What is Preposition?

 Table of Content

A. What is Preposition?

B. Types of Preposition

1. SIMPLE PREPOSITION
2. COMPOUND PREPOSITION
3. DOUBLE PREPOSITION
4. PHRASAL PREPOSITION
5. PARTICIPLE PREPOSITION
6. DISGUISED PREPOSITION

C. Functional Division of Preposition

• PREPOSITION OF TIME
• PREPOSITION OF PLACE
• PREPOSITION OF DIRECTION
• GROUP PREPOSITION

A. "What is Preposition?  

A word like on, off, of, into, normally followed by a Noun or a Pronoun and some other words in a sentence is called Preposition.

The Preposition is placed before the noun or the pronoun or any other word which represents noun. 

Example sentences:

• A frog is under the table. 
• The dog ran after the hen. 
• A cat ran across the road.
• A train is coming out of the tunnel.
• There is an orchard behind the house.
• Mohan is swimming in the swimming pool.
• We should not invest money beyond our income.

B. Types of Preposition   👇

1. SIMPLE PREPOSITION: It is the most common preposition. In, on, an, off, to, up, with, at, by, for, over, under, etc.

Example:

• Come and sit by me.
• We found him in the crowed.
• We feel convenient to live near the children's school.
• They went to London for two months.    
• He was happy during his childhood.
• She cooked food with charcoal.
• Tell him before his return.

2. COMPOUND PREPOSITION: It is a combination of a simple Preposition and a noun Preposition.  These are formed usually prefixing a  Preposition to a Noun, adjective or an adverb.it consists of two words like before, without, due to, around, about, among etc.

Across(on+ cross), along(on+ long) ,outside(out+ side), Inside(in+ side), behind(by+ hind), beside(by+ side), beneath(by+ neath), etc.

Example:

• There is a bridge across the river.
• He is walking along the road.
• The treasure lies beneath the stones.
• The bag was hidden behind the door.
• She wore a fur coat with nothing underneath.
• The cap is inside the basket.
• The lady beside my mother is my wife.

 3. DOUBLE PREPOSITION: Double preposition is a combination of two simple preposition made into one word. For example: according to, in front of, outside of, out of, from out, throughout, from within, from behind, from beneath, in addition to, onto, within, without, from among etc.

Example:

• He worked throughout the night.
• She bought book in addition to copy.
• He found coins from beneath the sofa.
• Public are running behind the robbers.
• According to his age he is not eligible for class 1.
• I shall remember it throughout the life.
• I shall be back again within a year.
• They came here around 10 p.m.

 

4. PHRASAL PREPOSITION: Group of words used with the force of a single Preposition are called Phrase Preposition. Some Phrasal Prepositions are By means of, because of, on account of, in opposition to, with regard to, for the sake of, in course of, instead of, on behalf of, with a view to, in the event of, owing to etc.

Example:

• He succeeded by dint of power.
• Please give me a pen instead of pencil. 
• In course of time he found his mistake.
• He couldn't pass the exam owing to lack preparation of exam.

5. PARTICIPLE PREPOSITION: Verbs ending with '-ing', '-en' & '-ed' which also acts as Preposition are known as Participle Preposition. Some Participle Prepositions are notwithstanding, concerning, given, pending, provided, considering etc. 

Example:

• What do you know regarding this marriage proposal?
• Considering the quality, the price of car is not high.
• Considering the bad weather condition our school has been closed for a week.
• She works very fast notwithstanding the shortness of her height.
• Principal was talking to our class teacher regarding our exams. 

6. DISGUISED PREPOSITION: The Preposition which is used in a disguised way is called Disguised Preposition. For example the letters ‘a’ or ‘o’ are used as Disguised Prepositions. In a sentence it is mentioned indirectly.

Disguised Preposition ‘a’ is the shorten form of the preposition ‘on’ and ‘o’ is the shorten form of the preposition ‘of’.

Example:

• Salt sells one kilo a rupee.
• She comes here once a week.
• The train will arrive at 7 o’clock.

C. Functional Division of Preposition   

Functionally Preposition is divided into four parts:

1. PREPOSITION OF TIME: It discuss about the specific time period in the sentence. 

Some important Preposition of time are:

 At, on, in, for, till/until, before, after, during, by, since, for, from etc.

In: used with time of the day, year, months, season and centuries, in the morning, in the afternoon.

• We have science classes in the evening.
• He takes a walk in the morning.
• We wear woolen clothes in winter.

On: used with Days, Dates or Holidays.

• My brother will arrive on monday.
• We are going to school trip on Monday.
• Pandit Jawaherlal Nehru was born in Alahabad on November 14, 1889.

At: used with Festivals, exact time mealtime.

• The first bell rings at 8 a. m.
• I usually get up at 5 o'clock

By: refers to the latest time

• The examination will be over by 5 p.m.
• Meet me by 2 o'clock

For: used  with perfect continuous tense showing the duration of action.

• I have been here for 10 years.
• It rained during the night for 5 hours.
• I was in Delhi for 6 months.
• I stayed with my grand parents for two months.

Since: used with the point of time when action begins and continues

• He has been ill since last Sunday.
• I haven't talked to him since down.
• She is been seeing this doctor since she was born.
• He is been asking about you since last night.

From refers to the starting point of action.

• The work will start from Monday next.
• This water came from a spring.

2. PREPOSITION OF PLACE: It describes the position of place where something or someone is located.

Some important Preposition of Place are:

At, on, in, between, among, amongst, below, above, beyond, under, over, behind, beside, besides, in front of, near etc.

In refers to larger areas

• He lives in Bombay
• When the picture started, we were in the hall.

At refers to a exact point

• The tourist stayed at the hotel Asoka.
• He studied at Aligarh University.

Under is used for vertically below

• The cat is hiding under the table.
• The traveler is taking rest under the tree.
• A path runs under the trees.
• It is cool under the tree during summer season.

Over is used for vertically above

• The sun was over the traveler’s head.
• She hold the umbrella over her head
• There is an aircraft coming over.

Below is used for lower than

• When the sun sets it goes below the horizon.
• I saw a cat below the building.
• She is below age for admission.
• His number is below expectation.

Behind means at the back of

• She sat down behind the hedge.
• He hide himself behind the curtain.
• Our house is behind the shop.
• the girl was behind the door.
• The moon disappeared behind the clouds.

Beside means by the side of

• He sat down beside his wife.
• The kid sat beside the table.
• The shirt hung on the wall beside the door.
• Amir set his bag down beside his sister.

Besides means in addition to

• He is guilty of five killings and more besides.
• My son likes all fruit besides pineapple.
• he knows Bengali besides Hindi.
• Today you have done nothing besides playing.

Above is used for higher than 

• The sun rose above the horizon.
• He is the man above suspicion.
• He is above all the employees in his company.
• I saw a parrot flying above the roof. 

Among is used with more than two persons or things but before the word which starts with consonant letter.

• Distribute the fruits among the children’s.
• Divide the sweets among the three girls.

Amongst is also used with more than two persons or things but before the word which starts with a vowel letter.

• He stood amongst elephant. 
• She is the best student amongst us.
• Divide the sweets amongst the three us.

3. PREPOSITION OF DIRECTION: It describes movement from one place to another and is used with the verbs of motion. 

Some important Preposition of Direction and movement are:

Against, into, from, off, out of, to, towards, along, across, under, over, through etc.

Example:

At refers to aim.

• He aimed at balloon.
• The hospital is at a distance.
• The soldiers rushed at the enemy.
• He will meet you at Airport.

For denotes direction

• I will leave for Delhi today.
• The ship is bound for Japan.

To is used to express motion

• We walked to the river and back.
• She went to the market.

Towards refers to direction

• He saw me running towards him.
• The car was heading towards the town.

Along stands for in the same direction

• He led them along the corridor.
  
• He walked along the street.
• The general left the town along with all his soldiers.

Into indicates motion towards the inside of something

• She was crying into depression.
• The goat jumped into the river.
• We immediately went into the classroom.
• He carried on working late into the night.

Off refers to separation

• A man fell off the motorcycle.
• The ball rolled off the table.
• he was wiping sweat off his face.
• The rich man fell into the debt.
• Don't try to get off a moving bus or train.

Against shows pressure, touching something or somebody for support, in apposition to

• A man is leaning against the wall.
• Stealing is against the law.
• Cycling against the wind is difficult.

4. GROUP PREPOSITION: A group of words or phrase containing preposition is called Group Preposition. 

Some important Group Prepositions are:

In front of, in spite of, on account of, for the sake of, in addition to, because of, by virtue of, with regard to, on behalf of, instead of, in favor of, as a result of, in case of/in consequence of/in the event of, by means of, with reference to, in place of etc. 

Example:

• He is waiting in front of the school.
• In case of/in consequence of fire, call the fire Brigade.
• He told me this in course of conversation.
• Sharmila is more beautiful in comparison with Urmila.
• I can do this in compliance with your request.
• He said this in favour of his brother.
• He worked hard in order to win the prize.
• He went to school in spite of his illness.
• He is working in place of his brother.
• They went to the forest in search of a deer.
• He started a business instead of crying for a job.
• He is in the midst of great trouble.
• He could not attend school on account of his illness.
• The headmaster welcomed the visitors on behalf of the school.
• The principal was given a farewell on the eve of his retirement