Prepositions

Review of Do Now He is painting a picture of her. In the following sentences, black out every word that is a noun, pronoun, adjective, verb, or adverb. When we do this, what words were we left with? He is painting a picture of her. He was talking during the movie. The dog in our yard is my neighbor’s. I went there after the game. I am worried about the quiz. In each sentence, one word has not been blacked out. What part(s) of speech do we notice always follows the words left over.

Definitions A preposition is a word that shows the relationship of a noun or pronoun to another word. In simpler terms, a preposition links nouns or pronouns to other words in a sentence. The object of a preposition is the noun or pronoun that a preposition is linking to the rest of the sentence. A preposition usually indicates the temporal, spatial, or logical relationship of its object (the noun or pronoun) to the rest of the sentence. A prepositions will usually tell us: Location: on, under, in, next to, on top of, underneath, etc. Timing: before, during, after, etc. Direction: from, toward, to, over, down, etc.

Examples The book is on the table. The book is beneath the table. The book is leaning against the table. She read the book during class. He returned the book before the due date. The book was written by Thomas Pynchon.

Tip Almost always, the object of the preposition follows the preposition. He is painting a picture of a bird. I climbed to the top. I sat on the chair. Of course, there are exceptions to this rule. That is the movie I am so excited about. Los Angeles is the city he is from.

Common prepositions aboard because of for over about before from since There are over one hundred words in English that can be used as prepositions. Below are some of the most common. aboard because of for over about before from since above behind in through according to below in front of throughout across beneath inside to after beside instead of toward against besides into under along between like underneath alongside beyond near until amid by of up among despite off upon around down on with as during onto within at except outside without

Practice In the following sentences, identify every preposition. The mouse is under the table. The pizza in the fridge is mine. The girl by the railing is my sister. The skaters moved around the rink. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- After basketball practice, I drank a cup of water. I chose a book in the library. They played a great game against their opponent. The man in the jacket is a car mechanic.

Practice In the following sentences, identify every preposition and the object of each preposition. The owl sat in the tree. It rained during the night. Before the test, we reviewed our notes. I found a wallet in the park. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The boy climbed carefully up the tree. Our soccer team will play against yours tonight. What is the name of your favorite book? The paper was placed inside his carefully organized binder.