What is Preposition?

Hello there! It’s a new day and I welcome you to yet another day of our lesson. I trust we are all good and ready for today.

I’m still excited to share more of the parts of speech with you all. We’ve talked about quite a number of them like Nouns, verbs, pronouns etc… however, today we are going to talk about preposition and I know we have all heard about that word at least in our primary schools. So for those who didn’t understand then or who understood but have forgotten by now, will have a full knowledge of it.

You can always visit my other posts to read more… Thanks

Happy Reading!

Our lesson today is on preposition. One will like to ask…

WHAT IS PREPOSITION?

Preposition means the position of a noun and other words in a sentence.

Rightly said… Prepositions are words that form a link or a relationship between nouns, pronouns, phrases, adverbs or adjectives in a sentence. They link parts of a sentence and give it meaning.

Prepositions are also words that are placed before a noun or pronoun to show their relationship between other words in a sentence

A preposition is very important in a sentence for to give it meaning, although it might be a small part in a sentence

Link/relationship

Let’s see some of the examples of prepositions

1. I saw your book under the chair
2. Put your clothes in your bag
3. I was born on October
4. I arrived at 10pm today
5. The chair is before the table

Types of Preposition

There different types of prepositions

1. Simple preposition
2. Compound preposition
3. Participle preposition
4. Phrase preposition
5. Complex preposition

Simple Preposition

This type of preposition deals with only one word. These are for, in, at, of, off, through, by, since, up, on etc

Examples:

1. She sat on the table yesterday
2. He saw his sister at the market
3. Please put my books in my bag
4. Look up and see the ripe orange
5. I have been waiting for your reply

Compound Prepositions

Compound prepositions have their prepositions in front of a noun, adjective or an adverb. (These prepositions are formed by prefixing the preposition to a noun, an adverb or an adjective). These are about, behind, within, along, across, through, before, without, between, outside, around, below, above etc

Examples:

1. The children danced around the table
2. My husband can’t do without his mother
3. The cat is behind the table
4. That boy is outside the class
5. I went to the church before the market

Participle Preposition

Participle preposition can be used without any noun or pronoun attached to them. These are concerning, pending, regarding, touching, considering, during, etc

Examples:

1. Her story was touching
2. Pending when the issued will be solved, lets continue
3. Concerning the matter at hand, I have a solution
4. During the meeting, she was answering calls
5. Considering your application, you are invited for an interview

Phrase Preposition

These are group of words that act as a single preposition. These are by means of, in spite of, because of, away from, along with, in accordance to, in front of, in case of, in search of, in regard to, In lieu of, in view of, but for, out of

Example:

1. Incaseof anything, just let me know
2. My qualification is inview
3. Inaccordanceto what was said earlier, I have an addition
4. Inspiteof what happened, she still went there
5. We are all insearchof the boy

Complex Preposition

These prepositions are made up of more than one word. These are because of, on behalf of, together with, instead of etc.

1. Becauseof what happened to her, I can’t leave her alone
2. Inspiteof what you did, you still went to her house
3. Dike, togetherwith his sister climbed the fence
4. Onbehalfof my sister and the group, I apologize for what happened
5. Let me come to your house Insteadof wasting my time

There Are Also Other Types of Prepositions … let’s take a good look at them

Preposition of Time

This talks about when something happened. It all depends on the sentence (in, on, after, before)

1. Check if you will see him before you leave
2. She was born on a Monday
3. We will leave the class after the teacher
4. The teacher leaves before the students
5. Her birthday is on January

Preposition of Place

This talks about where something is or happened (under, on, at, in above)

1. I put my pen in the bag
2. She left her book on the table
3. Rat died under the table
4. They will arrive at noon
5. The instructions are above the questions

Preposition of Direction

This talks about which direction (from, into, to, of, up)

1. She came from the market
2. She traveled to America last week
3. Into your hands, I commit my spirit
4. The plane went up
5. I am from London

A sentence which consists of a subject and a predicate is not a complete sentence because it is without a preposition

Subject + predicate = not a complete sentence

Talks about who or what talks about the action No preposition of time, place

in a sentence of the subject

Now let’s take some examples

1. Motherbought the books (it’s not telling you the time, and place mother bought the books)
2. Davidthrew the pen (it’s not telling you the time, place and direction of the pen)
3. Sandrasang the song(it’s not telling you when, where Sandra sang the song)
4. Peterslapped the boy (it’s not telling you when, where Sandra sang the song)
5. The doctor brought the injection(it’s not telling you when, where Sandra sang the song)

Well I want us to discuss more on prepositional phrase

Prepositional phrase is a modifying phrase which consists of a preposition and its object. The preposition is usually before the object (object can be a noun or pronoun)

Example

• Preposition
• Object

1. Under the chair
2. In the bag
3. On the table
4. Beside the church
5. After the market

We all know that we have different types of preposition particularly the preposition of time, place and direction.

So let’s ride on and explore more of prepositionalphrases in a sentence

Example:

1. Mother bought the books onWednesday
2. David threw the pen onthetable
3. Sandra sang the song inthechurch
4. Peter slapped the boy yesterday afterlaunch
5. The doctor brought the injection tome

So I trust we are well prepared now for a little practice?

Let’s check this out!

Identify the different types of preposition in each of the sentences

1. As touching as her story was, I didn’t shed a tear

Participle preposition

2. I saw your children running around the house

Compound preposition

3. My master’s qualification is inview

Phrase preposition

4. Considering what you said, I give up

Participle preposition

5. On behalf of the committee, I present this gift to you

Complex preposition

6. Inspiteof being her guardian, he kidnapped her

Phrase preposition

7. If you are my student stay in the class

Simple preposition

8. I parked my car in the garage

Simple preposition

9. The plane flew above the sky

Simple preposition

10. My husband called me todayatnoon

Phrase preposition

Okay! You can do this one… Good luck!

Find the prepositions in the following sentences

1. Cook the food before I come back
2. The child ate under the tree
3. She met me at the market
4. There are no betrayers among us
5. The water is inside the bottle

Answer

1. Cook the food before I come back
2. The child ate under the tree
3. She met me at the market
4. There are no betrayers among us
5. The water is inside the bottle

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