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What are prepositions?
 


Prepositions

The following are all prepositions:

above, about, across, against, along, among, around, at, before, behind, below, beneath, beside, between, beyond, by, down, during, except, for, from, in, inside, into, like, near, of, off, on, since, to, toward, through, under, until, up, upon, with and within.

Role of a Preposition

Prepositions are important when constructing sentences. A preposition sits before a noun to show the noun's relationship to another word in the sentence. 

Examples:

It is a container for butter.
(The preposition "for" shows the relationship between "butter" and "container".)

The eagle soared above the clouds.
(The preposition "above" shows the relationship between "clouds" and "soared".)

Pitfalls with Prepositions

For native English speakers, grammatical errors involving prepositions are rare. However, there are several points of which to be aware:

Can you end a sentence in a preposition?
Is the preposition absolutely necessary?
What follows a preposition?

 
Click on the prepositions:



 
EXCEPT AND ACCEPT 

Some writers confuse the words except and accept. The word except is a preposition. It has a meaning similar to 'not including'.
I know everybody except Tony.
(The preposition "except" shows the relationship between "Tony" and "everybody".)

The word accept, on the other hand, is a verb. For example:
I accept.
She will accept the decision.

See the lesson Accept and Except.

PAST AND PASSED 

The word past can be used as a preposition; whereas, passed cannot. The word passed is a verb that relates to the action of passing. For example:
Jennifer passed the exam.
She passed the salt.

The word past on the other hand can be used as:
A preposition:
It went past the post.
An adjective:
He believes he was a prince in a past life.
A nouns:
It's all in the past.

Whether preposition, adjective or noun, the word past usually relates to either time or distance.

See the lesson Past and Passed.

INTO, ONTO AND UP TO 

The word 'into' is a preposition. It is written as one word.    
She turned everything she touched into gold.

However, on occasion, the words in and to appear next to each other in a sentence, and writers are unsure whether to use into or in to. This happens when the verb in the sentence includes the word in' (e.g., hand in, step in, turn in).

See the lesson Into, Onto and Up To.
Associated lessons:
 
What are adjectives?
What are adverbs?
What are conjunctions?
What are interjections?
What are nouns?
What are pronouns?
What are verbs?
Ending a sentence in a preposition
The object of a preposition
Verbs with prepositions - succinct writing
 

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