English Prepositions Prof. Walid Amer

Introduction Prepositions represent a problematic category for theories of syntax. Recent syntactic theory suggests a classification of prepositions according to either lexical or functional features: lexical prepositions contribute semantic content while functional prepositions merely assign case. Yet the same preposition can exhibit both features, and its classification will therefore depend on its use –the same preposition to in English can thus be used as a lexical spatial preposition or as a functional preposition assigning dative case.

Concerning the function of prepositions, it is stated that prepositions are used to describe the relationship that exists between (noun or pronoun) and another structure of the sentence. This structure can be: -A noun as in: The girl is in the garden. -A pronoun: Ahmed is behind me. -An adjective: He is clever at tennis. -An adverb: He ran too quickly for his years. -A clause: I do not care for what are you saying. -A gerund: We thought about giving a present to them

Prepositions of time

Prepositions of place and direction

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