Prepositions Flashcards
What is a preposition?
A preposition is a word that describes relationships between words in a sentence.
Prepositions are always nearly combined with other words in constructions called?
Prepositional Phrases
How are prepositional phrases commonly built?
A preposition followed by a determiner and an adjective or two, followed by a pronoun or noun (called the object of the preposition).
What do prepositional phrases do?
They take a modifying role, acting as an adjective or an adverb, locating something in time and space, modifying a noun, or telling when or where or under what conditions something happened.
“You can sit before the desk (or in front of the desk).
Is it possible for a prepositional phrase to act as a noun?
Yes. “During a church service is not a good time to discuss picnic plans.”
They are seldom appropriate in formal or academic writing.
What are the uses for at, on, and in when used as prepositions of time?
- We use at to designate specific times.
“The train is due at 12:15 pm. - We use on to designate dates and days: “My mother is coming on Monday.”
- We use in for nonspecific times during a day, a month, a season, or a year.
“She likes to jog in the morning.”
“It’s too cold in winter to run outside.”
What are the uses for at, on, and in when used as prepositions of place?
- We use at for specific addresses.
“Grammar English lives at 55 Boretz Road in Durham.” - We use on to designate names of streets, avenues, etc.
“Her house is on Boretz Road.” - We use in for the names of land-areas (towns, counties, states, countries, and continents). “She lives in Durham.”
“Durham is in Windham County.”
What is the word to used for as a preposition?
We use to to express movement towards a place. “They were driving to work together.”
Are the words toward and towards prepositions?
Yes, they also express movement, and they are interchangeable. “We’re moving toward/towards the light.”
What are the 7 words we use no preposition for?
- Home
- Downtown
- Uptown
- Inside
- Outside
- Downstairs
- Upstairs
“Grandma went upstairs.”
What are the prepositions for and since used for?
- We use for when we measure time (seconds, minutes, hours, days, months, years). “He held his breath for seven minutes.”
- We use since with a specific date or time. “He’s worked here since 1970.”
“She’s been sitting in the waiting room since two-thirty.”
In what 3 categories of words can a preposition be firmly attached to a specific word?
- Nouns: “Approval of”
- Adjectives: “Afraid of”
- Verbs: “Apologize for”
What is the combination of a verb and a preposition called?
Phrasal Verb, the word that is joined to the verb is then called a particle.
Can idiomatic expressions be used with prepositions?
Yes. “Agree to a proposal, with a person, on a price, in principal.”
How can you tell when a preposition in a sentence is unecessary?
When it has no object, and the sentence would not change meaning without it.
“She met up with the new coach in the hallway.” < “She met the new coach in the hallway.”
When two words or phrases are used in parallel and require the same preposition to be idiomatically correct, does the preposition have to be used twice?
No.
“You can wear that outfit in summer and winter.” > “You can wear that outfit in summer and in winter.”
When the idiomatic use of phrases calls for different prepositions in parallel, do we use both prepositions?
Yes.
“The children were interested in and disgusted by the movie.
