Tips on Using Prepositions

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10 TIPS on USING PREPOSITIONS

• Grammar Rules and Tips for using Prepositions

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What is a Preposition?

• A Preposition indicates relationships between two
  nearby words (between a noun or pronoun and other
  parts of the sentence) in a sentence and usually
  appears before a noun or a pronoun.
• Example
• Let's meet near the shopping mall. (near is a
  preposition shopping mall is its object)Forms
  of Prepositions
• Prepositions of Place tell you where something
  happened. Example We saw a movie at the
  theater.
• Prepositions of Time when something happened.
  Example We saw the movie at 3.30 this afternoon.
  
• Prepositions also indicate direction, spatial
  relationships, as well as other abstract types of
  relationships. Example Look to the left and
  youll see  the movie theater.
• Some prepositions are two or three word phrases
  known as Complex Prepositions or Prepositional
  Phrases. Example He got the job in spite of his
  poor results.

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Prepositions of Place

• In This is used to indicate a place inside a
  room, house, town, city etc
• I watch TV in the living room.
• I live in New Delhi.
• At An exact position or place or event
• She met him at the concert.
• I met him at the door.
• On Above a surface, a particular side, a floor
  in the house, for television etcMy apartment is
  on the third floor.
• I watched the Mahabaratha on TV.
• From In the sense of where from
• I bought dresses from the mall.

Under/ Below Lower or above something The birds
are flying below the clouds. By/ Near/ Beside/
Next to Adjacent to something Dilip is waiting
by the car. Over exceeding, overcoming an
obstacle, above They climbed over the wall to
flee. He is over 70 years old.
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Prepositions of Time

• At A certain point in time
• I will meet you at lunch time.
• On Days, weekends.
• What are you doing on Sunday?
• In Certain periods of time, months, seasons,
  mornings etc.It gets cold in winter.
• Since/ For From a certain point in time in the
  past till now.
• He has been living in Jaipur since 2010.
• She has been sleeping for more than ten hours.
• Ago A certain time in the past
• He came to Jaipur two years ago.

Before Earlier than a certain point in time He
goes for a walk before dawn. From The time when
something starts The shop remains open from 930
AM till 1000 PM. Till/ Until upto a certain
point in time He waited until half past six. By
Not later than at or before He returns from
school by 5 oclock.
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Other Types of Prepositions

• Off Leaving a public transport vehicle
• She got off the train.
• Of Expressing amount or ownership
• She is a friend of mine.
• Show her the picture of the palace.
• Out of Leaving a vehicle or a buildingShe got
  out of the lift in a hurry.
• About Dealing with a certain topic
• We were talking about the movie.
• By a method of travelling indicating the
  creator indicating a change/ progression
• This book was written by Rushkin Bond.
• Prices have risen by 2.5 percent.

At Indicating age She learned to drive at
65. On A method of travelling He got there by
foot. Please get on the bus before it
starts. From expressing origin or a change in
state It is a gift from Ashish. The fever went
from bad to worse. In Entering a car/ taxi I
asked her to get in the car.
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Tips on using Prepositions
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Tip 1 What follows a Preposition?
Tip 2 Cases where a Preposition is not followed
by an object

• Preposition is ALWAYS followed by
• Noun The coffee is on the table.
• Proper noun He is going to Raipur.
• Pronoun Mahesh gave it to them.
• Noun group I took a drive with my new car.
• Gerund He went crazy on hearing the news.
• Preposition is NEVER followed by a verb If a
  Preposition is followed by a verb, then it should
  be in -ing form, which means a gerund or verb
  in noun form.
• I always dream about winning the lottery.

A. The object in interrogative pronoun is
understood That is something with which I
cannot agree. (incorrect) That is something I
cannot agree with. (correct) B. The object of
the preposition is relative pronoun that This
is the book of that he always talks. (incorrect)
This is the book that he always talks of.
(correct) C. Preposition is placed after the
infinitive if the infinitive qualifies the
noun He gave me a pen to write. (incorrect) He
gave me a pen to write with. (correct)
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Tip 4 Omission of Preposition
Tip 3 Preposition with Pronouns

• Preposition with Pronouns If object of the
  preposition is a pronoun then it should be in
  the objective form (me, her, them), not
  subjective form (I, she, they).
• This is from my wife and I. (Incorrect)
• This is from my wife and me. (Correct)

Await, Lack, Regret, Concern, Board, Ensure,
Affect, Sign, Join, Direct, Order, befall,
Eschew, Attack, Invade, Resist, Resign, Reach,
Succeed, Precede, Pervade, Resemble, Demand,
Consider, Violate, Accompany, Comprise,
Investigate, Discuss, Enter, Stress, Emphasize
When these verbs are used in active form NO
Preposition is used after them. She resembles
with her sister. I will discuss about the subject
with the teacher. Omission of Preposition to
When verbs of communication like advise, tell,
ask, beg, command etc are used before an object,
then to should not be used with the verb. I
advised to him to go.
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Tip 5 Since
Tip 6 To Beside
To as a Preposition I am used to driving.
To as an Infinitive I love to drive. (here
the verb drive is in its basic form and is not
the main verb, so it is an infinitive preceded by
to) Beside and Besides She sat beside the
table. (here beside means near) Besides
Bharatnatyam she also learning Kathak. (here
besides means in addition to)

• Since as a Preposition is used to express some
  definite time from the past till the present .
• The person is missing since last Monday.
• Since as a Conjunction joining two sentence
  clauses
• Many things have changed since I left the city.
• Since you will not work, you shall not eat. (as
  conjunction meaning because)
• Since as Adverb is used to express from a
  time in the past till now.
• He left the city in 1998 and I have not seen him
  since.

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Tip 8 In Vs Into, At, Within
Tip 7 On Vs In, Upon,

• On and In In is used to refer to by end
  of the specified time whereas On is used to
  denote the exact time, neither before nor after.
• The train will leave in ten minutes.
• The train is on time.
• On and Upon On and Upon are prepositions
  that convey same meaning and can be used
  interchangeably. However, in some cases on is
  used to denote position where as upon is used
  to denote some movement.
• The pillow is on the bed.
• He threw the pillow upon the bed.
• On as preposition of Time and Place
• The shop remains closed on Sunday. (time)
• The shop is on the right. (place)

In and At In is used in wider and bigger
sense of town, cities, countries etc. But At is
used to denote comparatively smaller places. She
lives at Laketown in Kolkata. (Kolkata is a big
city but Laketown is a small locality.) In
and Into In is used to denote position
whereas Into is used to express motion toward
something. I live in this house. (in refers to
the position where I live.) I walked into the
house. (into refers to my movement towards the
house) In and Within In is used to refer
to the end of a specific time, whereas Within
is used to denote before the end of specified
time. He will return in five minutes. He will
return within five minutes.
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Tip 9 Preposition or Adverb?
Tip 10 By With
By and With He struck the bird with an
arrow. (with is used to denote instrument,
equipment) The bird was struck by the archer.
(by is used for the doer of the
action)

• Identify Preposition from Adverb A
  preposition always has an object. An
  adverb never has an object.
• Please come in the kitchen. (preposition in has
  object  the kitchen)
• Please come in. (adverb  in has no object it
  qualifies the verb come)

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Spot the Errors
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Spot the Error

• He ordered for the employees transfer.
• I am concerned with your health.
• Ravi is more concerned for getting the job done.
• I left home at Monday morning to catch a flight
  for Bangalore.
• He is one of the best players from India and he
  takes pride of it.

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Spot the Error

• He ordered for the employees transfer.
• He ordered the employees transfer.
• I am concerned with your health.
• I am concerned for your health.
• Ravi is more concerned for getting the job done.
• Ravi is more concerned with getting the job done.
• I left home at Monday morning to catch a flight
  for Bangalore.
• I left home on Monday morning to catch a flight
  to Bangalore.
• He is one of the best players from India and he
  takes pride of it.
• He is one of the best players in India and he
  takes pride in it.

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Spot the Error

• I look forward to see you.
• I dived in the water.
• The road repair work disrupted the traffic from
  two days.
• I informed to the police of the burglary.
• The lion attacked on the deer.

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Spot the Error

• I look forward to see you.
• I look forward to seeing you.
• I dived in the water.
• I dived into the water.
• The road repair work disrupted the traffic from
  two days.
• The road repair work disrupted the traffic for
  two days.
• I informed to the police of the burglary.
• I informed to the police of the burglary.
• The lion attacked on the deer.
• The lion attacked on the deer.

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