Prepositions for the Perplexed

Prepositions for the Perplexed Prepositions for the Perplexed Prepositions for the Perplexed By Maeve Maddox Judging by the comments on the When to use on and when to use in post, I wasnt the only one to get out of school with less than a complete grasp of what a preposition is or does. When I was in high school, I never could pick out prepositional phrases. Oh, I memorized the lists of prepositions like in, on, up, with, to, and from. I just couldnt figure out how they worked in a sentence. After all, some of the words in the list could also be used as adverbs: I went to the river and jumped in. A word isnt anything until it is used in a sentence. It wasnt until I started teaching English that I finally got prepositions. Prepositions are joining words. They join something to a noun (or pronoun). George V was King of England. The preposition of joins the noun King to the noun England. The joining adds information to the noun King. The boy played in the water. The preposition in joins the verb played to the noun water. The joining conveys where the playing took place. The boy in the water is my brother. Here the preposition in joins the noun boy to the noun water. This joining identifies a particular boy, distinguishing him from a possible boy on the beach or boy in the boat. Prepositions are said to govern nouns (or pronouns). The usual position of a preposition is in front of the noun it governs. A prepositional phrase is the preposition and its noun, plus all the words that come between. Sometimes a prepositional phrase consists of just the preposition and the noun (or pronoun) that it governs: This book is by Tolstoy. (preposition by, noun Tolstoy) Sometimes the phrase has several words between the preposition and the noun governed: We went to the new outlet mall. (preposition to, noun mall) Prepositional phrases function as parts of speech. The boy in the water is my brother. (in the water tells more about boy.' The phrase functions as an adjective describing boy. Hes the in-the-water boy.) The dog is swimming in the water. (in the water tells where the swimming is taking place. The phrase functions as an adverb modifying swimming.) Although the preposition usually comes before the noun it governs, English permits us to place the preposition at the end of a sentence. (Purists abhor this construction, but it is very natural in English.) Ex. Whose house do you want to meet at? (The prepositional phrase is at whose house.) By the way, it is this practice that is contributing to the decline of whom as the object form of who. The ear recognizes the need for whom when to precedes it, but not when the to is far removed: Who do you want to speak to? as opposed to To whom do you wish to speak? As for wanting rules that will explain every prepositional expression such as in the army, on the team, at the hour, or in a monthsave your energy. They dont exist. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Grammar category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Addressing A Letter to Two PeopleEmail Etiquette20 Clipped Forms and Their Place (If Any) in Formal Writing