Set II, 1

Basic Uses of Prepositions

A preposition shows a relationship between its object and other words in a sentence. The
preposition may be in the form of one word (at, by, in, on, etc.) or in the form of a phrase that
functions as a unit (in front of, by way of, etc.)

Some of the relationships that prepositions express are place or position, time, manner, direction,
and agent.

The book is on the desk. (place or position)

The boy ran toward the house. (direction)
The man arrived at ten o'clock. (time)
He travels by train. (manner)
The book was written by him. (agent)

A preposition + an object forms a phrase. This kind of phrase usually functions as a modifier
(adjective or adverb).

The report of the meeting was read. (adjective)

We go to class at ten o'clock. (adverb)

PREPOSITIONS of PLACE or POSITION

The following sentences show some of the relationship of place or position expressed by
various prepositions:

| on |
| in |
| by |
The paper is | beside | the desk.
| near |
| against |
| under |

| behind |
| in back of |
| in front of |
He is sitting | beside | her.
| near |
| by |
 | in |
| inside |
| outside |
| in front of |
Jack is | in back of | the car.
| behind |
| underneath |
| on top of |

| across the park. |

| around the park. |
| under the bridge. |
| down the street. |
They walked | up the street. |
| over the hill. |
| through the park. |
| on the sidewalk. |

Below is a list of some prepositions that indicate relationships of place or position:

1. at Elizabeth is at the store.

Is Mary at home?

2. to Elizabeth went to the store.

from Mr. MacDonald is from Scotland.

3. in Mr. Brown is sitting in the leather

chair in the lobby.

on Put a stamp on the envelope.

 Please sit on the sofa.

4. by The matches are over there by the

cigarettes.

beside The napkin is placed beside the plate.

near They are sitting near the window.

against Don't lean against the stove.

5. over Our apartment is directly over yours.

A plane flew over our house at noon.

under The box is under the table.

beneath The closet is beneath the stairs.

underneath Put a pad underneath the rug.

on top of The carpenter is on top of the house.

6. behind The chair is behind the desk.

in back of John is standing in back of Harry.

 in front of There is a car parked in front of the
house.

7. up I saw Mr. Jones walking up the street.

down There is a service station about two

miles down the road.

8. across They live across the street from us.

around Let's take a walk around the block.

through I took a walk through the park

yesterday.

9. between Martha is sitting between George and

Jim.

among The letter is somewhere among these

papers.

10. inside These plants should be kept inside

the house.
 outside The chairs were left outside the
house all night.

11. after Put a question mark after each

question.

before In giving dates, we usually place the

month before the day.

12. above This city is three thousand feet

above sea level.

below This land is below sea level.

Your grade is below averagae.

13. at the top of Your name is at the top of the waiting list.

at the bottom of His mane is at the bottom of the list.

at the head of He is now at the head of his class.

Compare in--on, on--at, at--in in the situations described below:

1. IN--ON
In general, in means beneath the surface; on means touching the surface.
o There is a grease spot on my coat and a moth hole in my sweater.
o We had to drive a large nail in the ceiling in order to hang the picture on this wall.
 2. ON--AT
In an address, on is used with the name of the street; at, with the house number and the
name of the street.
o He lives on Green Street.
o He lives at 1236 Green Street.

3. AT--IN
In referring to location, at ordinarily indicates a specified location; in, a location within a
house, building, city, and so forth.
o I'll meet you at the library.
o I'll meet you at the information desk in the lobby of the hotel.
o She is in the kitchen preparing dinner.

In is also used in referring to a location within a country.

o They own a house in Sweden.

o He is in Peru, South America, now.

In is ordinarily used in referring to cities.

o He lives in Hartford, Connecticut.

o They will arrive in Bangkok next month.

At is sometimes used in referring to the arrival of a train, and so forth.

o The train will arrive at Philadelphia at 8:10 p.m.

PREPOSITIONS of DIRECTION
The prepositions listed in this section are those usually thought of as indicating direction.
However, there is some overlapping of place and direction in such prepositions as from, to,
through, up, down, over, under, etc.

The following sentence shows some of the relationships of direction expressed by various
prepositions:

| into |
The dog ran | out of | the building.
| toward |
Below is a list of some prepositions that indicate relationships of direction:

1. into I walked into the room and sat down by the fireplace.
2. out of They ran out of the burning building.
3. toward He walked toward the City Hall.
4. by way of You can go by way of the Panama Canal.

Compare in--into in the following situations:

In ordinarily refers to place or position.

• He is in his office now.

Into ordinarily refers to motion or action, although in is often used interchangeably with into in
situations of this kind.

PREPOSITIONS
• I saw him go into (in) the director's office a few minutes ago.
• They went into (in) the building an hour ago.

PREPOSITIONS of TIME
The following sentence shows some of the relationships of time expressed by various
prepositions:

| at |
| by |
Please arrive | before | 10 o'clock.
| after |

Below is a list of some prepositions that indicate relationships of time:

Note: At 2:30 p.m. = at exactly or precisely 2:30 p.m.

By 2 o'clock = not later than 2 o'clock.
The definite article is used as the expression in the morning, (afternoon, evening, but not in
at noon,
(night, midnight).(Also see Section 75b.)
1. at The baseball game will start at 2:30 p.m.
This gate opens at noon and closes at midnignt.
by Try to be there by 2 o'clock.
2. in The train will arrive in an hour.
I must leave in a few minutes.
He goes to work early in the morning.
on Ray's birthday is on November 18.

3. for They stayed for three weeks.

during We saw them often during the summer.
since We have been here since 1955.

4. after Call me again after 10 o'clock.

before He always gets home before 6 o'clock

5. until Why don't you stay until (till) Sunday?

(till) I'll be here till (until) 5 o'clock.

at the beginning
6. I'll call you at the beginning of the week.
of
You will receive your check at the end of the
at the end of
month.
Let's have lunch sometime in the middle of the
in the middle of
week.
Compare on--in and for--during--since in the situations described below.

1. ON--IN
In giving dates, on is used before days of the week or before months and day of the
month; in, before months not followed by the day and before numbers indicating the year.
o On Saturday they left for Europe. They took a trip in June.
o The store opened on May 23, 1950. They moved to Boston in July, 1955.
o On May 10th they left for Europe. They took a trip to Japan in 1954.

2. FOR--DURING--SINCE
In expressions of time, for refers to a period of time, frequently stated in terms of the
number of hours, days, weeks, and so forth, and in such expressions as for a long (short)
time, for several (a few) minutes, for a little while, and so forth.

| fifteen minutes.
| two hours.
We waited for | several hours.
| a long time.

BASIC USES OF PREPOSITIONS

During also refers to a period of time, frequently stated as a block of time (during the summer,
during the year, during the semester, during my vacation, etc.).

| the winter.
| the year.
It rained a great deal during | the spring semester.
| April.
| 1955.

In many cases for refers to something more or less continuous: during, to something intermittent.
For is followed by the indefinite article: during, by the definite article. Compare:

It rained for a day or so.

(It rained almost continuously for a day or so.)

It rained during the day.

(It rained sometime during the day or perhaps off and on during the day.)
Since refers to a period of time that extends from a point of time in the past to the present
or to another point of time in the past. The verb tense is usually the present perfect or past
perfect.

BASIC USES OF PREPOSITIONS

| five o'clock.
I have been here since | May 10th.
| June, 1952.
We have been here since | noon.

Compare: We haven't seen him for two or three years.

We saw him several times during our trip South.
We haven't seen him since 1954.

They have lived in London for two years.

They have met many people during the two years
(two year period) they have been in London.
They have lived in London since 1950.

In addition, note the following expressions:

1. ON TIME--IN TIME
On time means "on schedule"; in time usually means before an appointed time
(often with time left over to do something).
o Were you late for your appointment?
 No, I was there on time. (I was there at the appointed time.)
 No, I reached the office in time to have a cup of coffee before my
appointment.

2. FROM . . . TO--FROM . . . UNTIL

These expressions have approximately the same meanings and are usually
interchangeable in expression of time. However, only from ... to is used in
referring to place or position.
o He works from 8:00 to 5:00. He works from 8:00 until 5:00.
o We drove from Boston to New York in four hours.
3. AROUND--ABOUT
Around and about (sometimes preceded with by and are used to indicate
approximate time.)
o I'll pick you up around 7 o'clock.
o It is now about 5 o'clock.

PREPOSITIONS of MANNER
1. by You can go by bus (car, train, ship. plane, foot).

2. on He went on foot (horseback).

I like to travel on train (ship, plane).

3.in We came here in a car (taxi).

Please write in ink (pencil).
He speaks in a low voice.
He left in a hurry.

4. with I accept your invitation with pleasure.

She greeted him with a smile.
The car started with a jerk.

5. like He walks like an old man.

You speak like an authority on the subject.

SOME OTHER TYPES of PREPOSITIONS

1. AGENT (or INSTRUMENT)--by and with
o This poem was written by Walt Whitman.
o The door is opened by a mechanical device.
o Try opening the door with this key.
o I can write better with my own pen.
2. ACCOMPANIMENT--with
o He went with her to the store. II, 1--9
o Try some of this sauce with your meat.

3. PURPOSE--for
o This door is for emergency exits only.
o I need to go to the store for a loaf of bread.

4. ASSOCIATION--of
o The new wing of the building is almost completed.
o We heard the news of your promotion from Bill.

5. MEASURE--of and by
o I want three quarts of milk and a pound of cheese.
o One-third of the students are from South America.
o Coffee is sold by the pound, but ribbon is sold by the yard.

6. SIMILARITY--like
o You look like your brother.
o This material feels like silk.
o It looks like rain.

7. IN THE CAPACITY OF--as

o He got a job as an elevator operator.
o Mr. Kingsley will serve as chairman of the committee.
o She appeared as Desdemona in Othello.