Little words can have big meaning. What exactly are prepositions? Well, they are words that begin prepositional phrases. You may be thinking, “Okay, what the heck is a prepositional phrase?” Simply put, it’s a modifying phrase that includes a preposition and the object of the preposition (in other words, a noun). It is any word that introduces a modifying phrase that indicates time, place, direction, or introduces a particular object. There are approximately 150 prepositions in the English language, including words such as in, with, for, and about (just to name a few).
To give an example of a prepositional phrase:
She’s going to the movies.
“To the movies” indicates where the subject is going, making it a prepositional phrase. It includes the preposition “to” and the object “the movies.”
You may also see prepositional phrases with adjectives.
He’s taking her on a fun, romantic date tonight.
It’s also possible to hear people talk about prepositions followed by verbs. These are gerunds, which are -ing forms of infinitives that function as a noun in a sentence.
She won by cheating in the race.
Let’s not forget about compound prepositions, which are made up of more than one preposition. For example:
as well as
aside from
in front of
out of
Here is a list of some common prepositions:
- aboard
- about
- above
- across
- after
- against
- along
- amid
- among
- anti
- around
- as
- at
- before
- behind
- below
- beneath
- beside
- besides
- between
- beyond
- but
- by
- concerning
- considering
- despite
- down
- during
- except
- excepting
- excluding
- following
- for
- from
- in
- inside
- into
- like
- minus
- near
- of
- off
- on
- onto
- opposite
- outside
- over
- past
- per
- plus
- round
- save
- since
- than
- through
- to
- toward
- towards
- under
- underneath
- unlike
- until
- up
- upon
- versus
- via
- with
- within
- without
I hope you found this post helpful. If you have any comments, questions, or anything to add, please leave a comment!
