Grammar is an extremely important subject in the life of a student, they start with it the first in kindergarten and learn about it four at least 13 years after that. First comes the different parts of speech, a set of rules for constructing sentences, the transformation of sentences, voices, speech, and much more as they advance.

Prepositions happen to be one of the most difficult parts to understand and implement, especially if English is not your first language. If you are looking for something more than a mobile teacher app to help you out, this is the right place. We have discussed all the necessary points related to prepositions in this blog to make the topic easier.

The meaning of the preposition

Propositions are one of the parts of speech that are put in a sentence to show the relationship unknown has about the other parts of the sentence. It usually comes in two types, where there is a dependent preposition and prepositional phrases.

Let us consider an example:

The cat is under the table

Here, the cat is a noun, and under is the preposition. It is a position preposition, specifically stating because it describes the position of the cat. We use it in the sentence to show the relationship of the cat with the table. The table is also a noun.

It follows the common structure of ‘subject, verb, preposition, and noun', chronologically in that order.

How to use prepositions

Prepositions can be used in a lot of contexts, but for simplification, we usually use them with a noun to show time, direction, location, and introduction.

We do not usually put a preposition before a verb, but an exception can be made in the presence of two verbs. For example, consider the sentence-

What does she think about dancing with Divya?

Here, about is the preposition and dancing is the verb. It has been put before a verb in presence of ‘think’ and ‘dancing’.

Types of prepositions

Before learning about the types, let us make it clear to not confuse prepositions with conjunctions since these are also used to connect different parts of a sentence.

1. Dependent preposition:

Some adjectives, nouns, and verbs are mostly used with a preposition together by taking it up naturally. Like the word ‘Listen to'. It follows the form of verb + preposition. These are called dependent prepositions because there is a need for them to be used together to make perfect sense. Let’s have a look at some examples;

• She knows that she can depend on her parents
• I succeeded in my attempt
• Do you believe in me?

Dependent prepositions can also change their meaning at times when they are used to express an idea, or simply when they are put in a different context.

It can take the form of ‘noun + preposition'. Here are some examples;

• This is a photograph of my childhood picture
• I can find a solution to your problem
• There has been a considerable increase in the number of cases

It can also take the form of adjective + preposition, consider the following sentences;

• What were you angry about yesterday?
• I cannot be angry with my mother for long.
• It was very generous of you to have come at this time.
• She is married to my brother.

1. Prepositional phrases

These are a group of words that begin and end with a preposition, with an object in between, mostly a noun. Prepositional phrases are often used for expressing situations. Some examples are;

It is about time we went home

I am in the middle of completing an important task

Common prepositions in the English language

You can call it the secondary type of functionality classification for prepositions;

• Prepositions of time: 'In' is used for – Months, years, seasons and time of the day, centuries. ‘On’ is used for – Specific days, dates, and holidays. ‘At’ is used for – Festivals and various time exceptions.
• Preposition of place: In, at, own, behind, below, among, between, within, into, over, outside, inside, under, near.
• Preposition of movement: across, around, up, down, past, through, into.
• Preposition of manner: in, on, like, by, with, for, off.
• Preposition of measure: by, of.
• Preposition of possession: to, with, of.
• Preposition of source: By, from.

It’s easy to under prepositions and teach online conveniently now, with a reliable mobile teacher app that allows you to practice them all.