English - I
Course : ADP A & F
Presentation
Topic : Verb forms & Verb Tenses
Submitted by : Group 5
( Nawab Shah , Amna Amin , Ayan Riaz , Abubakar
Raja , Shahzaib Khan )
Assigned by : Mam Saba
What are prepositions?
According to Merriam-Webster, the technical definition of a preposition
is “a word or group of words that is used with a noun, pronoun, or noun
phrase to show direction, location, or time, or to introduce an object.”
Simply put, prepositions are connector words. These connectors
customarily tie a noun to an idea. An example of this is in the sentence,
“I went to the store.” “To” connects the location of “store” to where the
person went.
Prepositions are common in the English language. There are about 150
used with the most common being: above, across, against, along, among,
around, at, before, behind, below, beneath, beside, between, by, down,
from, in, into, near, of, off, on, to, toward, under, upon, with and within.
Types of prepositions
Because there are so many prepositions, differentiating them helps to
understand when and how to use them properly. The word directly
following a preposition is called its complement, and how it relates to the
preposition determines what type of preposition you are using.
Transitive Prepositions
A transitive preposition always uses a complement with a preposition.
For example, the word “amongst” is a transitive preposition. You cannot
write “she lived amongst the wildflowers” without the complement “the
wildflowers.” Some traditional grammars believe transitive prepositions
are the only true prepositions.
Intransitive Prepositions
Intransitive prepositions do not need to use the complement to complete
the thought. For example, “outside” can be used in the following sentence
without a complement, “she lived outside.” You could add a complement
to this, “She lived outside the city limits,” but it is unnecessary when
using it. Traditional grammars believe intransitive prepositions are
actually adverbs. The argument for intransitive prepositions parallels the
use of transitive or intransitive verbs. “He runs” versus “he runs a
marathon.”
Conjunctive Preposition
This type of preposition uses a clause as the complement. Traditional
grammar may categorize these are subordinating conjunctions instead of
conjunctive prepositions. One common example of a conjunctive
preposition is the word “because.”
Complex Preposition
When two or more words form a preposition, they are a complex
preposition. This type of preposition is also referred to as a compound
preposition. Aside from being more than one word, it functions
essentially the same as any other preposition. “In light of” is an example
of a complex preposition. “In light of the recent traffic reports, the man
drove a different way to work.” Other examples are in addition to, on
behalf of, in the middle of, or across from.
Complex prepositions are mostly found at the beginning and the middle
of a sentence, but rarely at the end. To find the correct complex
preposition to use, focus on the relationship between the beginning and
the end of the sentence. When you have determined this relationship, you
can identify the proper complex preposition much easier.
List of prepositions
Prepositions – Place
English Usage Example
in room, building, We sleep in our
street, town, bedroom. We live
country in Texas.
book, paper, etc. I live in the United
States.
transportation
I read about it in
picture, world Harry Potter.
We are going in a
bus to the sports
game.
You look great in
that picture.
Where in the world
were you?
at next to or by an Leave your shoes
object at the door.
for sitting at a We have dinner at
table the table.
for events I told him I would
meet him at
place where you school.
are to doing
something We are studying at
the library.
Prepositions – Time
English Usage Example
on days of the on Friday
week
in months / in September / in autumn
seasons
in the evening
time of day
in 2020
year
in thirty minutes
after a
certain
period of
time (when?)
at for night at night
a certain
point of time
