Prepositions: little things do matter!
When you’re trying to close a deal, write a proposal, or give a presentation, your English can make all the difference. Good grammar is essential to good speaking and writing. One area in particular that causes great difficulty for those whose English is a second or foreign language, is prepositions, 150 to be exact. Can you remember the last time you sent an e-mail knowing that it probably contained some prepositions you used incorrectly? Did you realize that your mistakes could cause your reader to misunderstand you or become offended? As professionals and business people, you cannot afford to make these mistakes.
- What are prepositions?
Prepositions connect words to other parts of a sentence and have a close relationship with the word that follows, which is usually a noun. They never change their form, regardless of the case, gender etc. of the word they are referring to.
Some common prepositions are the following:
| about above across after against along among around at before behind below beneath beside between beyond but |
by despite down during except for from in inside into like near of off on onto out |
outside over past since through throughout till to toward under underneath until up upon with within without. |
- One of the greatest learning challenges presented by prepositions is their meaning.
He was born in the spring.
She threw the paper in the wastebasket.
The letter is written in French.
Although the preposition in is used in each of the above sentences, its meaning is not the same. In the first example, in refers to time. When was he born? He was born in the spring. In the second example, in refers to direction, where something is going; in this case, the direction is from outside the wastebasket to the inside of the wastebasket. The last example shows how the preposition in expresses the relationship between the noun, letter, and the word, French.
- Four things prepositions tell
The four things that prepositions tell are 1) where something is (location); 2) where something is going (direction); 3) when something happens (time); 4) the relationship between a noun or a pronoun and another word in a sentence.
Location
The subway is near her home.
They live just around the corner
We live within ten miles of your house
The town is across the river.
I’ll meet you at the mall.
Directions
She went to the city.
She jogged around the block.
He threw it just beyond the fence.
We came by the back road.
We went through the tunnel.
Time
I’ll wait until noon.
They arrived during the storm.
I had an appointment for two o’clock.
The time is ten to five.
We should arrive within two days.
Relationship
Sam went to the party with Ann.
He is a man of ideas.
They never play by the rules.
You must choose between law and medicine as a career.
We went on a strict diet.
- sites that can further your understanding of English prepositions
http://www.englishclub.com/grammar/prepositions-rule.htm
http://esl.about.com/library/grammar/blgr_prep1.htm
http://www.tefl.net/alexcase/worksheets/grammar/business-prepositions/
http://www.wordpower.ws/grammar/gramch26.html
