Prepositions: The Glue That Holds Sentences Together

You probably remember what nouns are, what pronouns are, what verbs are, and maybe even what adverbs and adjectives are, but prepositions? It may sound familiar, but you might also not know what it is. All you might even know about it might be that it’s a part of speech, but what does it mean and entail? Well, that’s what I’m here for. Prepare to go on an interesting journey into the world of prepositions and their confusing usage.

The Cambridge Dictionary defines a preposition as a word that is used before a noun, a noun phrase, or a pronoun, connecting it to a word. They are used to show direction, place, time, and location or to introduce an object. Examples of prepositions include in, at, on, of, to, before, after, except, into, near, on top of, etc.

Examples of these prepositions used in sentences include:

• Before the cock crowed, Peter denied him three times.
• The senator arrived after lunch was served.
• The teacher asked everyone except Tolu to have their seat.
• We were warned not to go into the river.
• Beyond the hills, near the bridge, lies the grave of the fallen.
• The snake rested on top of the basket.

Common Prepositions And Their Usage.

Research has shown that prepositions pose a challenge for quite a large percentage of people. Hence, I’m going to delve into common prepositions we use in our daily lives, distinguishing between their wrong and right usage.  I’d start with a common question that might arise in everyone’s mind. How do we know when to use on and in? Do I say “My birthday is in June” or “My birthday is on June”? The first thing we need to know is that ‘in’ is used when something is inside an enclosed or defined space, and on is used when something is touching the surface of another thing.

Examples of this include:

• I am lying on the bed. 
• My birthday is in June. (The preposition “in” is used here because “my birthday” is inside June.)

Furthermore, another preposition that we might use wrongly is ‘at’. The preposition ‘at’ is used to refer to time or place.

Examples of this include:

• Lolade is at the cafeteria. (The preposition “at” is used to refer to the “caféteria.”)
• The meeting held at 6:15 p.m. (The preposition “at” is used to refer to 6:15 p.m.)

Subsequently, the preposition ‘to’ is used to refer to the direction of movement and place of arrival and can also be used to indicate purpose or goal.

Examples of this include: 

• The budget plan was created to ensure the efficient use of money.
• Lade is going to Switzerland.

Unquestionably, the list of commonly used prepositions goes on and on, but for this article, we will be stopping here. The next aspect of prepositions that we’d be looking for is prepositional phrases.

Prepositional Phrase

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines a prepositional phrase as a phrase that begins with a preposition and ends in a noun, pronoun, or noun phrase. Prepositional phrases are placed at the beginning, the middle, and the end of a sentence. It is important to also note that prepositional phrases that modify nouns are called adjectival phrases, while prepositional phrases that modify verbs and usually answer questions like how, why, where, and when are called adverbial phrases. Examples of adjectival phrases include:

• The boy from Ryan’s art class lives on the south side of town.
• We picked the cake in the middle.

Examples of adverbial phrases include:

• The thief defended himself by saying to the judge that he had stolen the money to feed his dying mother.
• Classes start after the morning assembly.

Conclusion

All things considered, knowledge of prepositions can go a long way in helping us construct better sentences and improve our grammar. I hope this article has been successful in impacting you with this knowledge. Make sure to check back to access other articles that can improve your English.