Chapter

2
Module Overview
Prepositions

This module will help you to better understand the different parts of speech. It also
contains understandable grammar information with a variety of exercises and activities that
will help you, future language teachers to understand the different areas of language.

Learning Outcomes
At the end of the chapter, you should be able to:

• determine appropriate usage of prepositions;

• use correct prepositions in written discourse

Module Map

Preposition

Types of
Preposition

Place and Agents or Phrasal

Time Directions Things Prepositions

ENG 102 – Structures of English 21

 Lesson 5: Preposition

A preposition is a word that indicates the relationship between a noun and the other
words of a sentence. They explain relationships of sequence, space, and logic between the
object of the sentence and the rest of the sentence. They help us understand order, time
connections, and positions.
Example:
o I am going to Canada.
o Alex threw a stone into the pond.
o The present is inside the box.
o They have gone out of the town.
There are a few interesting linguistic facts about preposition.
o First, they are a closed class of words which means no new preposition gets added to
the language. We use a fixed set of prepositions.
o Second, prepositions do not have any other form. They cannot be plural, possessive,
inflection, or anything else.
o Third, most of the prepositions have many different contextual and natural uses. So,
it is easy to be confused about preposition.
o Fourth, sometimes a preposition works as nouns, adjectives, and adverbs.
o Prepositions can be of one, two, three, or even more words. Prepositions with two or
more words are called phrasal prepositions.

1. The examples of common prepositions are:

about down off abroad

above during on across
after except over against
among for to along
at from toward around
before in under below
behind inside upon beside
between into with despite
beyond like within through
by near without toward
concerning of until up

2. The examples of some prepositional phrases are:

for an hour from the class

in the river inside the garden
by the seashore over the fence

3. The examples of some phrasal prepositions are:

along with by means of

ENG 102 – Structures of English 22

 apart from contrary to
as far as in spite of
as well as in view of
because of on account of
as for together with
according to with regard to
as to in front of
by the side of in place of
by way of in regard to
for the sake of in view of
in accordance with instead of
in addition to out of
in case of with respect
in favor of

Examples of prepositions used in sentences:

She knows many things about me.
I went home immediately.
This is secret between you and me only.
Come home before the sun sets.
She can jump over the fence.
Examples of phrasal preposition used in sentences:
I will go to school along with mother.
Jose and Jaime, sit one seat apart from each other.
As far as I am concerned, I am not in favor of the abolition of death penalty.
For the sake of the country, let us have faith in the government in spite of economic crisis.
Don’t park in front of one’s drive way.

Types of Prepositions

1. Prepositions of Time

Prepositions of time show the relationship of time between the nouns to the other parts of a
sentence. Prepositions of time usually indicate when something happens, happened or will
happen in the future.
On, at, in, from, to, for, since, ago, before, till/until, by, etc. are the most common
preposition of time.
Example:
o He started working at 10 AM.
o The company called meeting on 25 October.
o There is a holiday in December.
o He has been ill since Monday.

There are some rules that will help you place the right preposition in the right place when it
comes to time.
Rule 1 – use in when you refer to years, months, seasons, centuries and time of a day.

ENG 102 – Structures of English 23

Example: It is always hot in May.

Rule 2 – use on when you refer to days, dates, and specific holidays.

Example: We go to church on Sunday.

Rule 3 – use at when you refer to time exceptions and festivals.

Example: I work best at night.

2. Prepositions of Place and Direction

Prepositions of place show the relationship of place between the nouns to the other parts of
a sentence. They usually indicate position and are easily discernable. On, at, and in are used
to indicate both time and place.

On, at, in, by, from, to, towards, up, down, across, between, among, through, in front
of, behind, above, over, under, below, etc. are the most common prepositions of
place/direction.

Example:
o He is at home.
o He came from England.
o The police broke into the house.
o I live across the river.

Note: There are some rules that will help you identify the right preposition for location.
Rule 1 – when you refer to something with a surface, use the preposition on
Here are some examples:
The clock hangs on the wall.
The names of the deceased are on the tombstones.
The books are on the desk.
The writing on the wall had to be removed.
Rule 2 - when you refer to something inside or confined, use the preposition in.
Here are some examples:
The girls are in the shopping mall buying Christmas presents.
The bolts are in the jar in the shed.
David left the book in the car.
Rule 3 – when you refer to specific point, use at.
Here are several examples:
Mika is at the work at the moment.
Ivy will meet David at 8:00 pm.
I will meet my friend at midnight on New Year’s Eve.

3. Prepositions of Agents or Things

Prepositions of agents or things indicate a casual relationship between nouns and other
parts of the sentence. They indicate action conducted on something or someone by something
or someone.
Of, for, by, with, about, etc. are the most used and common prepositions of agents or things.
Example:

ENG 102 – Structures of English 24

 o This article is about smartphones.
o Most of the guests have already left.
o I will always be here for you.
o He is playing with his brothers.

4. Phrasal Prepositions
A phrasal preposition is not a prepositional phrase, but they are a combination of two or
more words which functions as a preposition.
Along with, apart from, because of, by means of, according to, in front of, contrary to,
in spite of, on account of, in reference to, in addition to, in regard to, instead of, on top
of, out of, with regard to, etc. are the most common phrasal prepositions.
Example:
o They along with their children went to Atlanta.
o According to the new rules, you are not right.
o In spite of being a good player, he was not selected.
o I’m going out of the city.

Other Types of Preposition

Prepositions of Movement
Prepositions of Movement indicate direction in which something or someone is moving.
The most common preposition of movement is to.
Here are several examples:
• Gwen will move to the beach house for Christmas.
• Dad went to the park to play ball with other children.
• The puppy went to the park for puppy training with Rachel.
Rule 1 – when referring to movement from one side to another, use the preposition across.
• The ball rolled across the field very quickly.
• The dog ran across the oval without its owner while the game was in action.
• The explorers tacked across the desert early in the morning to avoid the heat.
Rule 2 – when referring to movement from inside to outside or outside to inside, use the
preposition through.
• The angry man put his fist through the wall.
• The car pass through the tunnel on its way to the airport.
• The baseball went through the window when the children were playing in the
backyard.
• During the storm, the large hail went through the roof and destroyed the home.
Rule 3 – when referring to movement that enters or looks inside, use the preposition into.
• John went into the shed to get his carpenter’s tools.
• The crowd looked into the night sky to spot the shooting star.
• The car drove into the fence when the driver lost control.
Rule 4 – when referring to a specific direction of movement, use the preposition over, down,
up, past and around.
• The car travelled over the slippery road during the rain storm.
• The escapees ran down the road to avoid being captured.
• The man climbed up the mountain during the Christmas holidays.
• Mark ran past David to reach the finish line in record time.
• The lost driver drove around the block several times before finding the route.

ENG 102 – Structures of English 25

Prepositions of Manner
Prepositions of Manner describe the way things happen or the means by which things
happen. These prepositions include, by, in, like, with and on.
Here are several examples:
• The children go to school by bus.
• Gwen went to a shopping mall in a taxi.
• The man reacted with anger when confronted by the police.
• They travelled on foot due to the rough terrain.

Prepositions of Agent or Instrument

Prepositions of agent or instrument indicate action conducted on something or someone by
something or someone. These prepositions include by and with.
Here are several examples:
• The movie script was written by Candace and David.
• Candace is writing the movie script with her black pen.
• The house was constructed by Jonathan.
• Jonathan is cutting the timber with his electric saw.

Prepositions of Measure
Prepositions of measure indicate the quantity of something with someone or something.
Here are several examples:
• The fabric shop sells the material by the meter.
• Candace brought a kilogram of tomatoes for the salad.
• One-third of the place was destroyed by the meteor.

Prepositions of Source
Prepositions of source indicate that something or someone originated from something or
someone. These prepositions include, from and by.
Here are some examples:
• Rachel receives money from her father in order to live comfortably.
• This note was written by my wife.
Prepositions of Possession
Preposition of possession indicate something or someone is own by something or someone
else.
Here are several examples:
• This is the property of my late husband.
• Candace meet the boy with the dark sunglasses at the football game.
• The antique clock belongs to my mother.
• He is the friend of my classmate.

Prepositional Phrase
Understand how to form a prepositional phrase.

Prepositions generally introduce prepositional phrases. Prepositional phrases look like this:

Preposition + Optional Modifiers +Noun, Pronouns, or Gerund

Here are some examples:

ENG 102 – Structures of English 26

 At school

At = preposition; school = noun

According to us

According to = preposition; us = pronoun

By chewing

By = preposition; chewing = gerund

Under the stove

Under = preposition; the = modifier; stove = noun

In the crumb-filled, rumpled sheets

In = prepositions; the, crumb-filled, rumpled = modifiers; sheets = nouns

Realize that some prepositions also function as subordinate conjunctions.

Some prepositions also function as subordinate conjunctions. These prepositions are after,
as, before, since, and until. A subordinate conjunction will have both a subject and a verb
following it, forming a subordinate clause.

Look at these examples:

After Alfred and Jasmin kissed goodnight.

After = subordinate conjunction; Sam, Esmeralda = subjects; kissed = verb

As Jerome buckled on the parachute.

As = subordinate conjunction; Jerome = subject; buckled = verb

Before I eat these frog legs

Before = subordinate conjunction; I = subject ; eat = verb

Since we have enjoyed the Miswa with sayote stew.

Since = subordinate conjunction; we = subject; have enjoyed = verb

Until your hiccups stop

Until = subordinate conjunction; hiccups = subject; stop = verb

Classification of Prepositions

Basis Kind Definition Examples

Temporal A preposition that denotes Will schools open in September?
or

Preposition time Classes start at 7:45 a.m. Philippine

Function

independence was first declared on

June 12, 1898.
Use

ENG 102 – Structures of English 27

 Spatial A preposition that denotes She stays in an apartment.
Preposition location, position, or Get out of your shell.
direction Observe no smoking within the school
premises.
Relational A preposition that denotes Michael Jackson is the King of Pop.
Preposition relationship between the He is a doctor by profession.
object of the preposition and The two countries are at war.
another word in the
sentence.
Instrumental A preposition that denotes Slice it with a bread knife.
Preposition instrument Rizal was executed by means of a
firing squad.
The child was saved by her sister.
Causal/ Causative A preposition that shows a We were born because of love.
Preposition cause-effect relationship Many were stranded due to a storm.
There was a fare increase owing to the
oil price hike.

Comparative A preposition that denotes Treat me like a rose.

Preposition similarity You look like your mother.
It looks like it’ll rain.
Contrastive A preposition that denotes Unlike me, you came from a well-to-do
Preposition dissimilarity family.
They love basketball, unlike football.
She, unlike her sister, is fond of Ann
Lyke.
Replacive A preposition that denotes The VP, in lieu of the president,
Preposition substitution delivered the speech.
Why don’t you take engineering
instead of dentistry?
The nurse in place of the physician
took the patient’s vital statistics.
Possessive A preposition that denotes One leg of the table is broken.
Preposition possession The arms of the starfish are long.

Purposive A preposition that denotes We will go to Boracay for an outing.

Preposition purpose The actress did it for art’s sake.
This telephone is good for business
calls.

Quantitative A preposition that is They slept here for a day.

Preposition composed of only one word He bought the wrist watch for a
thousand pesos.
The class was grouped by twos.

ENG 102 – Structures of English 28

Composition Simple A preposition that is in, out, on, of, for, up
Preposition composed of only one word

Compound A preposition that is out of, in front of, on top of, in spite of,
Preposition composed of two or more up to, because of, owing to, due to
words.

Preposition (in/for/about) + ing

If a preposition (in/for/about etc.) is followed by a verb, the verb ends in -ing.

Preposition Verb (ing)

Are you interested in working for us?
I’m not good with learning languages
Kate must be fed up of studying
What are the advantages for having a car?
Thanks very much about inviting me to your party.
How instead of meeting for lunch tomorrow?
Why don’t you go out in spite of sitting at home all the time?
Amy went to work feeling ill

You can also say “instead of somebody doing something’, fed up with people doing
something’.

o I’m fed up with people telling me what to do.

We say:

o Before going out, I phoned Sarah. (not before to go out)

o What did you do after leaving school?

You can also say “Before I went out…’ and ‘…after you left school.

by-ing (to say how somethings happens):

o You can improve your English by reading more.

o She made herself ill by not eating properly.
o Many accidents are caused by people driving fast.
o The burglars got into the house by breaking a window and climbing in:

without-ing:

o We ran ten kilometers without stopping.

o It was a stupid thing to say. I said it without thinking.
o She needs to work without people disturbing her… without being disturbed.

ENG 102 – Structures of English 29

 o I have enough problems of my own without having to worry about yours.

to+ing (look forward to doing something etc.)

We often use to+infinitive (to do/to see etc.)

o We decided to travel by train.

o Would you like to meet for lunch tomorrow?

But to is also a preposition (like in/for/about/with etc.) For example:

o We went from Paris to Geneva.

o I prefer tea to coffee.
o Are you looking forward to the weekend?

If we use a preposition +verb, the verb ends in -ing:

o I’m fed up with travelling by train.

o How about going away this weekend?

So, when to is a preposition and it is followed by a verb, we use to-ing:

o I prefer driving to travelling by train. (not to travel)

o Are you looking forward to going on holiday? (not looking forward to)

Verb+preposition+ing

We use some verbs+preposition+object. For example:

Verb+preposition+object
We talked about the problem.
I apologized for what I said

If the object is another verb, we use – ing:

Verb + preposition+ - ing

We talked about going to America.

You should apologize for not telling the truth.

You can use these verbs in the same way:

Approve of He doesn’t approve of swearing.
Decide against We have decided against moving to manila.
Dream of feel like I wouldn’t dream of asking them for money.
Insist on I don’t feel like going out tonight.
Look forward to They insisted on paying for the meal.
Succeed in Are you looking forward to going away?
Think of/ about Has Paul succeeded in finding a job yet?
I’m thinking of/about buying a house.

You can also say “approve of somebody doing something’, look forward to somebody doing
something’ etc:

ENG 102 – Structures of English 30

 o I don’t approve of people killing animals as a sport.
o We are all looking forward to Andy coming home next week.

Some verbs have the structure verb+object+preposition+ing.

For example: verb + object + preposition + ing

accuse..of
He accused me of telling lies.
congratulate…on We congratulated lisa on winning the first prize.
What prevented you from coming to see us?
prevent..from
The rain didn’t stop us from enjoying our holiday.
suspect..of Nobody suspected the general of being a spy.
I thanked everyone for helping me.
thank..for

You can’t stop somebody doing or stop somebody from doing’:

o You can’t stop me doing what I want. or You can’t stop me from doing…

Note this example with not-ing.

o He accused me of not telling the truth.

Some of these verbs are often used in the passive. For example:

o We were accused of telling lies. (or.. accused of lying.)

o The general was suspected of being a spy.

Note that we say ‘apologize to somebody for….’:

o I apologized to them for keeping them waiting. (not I apologized them)

Appendix A

Adjectives followed by prepositions

absent from discriminated againts jealous of
accustomed to divorced from known for
acquainted with done with limited in/by
addicted to dressed in made of
afraid of engaged to married to
angry at/with enthusiastic about opposed to
annoyed with envious of patient with
associated with equipped with polite to
aware of excited about prepared for
blessed with exposed to provided with
bored with faithful to proud of
capable of familiar with ready to/for
cluttered with filled with related to/for
committed to finished with related to
composed of fond of relevant to
concerned about friendly toward/with remembered for
connected to furious about responsible for
content with furnished with safe from

ENG 102 – Structures of English 31

 convinced of glad about satisfied with
coordinated with grateful to/for scared of
crazy about guilty of terrified of
crowded with hidden from tired of
dedicated to innocent of upset with
devoted to interested in used to
disappointed in/with involved in worried about

ENG 102 – Structures of English 32

Name: ____________________________________________ Date: ________________
Year/Block/Specialization: ______________________________

Activity 1
Prepositions (time)

Directions: Put in one of the following:

at on in during for since by until

Example: Jack has gone away. He’ll be back in a week.

1. We’re having a party ______________ Saturday. Can you come?

2. I’ve got an interview next week. It’s ______________ Tuesday morning
________________ 9:30.
3. Sue isn’t usually here________________ weekends. She goes away.
4. The train service is very good. The trains are nearly always _____________ time.
5. It was a confusing situation. Many things were happening _____________ the same time.
6. I couldn’t decide whether or not to buy the sweater. _____________ I decided not to.
7. The road is busy all the time, even ___________ night.
8. I met a lot of nice people ______________ my stay in New York.
9. I saw Helen ____________ Friday, but I haven’t seen her _____________ then.
10. I’m just going out. I won’t be long – I’ll be back ____________ ten minutes.
11. Robert has been doing the same job __________ five years.
12. Via’s birthday is ________________ the end of March. I’m not sure exactly which day it
is.
13. We have friends staying with us _________ the moment. They’re staying ____________
Friday.
14. If you’re interested in applying for the job, you’re application must be received ______
Friday.

ENG 102 – Structures of English 33

Name: ____________________________________________ Date: ________________
Year/Block/Specialization: ______________________________

Activity 2
Directions: Complete the sentences. Use these verbs + the correct preposition.

explain laugh listen look point reply speak throw throw

1. I look stupid with this haircut. Everybody will laugh at me.

2. I don’t understand this. Can you explain it to me.
3. We live in the same building, but we’ve never _________________ one another.
4. Be careful with those scissors! Don’t ______________ them __________ me.
5. You shouldn’t ____________ directly _________ the sun. You’ll damage your eyes.
6. Please ______________ me! I’ve got something important to tell you.
7. Don’t _____________ stones ________ the birds.
8. If you don’t want that sandwich, ___________ it ________ the birds. They’ll eat it.
9. I tried to contact Tina, but she didn’t _____________ my emails.

ENG 102 – Structures of English 34

Name: ____________________________________________ Date: ________________
Year/Block/Specialization: ______________________________

Activity 3
Directions: Write a short essay about any topic using prepositions and underline the
prepositions used.

ENG 102 – Structures of English 35