What is a preposition?

Question

What is a preposition? Iam so confused i dont get what prepositional phrase is can someone explain what makes a sentence a prepositional and what a preposition is? Thanks!

Answer 1

Everything you ever wanted to know about prepositions, courtesy of dictionary.com:

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www.Live.com Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source
prep·o·si·tion1 /ˌprɛpəˈzɪʃən/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[prep-uh-zish-uhn] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun Grammar.
any member of a class of words found in many languages that are used before nouns, pronouns, or other substantives to form phrases functioning as modifiers of verbs, nouns, or adjectives, and that typically express a spatial, temporal, or other relationship, as in, on, by, to, since.
[Origin: 1350–1400; ME preposicioun < L praepositiōn- (s. of praepositiō) a putting before, a prefix, preposition. See pre-, position]

—Related forms
prep·o·si·tion·al, adjective
prep·o·si·tion·al·ly, adverb

—Usage note The often heard but misleading “rule” that a sentence should not end with a preposition is transferred from Latin, where it is an accurate description of practice. But English grammar is different from Latin grammar, and the rule does not fit English. In speech, the final preposition is normal and idiomatic, especially in questions: What are we waiting for? Where did he come from? You didn't tell me which floor you worked on. In writing, the problem of placing the preposition arises most when a sentence ends with a relative clause in which the relative pronoun (that; whom; which; whomever; whichever; whomsoever) is the object of a preposition. In edited writing, especially more formal writing, when a pronoun other than that introduces a final relative clause, the preposition usually precedes its object: He abandoned the project to which he had devoted his whole life. I finally telephoned the representative with whom I had been corresponding. If the pronoun is that, which cannot be preceded by a preposition, or if the pronoun is omitted, then the preposition must occur at the end: The librarian found the books that the child had scribbled in. There is the woman he spoke of.
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source
pre·po·si·tion2 /ˌpripəˈzɪʃən/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[pree-puh-zish-uhn] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–verb (used with object)
to position in advance or beforehand: to preposition troops in anticipated trouble spots.
Also, pre-po·si·tion.

[Origin: 1960–65; pre- + position]
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source
prep·o·si·tion 1 (prěp'ə-zĭsh'ən) Pronunciation Key
n. Abbr. prep.
A word or phrase placed typically before a substantive and indicating the relation of that substantive to a verb, an adjective, or another substantive, as English at, by, with, from, and in regard to.


[Middle English preposicioun, from Old French preposicion, from Latin praepositiō, praepositiōn-, a putting before, preposition (translation of Greek prothesis), from praepositus, past participle of praepōnere, to put in front : prae-, pre- + pōnere, to put; see apo- in Indo-European roots.]

Usage Note: It was John Dryden who first promulgated the doctrine that a preposition may not be used at the end of a sentence, probably on the basis of a specious analogy to Latin. Grammarians in the 18th century refined the doctrine, and the rule has since become one of the most venerated maxims of schoolroom grammar. But sentences ending with prepositions can be found in the works of most of the great writers since the Renaissance. English syntax does allow for final placement of the preposition, as in We have much to be thankful for or I asked her which course she had signed up for. Efforts to rewrite such sentences to place the preposition elsewhere can have stilted and even comical results, as Winston Churchill demonstrated when he objected to the doctrine by saying "This is the sort of English up with which I cannot put." · Sometimes sentences that end with adverbs, such as I don't know where she will end up or It's the most curious book I've ever run across, are mistakenly thought to end in prepositions. One can tell that up and across are adverbs here, not prepositions, by the ungrammaticality of I don't know up where she will end and It's the most curious book across which I have ever run. It has never been suggested that it is incorrect to end a sentence with an adverb.


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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source
pre·po·si·tion 2 also pre-po·si·tion (prē'pə-zĭsh'ən) Pronunciation Key
tr.v. pre·po·si·tioned also pre-po·si·tioned, pre·po·si·tion·ing also pre-po·si·tion·ing, pre·po·si·tions also pre-po·si·tions
To position or place in position in advance: artillery that was prepositioned at strategic points in the desert.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source
preposition
1388, from L. præpositionem (nom. præpositio) "a putting before," from præpositus, pp. of præponere "put before," from præ- "before" + ponere "put, set, place" (see position). In grammatical sense, a loan-translation of Gk. prothesis, lit. "a setting before."

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
WordNet - Cite This Source
preposition

noun
1. a function word that combines with a noun or pronoun or noun phrase to form a prepositional phrase that can have an adverbial or adjectival relation to some other word
2. (linguistics) the placing of one linguistic element before another (as placing a modifier before the word it modifies in a sentence or placing an affix before the base to which it is attached)

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.

Answer 2

Put simply a preposition is a placement word. It is used for multiple purposes, such as when describing where something is located, or where an action is happening. In some cases they can be used to describe "when" something is happening (words like 'since', 'on' (this day), and during). Also they can describe movement, as in this sentence:

"Jim is driving through the tunnel."

Now if you would like to know about prepositonal phrases I can tell you about those too.

A prepositonal phrase is made up of several elements; object, preposition, and and adverd/adjective.

If you would like to know more there's an excellent article here:

http://www.arts.uottawa.ca/writcent/hypergrammar/preposit.html

Answer 3

The cat is under the couch.
Preposition - under
Prep phrase- under the couch
A preposition gives location on under, around, on top of, inside, next to, beneath, above.

The phrase is the group of words the preposition has with it to explain location.

Look at it like pre (meaning before) positional (like position) it is telling you where to go or what position to take before you or the subject does it.

Answer 4

Pathetic dictionary says: a word placed before a substantive (or noun, I'm guessing) indicating its relation to a verb, adjective, or another substantive as in English AT, BY, IN , TO, FROM and WITH.

that's clear as mud...! but if you have a King James Bible, they say the beatitudes in there (sermon on the mount) are a perfect example of balanced use of prepositions...like the preps IN and FOR.

A prepositional phrase is simply a phrase that starts with a preposition.

2 sites to check: http://www.grammarlady.com/
http://www.dailygrammar.com/

Answer 5

A Preposition is a word that relates a noun or pronoun to another word in a sentence. "The dog sat under the tree"

Answer 6

a preposition is a grammatical element. it is basically anything a rabbit can do to a hill. the main examples are
aboard
about
above
around
after
against
along
among
around
at
before
behind
below
beneath
beside
between
beyone
by
down
during
except
for
from
in
into
like
of
off
over
pass
since
through
throughout
to
toward
under
underneath
until
up
upon
with
within
without
prepositions come in phrases
which always end in objects.
hope this helps!

Answer 7

prepositions describe where the action is taking place. Imagine a fence, you can be on the fence, under the fence, in the fence, by the fence, over the fence...etc. on in under over are all prepositions.

John is hiking on the mountain trail. ...on the mountain trail is the prep. phrase

Answer 8

think of a box.
anything you can do to the box is a preposition.

you can go: under, around, into, beside, beneath...get it?
i put the key under the box.
prep. phrase: under the box.

for, to, by, next....words like that.
hope it helps you.