A Preposition Is a Word That Begins a Prepositional Phrase and Shows the Relationship

Prepositions 9/18/13

A preposition is a word that begins a prepositional phrase and shows the relationship between its object and another word in the sentence. A preposition must always have an object.

A prepositional phrase starts with a preposition, ends with an object, and may have modifiers between the proposition and object of the preposition.

Here is a list of common words that can be used as prepositions: about, above, across, after, against, along, among, around, at, before, behind, below, beneath, beside, besides, between, beyond, but (when it means except), by, concerning, down, during, except, for, from, in, inside, into, like, near, of, off, on, out, outside, over, past, since, through, to, toward, under, until, up, upon, with, within, and without.

These words can be used as other parts of speech. What part of speech it is depends on how it is used in that sentence. Many of the common words used as prepositions can be used as adverbs. Words are prepositions if they have an object to complete them. To decide which it is, say the preposition followed by whom or what. If a noun or a pronoun answers the question, the word is a preposition.

Example: The boy stood up and ran down the street. Up what? There is no object; therefore up is not a preposition. Down what? Street answers the question; therefore, down is a preposition. Down the street is the prepositional phrase starting with the preposition “down” and ending with the object “street” with an article (modifier) “the” in between.

Prepositions 1

Put parentheses around the prepositional phrases in the following sentences. Label the preposition that begins the phrase and the object that completes each phrase.

1. Jim painted a picture on the wall of the house.

2. I like to lie in the shade of the apricot tree and think of the jobs for the day.

3. The dog jumped over the mound behind the barn and ran into the street.

4. Everyone but you will need a note from home with parental permission.

5. Around the yard for miles, you could see nothing except junk.

6. I like the color of the curtain on the window.

7. Jane walked along in the rain during the shower.

8. Hang the picture up or set it down behind the couch.

9. Eric was shining his light around in the car beside us.

10. The bird swooped down, picked up the mouse, and landed on the fence.

Prepositions 2

Use a prepositional phrase to combine the two sentences into one sentence. Example: The ice melted. The ice was in the glass. Combined: The ice in the glass melted.

1. My dog is named Badger. He is in the garden area.

2. The sunset was beautiful. The sunset was in the west.

3. The grass is dead. The grass is near the road.

4. That girl is my best friend. She lives across the street.

5. I talked to that man. He is in my club.

6. The runner jogged. He jogged around the park.

7. I found my money. It was under the mattress.

8. She looked around. She was in the store.

9. The students performed well. The performance was for the school play.

10. The man walked home. He was walking from work.

Prepositions 3

Circle the italicized words that are prepositions. Remember that prepositions must have an object. Highlight the object of each preposition.

1. Come in and sit down with me.

2. He climbed up on the ladder and through the window.

3. Mrs. Jones came by at suppertime but not since.

4. The firefighter crawled along with the child who was near death.

5. Since no noise came from the building, he walked away.

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