What is a Preposition?
A preposition
usually indicates the temporal, spatial or logical relationship of its object
to the rest of the sentence as in the following examples:
The book is on the table.
The book is beneath the table.
The book is
leaning against the table. The book
is beside the table.
She held the book
over the table. She read the book during class.
In each of the
preceding sentences, a preposition locates the noun "book" in space
or in time.
A prepositional phrase is made up of the preposition, its object and any associated adjectives or adverbs.
A prepositional phrase can function as a noun, an adjective, or an adverb. The most common prepositions are "about,"
"above," "across," "after," "against,"
"along," "among,"
"around,"
"at,"
"before,"
"behind,"
"below," "beneath," "beside,"
"between," "beyond," "but," "by," "despite," "down," "during," "except," "for,"
"from," "in," "inside," "into," "like," "near," "of," "off," "on," "onto," "out,"
"outside,"
"over," "past," "since," "through,"
"throughout," "till," "to," "toward,"
"under,"
"underneath," "until," "up," "upon,"
"with," "within," and "without." Each of the highlighted words in the following
sentences is a preposition: The children climbed the mountain without fear.
In this sentence, the preposition "without" introduces the noun
"fear." The prepositional phrase "without fear" functions
as an adverb describing how the children climbed.
There was rejoicing throughout the
land when the government was defeated.
Here, the preposition "throughout" introduces the noun phrase "the land." The
prepositional phrase acts as an adverb describing the location of the rejoicing.
The spider crawled slowly along the banister.
The preposition "along" introduces the noun phrase "the
banister" and the prepositional phrase "along the banister" acts
as an adverb, describing where the spider crawled.
The dog is hiding under the
porch because it knows it will be punished for
chewing up a new pair of shoes.
Here the preposition "under" introduces the prepositional
phrase "under the porch," which acts as an adverb modifying the compound verb "is hiding."
The screenwriter
searched for the manuscript he was
certain was somewhere in his office.
Similarly in this
sentence, the preposition "in" introduces a prepositional phrase
"in his office," this acts as an adverb describing the location of
the missing papers.
