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The Preposition

  As we know a preposition is an important part of speech which is defined as a word that connects the object of the preposition to some other element in the sentence, or it is a connecting word that shows the relationship between a noun and a pronoun and some other element in the sentence.  We well-know that a preposition never changes form, unlike nouns, verbs and modifiers, which may change form according to their meaning and use in a sentence.

  In addition, we are aware that a preposition is always followed by a noun or a pronoun, and that the preposition and its object, together with any modifiers, are named a prepositional phrase. Nevertheless, do we really know how to use correctly a preposition in sentences? Do we know how to use appropriately a prepositional phrase in sentences?

  The aim of this blog is to explain and provide useful information about what a preposition is, about the types of prepositions, and about what a prepositional phrase is, and how to use them all correctly in a sentence. But first we will see a brief explanation about the parts of speech, and then, we will study about the preposition.

What is part of Speech?
A part of speech is a classification of words according to how they are used in a sentence and the types of ideas they convey. There are 8 parts of speech which are:

• Noun
• Pronoun
• Verb
• Adverb
• Adjective (including the articles)
• Preposition (which will be studied in this blog)
• Conjunction
• Interjection

What is a Preposition?
A preposition is a word that connects the object of the preposition (a noun or a pronoun) to other element in the sentence in order to describe their relationship.  It is important also to know that a preposition is always followed by a noun or a pronoun. Here we have some examples about the use of prepositions in sentences:

     -The dog is behind the postman.

       Preposition of place                      (Postman is the object of the preposition “behind”)

     -Someone is at the door.                      

       Preposition of place                      (Door is the object of the preposition “at”)

     -I used to live in Quito.                           

      Preposition of place                        (Quito is the object of the preposition “in”)

     -I bought a nice gift for her.                 

                 Preposition              (her is the object of the preposition “for”

    -The dog jumped at my face and really scared me.      

                     Preposition of Direction       (Face is the object of the preposition “at”)

  We use many prepositions with great frequency, but the entire list is relatively short. Here are the most common ones. 

About	Behind	During	On	To
Above	Beneath	Except	Onto	Toward
Across	Below	For	Out	Under
After	Beside	From	Outside	Underneath
Against	Besides	In	Over	Unlike
Along	Beyond	Inside	Past	Until
Among	But (except)	Into	Regarding	Up
Around	By	Like	Round	Upon
As	Concerning	Near	Since	With
At	Despite	Of	through	Within
Before	Down	Off	Throughout	without

Types of Prepositions

  Actually, there is not a limit set of types of Prepositions, but the most common ones are the following:

• Prepositions of Time
• Prepositions of Place
• Prepositions of Direction
• Prepositions of Manner
• Prepositions of Agent or Instrument