Preposition: They loved singing to the audience; They were going to the zoo tomorrow.

There are eight different types of prepositions:

Example sentences including each category of preposition: