A preposition in Russian is a part of speech that is necessary in order to express the syntactic relations of words or parts of speech. It does not have its own significant significance, therefore it is considered a service element of speech.
In Russian there are two categories of such words: non-derivative and derivative prepositions.
With the first, everything is clear. They were formed in the process of evolution of the language, they are short words that cannot be confused with other parts of speech or written incorrectly. They usually consist of one word.
Sentences with prepositions not derivative in our speech occupy a significant place. For example: I'll come at six. Look at this house. Can not live without you. Walk around the edge. Talk about the new movie.
Derived prepositions in the Russian language are also common, but defining them, and, moreover, writing them correctly, is much more difficult. By their significance, they can also be temporary, spatial or causal.
Derived prepositions are prepositions that are formed from other parts of speech. Their significant significance and morphological characters have been lost for one reason or another, only syntactic remains. They are most often used with a certain case. They can be distinguished from the significant parts of speech with the help of a question. This is done approximately like this.
A school was built across from my house. Lined up (where?) Opposite the house. The word “opposite” does not have its own meaning, in this case it is a derivative preposition.
I live opposite the new school. I live (where?) Opposite (why?) The school. The word “opposite” in this case has its own lexical meaning, and therefore it is an adverb.
Derived prepositions, as well as non-derivative ones, can consist of one word (simple) or several (compound). For example: During the investigation, new details (composite) became clear. Due to rain, the walk was canceled. (Plain).
Derived prepositions may:
- designate a certain period of time. The sun was burning with great power for a week. During the investigation, she twice made unacceptable errors. The prepositions "continue" and "during" indicate the time period and are written only separately.
- Being close in meaning to a non-derivative pretext due. This applies to the preposition "due" and the preposition "in mind." "Consequence" as an excuse is always written only together. Compare: the walk was canceled due to rain. The walk was canceled due to rain.
The pretext “In mind”, on the contrary, is written separately. In view of the disease, he does not leave home. (Due to illness, he does not leave home). - Approach in meaning to the combination of "regardless of." This refers to the derivative pretext "despite", which is always written together. Compare: we went to the forest despite the weather. We will go to the forest, regardless of the weather.
- Used in the meaning of the preposition "o". We agreed on additional classes. (About additional classes). The preposition "about" is always written together.
- Other examples. He left, thanks and bowing in his belt. Gone (how? How?) Thanks and bowing. That this participle is said by synonyms thanks to - thanks. Bowing - bowing down. Thanks to the decision they won. (Because of the accepted ....)
Naturally, this is far from all the derivative prepositions that are used in the Russian language: only a few of the most common ones are listed here.
In order to correctly determine which part of the speech the right word is (and also determine its correct spelling), you can choose synonyms for the homonymous parts of the speech .
For instance. I put the money in a bank account. In this case, the account is a letter of credit, a passbook, i.e. noun. Therefore, the preposition (on) + noun (account) are written separately.
I agreed on a repair . “About” = “about” (agreed to repair). So this is a derivative preposition, it is written together.