LESSON 9, PREPOSITIONS

A preposition is a word placed before a noun or pronoun to show in what relation the person or thing denoted by it stands in regard to something else.

Even advanced learners of English make mistakes because translation of prepositions in your own language is usually not possible. One preposition in your native language might have several translations depending on the situation.

There are hardly any rules as to when to use which preposition. The way to learn prepositions is looking them up in a dictionary, reading a lot in English (literature) and making your own sentences. Let us look at the following sentences:

1. There is a fox in the house. ( A relationship between nouns - fox and house) 2. He is fond of Cricket. (A relationship between adjective – found and noun – cricket). 3. The man jumped off the roof. (A relationship between verb – jumped and noun – roof).

Prepositions are mainly arranged in three classes:
Simple Prepositions: at, by, for, from, in, of, off, on, out, through, till, to, up, with.

Compound Prepositions: about, above, across, along, amidst, among, amongst, around, before, behind, below, beneath, beside, between, beyond, inside, outside, underneath, within, without.

Phrase Prepositions: about, above, across, along, amidst, among, amongst, around, before, behind, below, beneath, beside, between, beyond, inside, outside, underneath, within, without.

Try out the each of the above prepositions in your own sentences. If the sentence makes sense and conveys the meaning – you have used the preposition correctly.