Prepositions in a sentence are part of a prepositional phrase, where they occupy the first position. The prepositional phrase necessarily requires a noun after the preposition. A single noun or a group of dependent words can supplement a phrase. This nominal part is called prepositional complement. In addition, prepositions can act as a particle in the phrasal verb.
The use of prepositions in English in the table
The prepositional phrase can play the role of circumstances of time and place, complement, complement of the verb or adjective, and even the role of the subject. Sometimes prepositions act as a subordinate union for the linking of the main and secondary sentences. For literate speech (and writing), it is very important to correctly use prepositions in English. The rules below describe the behavior of prepositions and prepositional phrases in various situations.
As the circumstance of the place
Prepositions may indicate a physical or abstract direction (location).
- at / at point;
- in / within a certain area;
- on / on the surface;
- in front of
- near
- on top of / on top;
- across / through
- down / down etc.
As a circumstance of time
Prepositions can be used to limit time intervals ('for', 'during', from ... to / till / until ...) and determine points in time relative to each other ('ago', 'before', 'since', 'at', 'after', 'in').
- He is here for a month.
- There was two big victories during the war / There were two major victories throughout the war.
- They have lunchtime from one o'clock till two o'clock / They have a lunch break from an hour to two.
- His frog died a month ago.
- We met even before lunch. We met before lunch.
- He've been living on the seaside since he broke up with it / He has been living on the coast ever since he started it.
- He finished at five o'clock / He finished at five o'clock.
- We must be there after ten thirty / We must be there after 10:30.
- We'll find out in the next three days.
Use of prepositions in English with dates : with various religious festivals, use 'at', over the years put 'in', with days of the week, special events and ordinary dates use 'on'.
- at Christmas / at Christmas; at Easter / Easter;
- in the year 2015 / in year 2015; in 2015 / in 2015; in the twenty first sentury / in the twenty first century;
- on Saturday on her wedding anniversary / on her wedding anniversary; on the twenty fourth of October.
The use of prepositions in English with months and seasons : 'in', however with dates where the month is in the first place, 'on' is put, as with ordinary dates, for example, 'on October 24th'.
In October; in November / in October; In November; in autumn / fall.
As subject
A prepositional phrase can serve as the subject: Out of memory was the safest place of all to keep this information. Out of memory was the safest place to store this information.
As a complement to a noun predicate
In a compound nominal predicate, where the nominal part is expressed by a sign or a state, some adjectives following the conjugation verb can be used with or without a preposition, and some are not used independently.
- He was afraid.
- He was afraid of his enemies. He was afraid of his enemies.
1. At the same time, they may require some specific pretext, such as: / aware of, accustomed to, used to /.
- Jeremy used to live in the merchant's house / Jeremy lived in a merchant's house.
- He is unaccustomed to the heat.
2. Some adjectives may be single or accompanied by different pretexts depending on the type of information they open. For example, with / cruel, friendly, unkind / in order to associate an impersonal subject and logical subject, use 'of':
- It was rude of him to leave so suddenly / It was rude of him to leave so suddenly.
To combine the personal subject and the complement, put 'to':
- She was rude to him for no reason. She was rude to him for no reason.
Also, singly or with the pretext 'about' to characterize a thing, or 'with' to characterize a character, use: / angry, furious, happy /.
- She was still angry about the result. She was still angry about the result.
- Are you happy with that stinky guy? / Are you happy with this bad guy?
3. Other adjectives can be used singly or with some specific pretexts.
- For example, with 'of' to:
1) describe the cause of the feeling expressed by adjectives / convinced, suspicious, terrified /;
- Isn't it a bit suspicious of him? / Isn't it slightly suspicious?
- It was terrified of her.
2) name a character who is inherent in quality (such as, for example, / clever, polite, stupid /).
- That was clever of you! / Clever of you!
- I turned the job down, which was stupid of me / I refused to work, which was stupid of me.
- From 'to' to say about the degree of similarity (close, related, similar), marriage (married, engaged), loyalty (dedicated, devoted, loyal), rank (junior, senior) in relation to something:
- My problems are very similar to yours / My problems are very similar to yours.
- He was dedicated to his job.
- With the pretext 'with', such adjectives as / bored, pleased, satisfied /, and also to say about the reason for the expressed feeling:
- Gave to him a glorious glance she was satisfied with the effect / Throwing a victorious look at him, she was satisfied with the effect.
- He was pleased with her.
- With 'at', talking about a strong reaction to something (amazed, astonished, surprised) or potential (bad, good, useless):
- He had been astonished at this point / He was stunned by this circumstance.
- He was not bad at dancing. He was not bad at all in dance.
- With the pretext 'for' in order to say about the character or thing to which the given characteristic refers (common, easy, unusual):
- It's common for them / This is a common occurrence for them.
- Oh, nothing is easier for me / Oh, nothing is easier for me.
- A small portion of adjectives ending in 'ed', which are used exclusively after conjugation verbs such as 'be', 'become' or 'feel', have commonality with transitive verbs, and often they are followed by a prepositional phrase:
- The Brasilians are pleased with the result / Brazilians are pleased with the results.
As a complement to a simple or verb predicate
1. The use of prepositions in English is natural for many verbs that are used without direct additions. To say:
- about the subject of what is happening, about is suitable
- about the direction of action - 'at',
- root cause or goal - 'for',
- involvement - 'into',
- facts and information - 'of',
- what you can rely on - 'on',
- information receiver –'to ',
- about who agrees / disagrees - 'with'.
- I've heard about the intrusion plans.
- Look at me / Look at me.
- They asked for hep / They asked for help.
- A sheap run into the doorway / A sheep ran into the doorway.
- To think of it ... / If you think about it ...
- It depends on him / It depends on him.
- Explain to me.
- I argue with nobody / I do not argue with anyone.
It should be borne in mind that with some verbs prepositions appear in the standard tandem, but with some they can replace each other depending on the meaning and situation.
As a complement to a noun
The use of prepositions in English makes it possible to compose phrases with nouns, which reveal their meaning in more detail. Some words are undemanding to the pretext that comes after them, and some always add a specific one. In general cases, the prepositional phrase is after the noun.
- Two girls on weekends were having fun in a pool / Two girls who had weekends had fun in the pool.
- A wisper behind her made her turn / The whisper behind her made her turn around.
Often, 'of' is used to convey various kinds of information after a noun, in particular to say:
- what something is made of or consists of;
- ... a wall of stone.
- A heeling of panic was rising in him / A sense of panic grew in him.
- about what is the subject of conversation, text, or image;
- There was an image of a lion in the magazine / There was an image of a lion in the magazine.
- about the belonging of the character or object or its connection;
- He was the son of a good man.
- Girls sat on the back seat of the car / Girls sat in the back seat of the car.
- about the qualities inherent in the character or subject.
- She was a woman of enegry and ambition / She was an energetic and ambitious woman.
- They faced problems of great compexity.
After nouns associated with actions, 'of' is used to indicate the subject or object of the action.
- ... the arrival of the police.
“... the destruction of their city.”
Following the nouns representing people performing a certain action, the prepositional phrase starting with 'of' indicates that the action includes, or about its goals.
- supporters of the hunger strike.
- ... a student of English.
In this case, the phrase with two nouns sounds more natural than with a noun and a prepositional phrase, for example, 'bank robbers / bank robbers' instead of 'robbers of the bank / bank robbers'.
Following the words denoting dimensions, the preposition 'of' helps to share specific indicators:
- ... temperature in the pot of 108 degrees / the temperature in the pot is 108 degrees.
- ... a part of 30 percent.
Also, 'of' can be used after a noun to indicate someone's age:
- The most dangerous it is in the edge of eight / The most dangerous is at the age of eight.
The preposition 'with' is used to express some distinctive feature, detail, or accessory inherent in an object or character:
- ... a girl with red hair.
- ... the man with the gun.
The preposition 'in' after the noun allows us to talk about who is wearing what / what wears:
- ... a pale child in a raincoat / gray-haired man in a raincoat.
- ... the man in dark suit / man in a dark suit.
Some nouns are always accompanied by specific prepositions. For instance,
- 'to' follows the words: answer, introdaction, reaction, return:
- it happened on the return to Poland / It happened on the way back to Poland.
- 'for' follows: reason, respect, taste:
- His need for food was permanently growing up / His need for food was constantly growing.
- 'on' for: agreement, comment, effect:
- She fad a dreadful effect on me / She had a disgusting effect on me.
- 'with' or 'between' for: connection, contact, link:
- The link between them was so hard to see / The connection between them was so hard to see.
- 'in' follows the words: difficulty, fall, increase:
- They had not been prepared to difficulties on that side / They were not prepared for difficulties on this side.
As a complement to a verb
The use of prepositions in English as part of prepositional phrases is permissible, in addition, in a nominal predicate in the role of the nominal part:
- It's in her bag.
- He was in danger.
- It was against his will / It was against his will.
Like a particle of a phrasal verb
Prepositions can be represented as inseparable particles of a verb phrase in four combinations:
- particle verb
- verb-particle-complement,
- verb-complement-particle,
- verb-particle-preposition-complement,
- verb-addendum-particle-prepositional phrase.
- Storm broke up at midnight / Storm broke out at midnight.
- His faith grow on wrong beliefs / His faith grows on false beliefs.
“Call me back” said Lucy / “Call me back,” said Lucy.
- They ran away with all our food / They ran away with all our food.
- Don’t try to talk them out of it / Do not try to dissuade them from this.
As a complement to an adjective
Although the attribute usually goes before the noun, in some cases the use of prepositions in English allows you to put the adjective after, while it is usually accompanied by a circumstance, a 'to'-infinitive secondary sentence or - a prepositional phrase.
- This is a warning to people eager for a quick profit / These are warnings to people eager for an early profit.
After the superlative degree of adjectives, a prepositional phrase may be used to indicate the group from which the subject stands out:
- Henry was the biggest of them / Henry was the biggest of them.
- Cakes probably are the best in the world / Pies must be the best in the world.
- He was the most dangerous man in the country / He was the most dangerous man in the country.
As a union in a complex sentence
Some prepositions have the same form as the unions used to add secondary sentences, for example, / 'since', 'till', 'until', 'after', 'before' /.
- I've been looking for the new opportunity since I knew that / I have been looking for new perspectives since I found out about it.