Prepositions Really useful little words which give important information.

What is a Preposition? A preposition is a word which shows the relationship between one thing and another. It links nouns, pronouns and phrases to other words in the sentence. The word or phrase that the preposition introduces is called the object of the sentence.

What can prepositions tell you? It may tell you where a thing is in relation to something else. The juicy, red apple was on the book. It may tell you when something is in relation to another event. She refused to leave the house until the postman had been.

What else can prepositions tell you? A preposition may tell you the position of something in relation to something else. The gentle, brown dog slept beside the fluffy white rabbit.

It may also tell you the direction something is travelling in relation to something else. The gallant horseman was riding along the windy shoreline.

Here are some prepositions withonoffupover under before behind from beneath across below down throughout with past among near above during under outside toward upon over after through

You can sometimes begin a sentence with a preposition. Without fear, the brave child climbed the tall mountain. Under the four poster bed, the lazy cat was having a snooze. Inside the old house there were all sorts of strange looking people. Along the hall crawled the large, spindly spider.

A piece of a sentence that starts with a preposition, ends in a noun or pronoun and contains all the words in between Write sentences for these prepositional phrases: like a chipmunk after the campfire by a shimmering waterfall

The baseball player in the white shirt hit a homerun. OBJECT OF THEPREPOSITIONOBJECT OF THEPREPOSITION The noun or pronoun that ends a prepositional phrase.

on her boat before noon in a house during class near the goatabout a goon under a mousewithout a pass OBJECT OF THEPREPOSITIONOBJECT OF THEPREPOSITION

Identify the prepositional phrases and the objects of the preposition: 1.The paper with the blue border is floating through the air. 2. Jordan’s eyes sparkle like a sunny day. 3. With great ease, Michael jumped up on the table.

v 1.The paper with the blue border is floating through the air. 2. Jordan’s eyes sparkle like a sunny day. 3. With great ease, Michael jumped up on the table.

Modifies a noun or pronoun It answers the same questions an adjective would: Which one?What kind?How many? The puppy in the shop window jumped up.

The puppy jumped to the food. Modifies a verb, adjective, or adverb It answers the same questions an adverb would: Where?When?How?

You MUST memorize the prepositions! If there is no object of the preposition (if the preposition is not part of a phrase), then it is not a preposition—it is an adverb.

The gecko climbed up the wall. The gecko climbed up. The gecko climbed up on the wall.

below of 1.The tadpoles are below the surface of the pond. up down 2. I jumped up and Amy jumped down. near 3. Is Taylor near? acrossto 4. Erin looked across the bus to the purple-haired boy.