Prepositions

A preposition joins nouns, pronouns and phrases to other words in a sentence. The word or phrase that the preposition introduces is known as the object of the preposition.

A preposition usually indicates the temporal (time), spatial (space) or logical relationship of its object to the rest of the sentence as in the following examples:

The puppy is on the table.

The puppy is under the table.

The puppy is leaning against the table.

The puppy is beside the table.

John held the puppy over the table.

Jane played with the puppy during recess.

In each of the sentences in the examples above, a preposition locates the noun "puppy" in space or in time.

A prepositional phrase is made up of the preposition, its object and any associated adjectives or adverbs. A prepositional phrase can function as a noun, an adjective, or an adverb. 

Each of the highlighted words in the following examples is a preposition:

He left his family without hesitation.

In this sentence, the preposition "without" introduces the noun "hesitation". The prepositional phrase "without hesitation" functions as an adverb describing how the man left his family.

There was mourning throughout the world when Nelson Mandela passed away.

Here, the preposition "throughout" introduces the noun phrase "the world". The prepositional phrase acts as an adverb describing the location of the mourning.

There are many fruit stalls along the road.

The preposition "along" introduces the noun phrase "the road" and the prepositional phrase "along the road" acts as an adverb, describing where the fruit stalls were.

Russell is hiding behind the curtains because he knows he will be punished for spilling the glass of milk.

Here the preposition "behind" introduces the prepositional phrase "behind the curtains," which acts as an adverb modifying the compound verb "is hiding."

The woman searched frantically for her toddler who was lost somewhere in the supermarket.

Similarly in this sentence, the preposition "in" introduces a prepositional phrase "in the supermarket," which acts as an adverb describing the location of the toddler.

Try It Out!

Test your understanding by trying the exercises below:

1. My best friend lives _________ Oxford Street. (in/on/at)
2. I'll be ready to leave _________ about twenty minutes. (in/on/at)
3. Since he met his new girlfriend, Garrett never seems to be __________ home. (in/on/at)
4. I think she spent the entire afternoon __________ the phone. (in/on/at)
5. He usually travels to Pahang __________ train. (with/by/at)
6. I told mom that we will be home ________ an hour or so. (to/in/at)
7. It's __________time you told him the truth! (on/about/in)
8. You should not pick _________ him just because he is different! (on/to/with)
9. She is, __________ a doubt, the best student in class. (without/outside/about)
10. __________ the year, I have spoken to her five times. (In/During/Throughout)

Answers: 1. on  2. in  3. at  4. on  5. by  6. in  7. about  8. on  9. without  10. Throughout

Fun Time!

The Gumball Game

Required items:
 1. Index cards, or pieces of papers

 2. A large drawing surface (whiteboard/blackboard/a large piece of paper)

Instructions: 

1.  Divide the index cards (preferably ones that you cannot see through) into two piles — one pile will be prepositions, the other will be nouns.
2. Write prepositions of motion (e.g. over, through, under, around, into) on the first pile of cards. On the other pile of cards, write nouns or get your class to suggest nouns (e.g. my nose, the library, a tiger, my brother, the teacher, Mars). *These nouns must be concrete nouns.
3. For the game, get half of the class in front of the drawing board (white board, black board or a big piece of paper), and the other students at the other side of the classroom. Give the students at the drawing board markers or chalk, and place the cards face-down on a table in front of the other students at the other side of the classroom. You should differentiate noun cards and preposition cards with different colors.
4. Have the students at the other side of the classroom pick a preposition card and a noun card. They will then tell the students at the drawing board what to draw. 

For example:

 “into”  and “the hole“

“The gumball went into the hole.”

(The student who is drawing should draw a gumball going into the garbage. The next student will continue the chain)

As a wrap up, the teacher can get the whole class to repeat or tell where the gumball went. This game is really fun because the results are unpredictable with the random selection of prepositions and nouns. 

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