PREPOSITION Prepositions are words like at, in, e.t.c with which precede nouns, noun phrases and pronouns to form a unit. Prepositions may consist of: One word e.g from, Two words e.g because of or Three words e.g in contact with. Or occasionally four e.g......with the exception of. All are single prepositions.

Prepositional Phrase A Prepositional Phrase is a group of words in a sentence that begin with a preposition. A prepositional phrase consist of a preposition followed by propositional complement. What comes after the preposition is called the prepositional complement. All two elements are obligatory parts.

Prepositional Compliment The complement of a preposition can be: A noun phrase (NP) a noun or a pronoun She lives in town Her bright smile greeted me at the breakfast table He came after me Wh- Clause She comes from what she called a small farm of two hundred acre An -ing Clause

Prepositional Compliment Salum tried to shake off his fears by looking at the sky. An adverb You can see the station from here A propositional phrase You can call me any time except at work

2 clauses can not be PP Complement That clause To infinitive clause In No. 2 and 3 clauses the preposition is omitted 1.I was surprised at the news. 2.I was surprised that things changed so quickly. 3.I was surprised to hear you say it had been raining.

FUNCTIONS OF PP Adverbial/ Adjunct You may need to do some work in the evening Finally I went back to my old job Modifier in a noun phrase She felt she had no chance of promotion Modifier of Adjective phrase The floor was wet near the bathtub Compliment of adjective My son is brilliant at Mathematics

FUNCTIONS OF PP Compliment of a noun He is a teacher of French literature Complement of adverb Students don’t live far from here Complement of prepositional phrase I’m free all day except on Mondays. Compliment of Verb You mustn’t worry too much about this The woman relies on her babysitter

FUNCTIONS OF PP Object We prefer at six o'clock. Subject Before lunch is when I do my best work Thus: PP function as:- Modifiers of Phrases Complements of Phrases Adjuncts and Adverbials

The little girl with blonde hair smiled at me The little girl with blonde hair smiled at me The children played in the backyard. The children played in the backyard. The couple danced after dinner. The couple danced after dinner. Librarians are fond of book Librarians are fond of book He is the writer of the book He is the writer of the book In my opinion you understood every things In my opinion you understood every things

Reference Todd, Loreto (1995) An Introduction to Linguistics. Longman: UK Todd, Loreto (1995) An Introduction to Linguistics. Longman: UK Leech, G and Svartvic (2001) A Communicative Grammar of English. Longman: London Leech, G and Svartvic (2001) A Communicative Grammar of English. Longman: London Downing, Angela and Locke, Philip (2006) English Grammar a University Course. Routledge: New York Downing, Angela and Locke, Philip (2006) English Grammar a University Course. Routledge: New York Trask, R. L.; Stockwell, Peter (2007) Linguistics : The Key ConceptsRoutledge: New York Trask, R. L.; Stockwell, Peter (2007) Language and Linguistics : The Key Concepts. Routledge: New York