Prepositions

A preposition is a word that indicates location in time and space

There are about 150 prepositions in English, but here is a list of 70 of the more common one-word prepositions.
Aboard Behind Except On To
About Below Excepting Onto Toward
Above Beneath Excluding Opposite Towards
Across Beside Following Outside Under
After Besides For Over Underneath
Against Between From Past Unlike
Along Beyond In Per Until
Amid But Inside Plus Up
Among By Into Regarding Upon
Anti Concerning Like Round Versus
Around Considering Minus Save Via
As Despite Near Since With
At Down Of Than Within
Before During Off Through Without

A prepositional phrase begins with a preposition and ends with an object (which could be a noun, pronoun, gerund, or
clause), and might have modifiers in between the preposition and its object.

Example: The food is in the cabinet.

The plane is on the ground.
Throughout the living room was the scent of fatty crabs that had expired weeks ago.

A preposition phrase can NEVER contain the main subject or verb of a sentence. Because of this, prepositional phrases
often serve as red herrings in SAT writing questions, masking agreement errors (or occasionally making it seem as
though there is an agreement error when there isn’t one).

…So, what can you do with prepositions?

 Identify and bracket prepositional phrases whenever you seem them in an SAT writing question.
 With those out of the way, identify the subject and verb and/or any pronoun/antecedent pairings and check for
agreement
 If no agreement errors are evident, then you should check the prepositional phrase for errors: in particular, if the
preposition is underlined, check to be sure it’s the idiomatically correct preposition for that expression (e.g.
“opposed to” vs. “opposed from,” “listen to” vs. “listen at,” etc.)

Example

In the morning, the group of students, with their backpacks and No. 2 pencils in tow, are waiting patiently by the bus
stop.

So, let’s bracket those prepositional phrases:

[In the morning], the group [of students], [with their backpacks and No. 2 pencils in tow], are waiting patiently [by
the bus stop].

Now, we can look at the simplified sentence and check for agreement issues:

The group are waiting patiently.

“group” is singular; “are” is plural. Subject-verb agreement error spotted!

Exercise # 1: Place brackets around all the prepositional phrases in the following sentences.
 1. Bathed in balsamic and dressed in basil, ripe tomatoes and soft mozzarella bask in the light of the lamp that is
never turned off.
2. Jack’s grandfather suffered from polio, a crippling and potentially fatal infectious disease.
3. She tiptoed through the cubicle, examining the dusty wooden chair, and made her way past her boss, who was on
the phone with a contractor.
4. As an environmental researcher, I study the effects of global warming, which has been a hot topic in recent years.
5. The group of nearly ten executives, under the leadership of Senator Aldrich, enjoyed the secrecy and placidity of
the luxurious Jekyll Island.
6. According to the article, the train that had crashed into the wall had no conductor on board.
Exercise # 2: Cross out the prepositional phrases and determine if the subject and verb is in agreement.

1. A long list of telephone numbers (were, was) the only clue they had.

2. One page of the photographs (were, was) printed upside down.

3. Many miles of Australia’s southwest coast (is, are) treeless.

4. High levels of mercury (occur, occurs) in some fish.

5. Water in the fuel lines (cause, causes) an engine to stall.

6. Food between the teeth (result, results) in decay.

7. One of the men lost (his, their) pajamas.

8. A box of oranges (was, were) sent home.

9. The analysis of the results (reveal, reveals) significant difference between the groups.

10. The material that was applied to the blades of wind turbines (age, ages) rapidly in tests.

11. Each of the samples (was, were) treated with the same dose of antibiotics.

12. The participants who enter the study (receive, receives) questionnaires.

13. A convoy of trucks (is, are) roaring down the dirt road.

14. This list of names (is used, are used) to check in contestants as they arrive.

15. A dealer in rare books (was asked, were asked) to look at the collection of novels to ensure the authenticity.

16. All the employees at the store (is wearing, are wearing) blue shirts and khakis.

17. That group of stars (is called, are called) the Little Dipper.

18. A box of warm sweaters (was delivered, are delivered) to the women’s shelter.

19. The grove of orange trees (is shining, are shining) in the sun.

20. The leaves on the oak tree (is turning, are turning) bright orange and yellow.
Exercise 3: Write sentences that contain the following intervening prepositional phrases: of these video games, with the
tractor, under the car’s massive engine, and at the ballet.

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