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Lecture 16
preposition and prepositional
phrases
Designer: Trịnh Thúy Ngàn
Nguyễn Thị Thanh Huệ
Nguyễn Thanh Huyền
Definition
Simple
The
The and Prepositional
prepositional
preposition Complex adverbs
phrase
prepositions
The preposition
• Are words belonging to closed-systems items
• Expresses a relation between two entities, one
being represented bye the prepositional
complement
• May show the relation of place, time, instrument,
and cause
Eg: the train leaves for Hai Phong at 2 o’clock
The prepositional phrase
prep prep complement
• consists of a preposition followed
by a prepositional complement, at The bus-stop
which is characteristic a noun From What he said
phrase or a Wh-clause or a V-ing
clause by Signing a peace treaty
• That-clauses and infinitive clauses
He was surprised that she said this
do not occur as prepositional
>>> he was surprised at her mark/ her
complement
saying this/what she said
• Other similar verbs and adjectives decide (on), inform (of) ,insist (on)
are: afraid (of) , aware (of) ,sorry (about)
sure (of)
Note
there are some circumstances in which prepositions are
post-positioned, either because the complement has to take
first position in the clause, or because it is absent:
WH-QUESTIONS : Which house did you leave it at?
RELATIVE CLAUSE : The old house which I was telling you
about.
WH-CLAUSES : What I‟m convinced of is that he
will be the champion.
EXCLAMATIONS : What a mess he‟s got into.
PASSIVES : She was sought after by all the leading
impresarios of the day.
INFINITIVE CLAUSES : He‟s impossible to work with.
Simple and complex prepositions
Simple prepositions: consist of one word.
E.g.: at, on, in, to, from, of, for, since, with, between,
under, against, up, down, by, as, etc.
Complex prepositions: consist of more than
one word, including 3 sub-groups:
Adverb of prep + prep
( along with, as for, away from, out of, up to)
Verb/adj/conjunction/etc + prep
( owing to, due to, because of )
Prep + noun + prep
( by means of, in comparison with, in front of )
Prepositional adverbs
• A prepositional A car drove past the door (past is a preposition)
adverb is a particle A car drove past (past is a prepositional adverb;
which behaves like a i.e.: past something or someone identified in
preposition with the context)
ellipted complement
• The prepositional Despite the fine weather, we stayed in all day
adverb is (place adjunct)
respectively an The day before, I had spoken to him in the street
adjunct or a (postmodifier)
postmodifier:
adjunct The people were singing on the bus
disjunct To my surprise, the doctor phoned
Syntactic
function conjunct
On the other hand, he made no attempt
to help the victim
of
prepositional Post modifier The people on the bus were singing
phrases in a N phr
(PP) Complement We depend on you
of a verb
Complement I am sorry for his parents
of an Adj
Note: PP may occasionally have a nominal function
Eg: between six and seven will suit me
Subject of a clause
Prepositional meaning
Place (8) Reaction
Time (3) Respect standard
Cause Purpose (4) Ingredient material
Mean Agentive (4) Subject matter
Accompaniment Negative condition
Support opposition exception
“Having”
Reference
Concession
Place
When we use a preposition to indicate place, we do so in relation to the
dimensional properties, whether subjectively or objectively conceived,
of the location concerned
my car is at the cottage Cottage becomes a dimensionless
location, a mere point
There is a new roof on the cottage Cottage becomes a two-
dimensional area
There are two beds in the cottage Cottage becomes a three
dimensional object
a) Positive position and direction: at, to, on, on(to), in, in(to)
Between the notions of simple Tom went to the door
position (or static location) and ( the direction)
direction (movement with respect to >>> Tom was at the door
a destination) a cause-and-effect
relationship obtains ( the position)
on (=‟surface‟) and in (=‟area‟) has The frost made patterns on the window
various implications according to the (window = glass surface)
context A face appeared in the window
(window = framed area)
In is used for continents, countries, At/in Stratford-upon-Avon
provinces, and sizeable territories of
any kind; but for towns, villages, etc,
either at or in is appropriate
With buildings, also, both at and in
can be used
At refers to a building in its
institutional or functional aspect
in refers to it as a three- He‟s at school (BrE)
dimensional structure
He‟s in school (AmE)
b. Negative position and direction: away from, off, out of
There is also a parallel cause and effect Tom went away from the door (direction)
relation Tom was away from the door (Tom was not at
the door) (position)
The negative character of these off = ‘not on’; out of = ‘not in’
propositions is shown
c. Relative position: by, over, under, etc
Prepositions may express the relative position of two objects or groups of objects:
He was standing by his brother (=‟at‟ the side of)
Express relative position vertically: Above, over, on top of, under, underneath,
beneath, below
Represent it horizontally: before, in front of, behind, after.
Notes:
Above and below, over and under, in front of and behind are converse opposites:
The picture is above the mantelpiece = The mantelpiece is below the picture
Over and under tend to indicate a direct vertical relationship and/or spatial proximity,
while above and below may indicate simply „on a higher/ lower level than‟:
The castle stands on a hill above (rather than over) the valley
Underneath and beneath are less common substitutes for under: beneath is formal in
style. Underneath, like on top of, generally indicates a contiguous relation.
Passage
By, over, under, etc Across, through, past
With verbs of motion, He jumped over a Note the parallel On the grass/across
prepositions may ditch between across and the grass = treat the
express the idea of Someone ran on, through and in grass as a surface,
PASSAGE (i.e. movement and suggest short
towards and then away behind the goal- grass
form a place) as well as posts In the grass/through
destination the grass = treat the
grass as a volume,
suggest that it is long
Direction
(up, down, along, across, (a)round, toward(s))
Express movement with reference to an axis or directional path
Up and down contrast in terms of vertical direction
Along = from one end towards the other in terms of a horizontal axis
Across = from one side to another in terms of a horizontal axis.
(a)round = the directional path is an angle or a curve:
We ran (a)round the corner
Toward (s) = „in the direction of‟.
Orientation
beyond, over, past, across, through, up, down, along, (a)round
A static sense of orientation: = ‟on the far side of‟
He lives across the moors (i.e. „from here‟)
His office is up/down the stairs (i.e. at (or towards) the top/ bottom of...)
Resultative meaning
Indicates the state of having reached the destination, including all
prepositions which have motional meaning
I managed to get over the fence/ across the river (i.e. so that I was then on the
other side)
Is often signaled by certain adverbs: already, just, at last, (not) yet
Pervasive meaning
all over, all through/ throughout, along, around, etc.
Have pervasive meaning (either stative or motional):
That child was running all over the flower borders
There were crowds (all) along the route
note
Seven senses of over: One preposition may be used in most of the senses discussed
above:
• POSITION: A lamp hung over the door
• DESTINATION: They threw a blanket over her
• PASSAGE: They climbed over the wall
• ORIENTATION: They live over (= „on the far side of‟) the road
• RESULTATIVE: At last we were over the crest of the hill
• PERVASIVE (STATIVE): Leaves lay thick (all) over the ground
• PERVASIVE (MOTION): They splashed water (all) over me
Metaphorical (abstract) use of place prepositions:
• IN/OUT OF, AMID/AMIDST:
• Position state, condition: In/out of danger; amid many troubles
• Enclosure abstract inclusion: In stories/plays; in a group/party; in/out of
the race
• ABOVE/BELOW/BENEATH: Vertical direction abstract scale:
• Such behavior is beneath (not below) him; he’s above me in salary
• UNDER: Vertical direction subjection, subordination: Under
suspicion/orders/compulsion
• UP/DOWN: Movement on vertical axis movement on list or scale:
• Up/down the scale: up/down the social ladder
• FROM/TO: Starting point/destination originator/recipient:
• A letter/present from Browning to his wife
• BEYOND/PAST/OVER: Resultive meaning: physical abstract:
• Beyond/past endurance; we’re over the worst
• BETWEEN/AMONG, AMONGST: Relative position abstract relation between
participants: A fight between two boys; they agree among (st) themselves
Time
a.Time when/ point: at, on, in
2 “dimension-types”:
+ At (point of time): chiefly clock time (at ten o‟clock), holiday period (at the
weekend)
+ On: Phrases referring to day (on Monday) or a part of a day (on Monday
morning)
+ In (periods of time): in the evening, in July
b.Duration: for, over, throughout, from…to
We camped there for the summer (i.e. all through)
# We camped there in the summer (i.e. at some time during the summer)
Time ( relationship: before, after, since, till)
Preposition of time is a temporal noun phrase before next week since leaving
followed by a subjectless V-ing clause school
a noun phrase Before the war =Before the war
started or tookplace
Until: specifies a terminal point with positive We slept until midnight
a commencement point with (=we stopped sleeping then)
negative predications We didn’t sleep until midnight
(= we started sleeping then)
Between, by, up to I’ll phone you between lunch and
three o’clock
Up to last week, I hadn’t received a
reply
By specifies a By that time he was exhausted (= He
commencement was then exhausted)# Until that time
point: he was exhausted (= He was then no
longer exhausted)
Time (Absence of preposition of time)
Prepositions of time are absent from:
+ Adjuncts having the deictic words: last, next, this, and that, previous,
following
+ Quantifying words: some and every
+ Nouns which have last, next, or this as an element of their meaning:
yesterday, today, tomorrow
I saw him last Thursday
Every summer she returns to her childhood home
The preposition for is often omitted in phrases of duration:
We stayed there (for) three months
Cause – purpose
Cause, reason, because of…, answer the question “Why?”
and motive
Purpose, for, answer the questions „Why...?‟,
intended „What...for?‟, „Where...for?‟, or „Who...for?‟
destination
Recipient, goal, A for phrase expresses the „intended He made a beautiful doll for his
target: for, to, at recipient‟: daughter
A to phrase usually expresses the „actual He made a beautiful doll to his
recipient‟: daughter
At, in aim at, expresses intended goal or After aiming carefully at the bird,
target: he missed it completely
Source, origin : The converse of to (= „goal‟) is from Bill lent the book to me = I
from (=„source‟) borrowed the book from Bill.
From is also used as an adjunct and a He comes from Vietnam (= He
postmodifier as well is Vietnamese)
manner
Stimulus
Mean-agentive
Means, instrument
Instrument, angentive
a. Manner: with, in….manner, like
We are received with the utmost courtesy.
The task was done in a workmanlike manner
The army swept through the city like a pestilence
Note: As # like
He spoke like a lawyer (manner)
as a lawyer ( capacity)
b. Means, instrument: by, with, without, answer the question “How”
By: “by means of”: I usually go to work by bus/train
With: instrumental meaning: He caught the ball with his left hand
Without: negative meaning: I drew it without a ruler.
Note: - Mode of transport is expressed by on as well as by: on the bus/ the train…
- “On” instead of “by” in the phrases: on foot, on horseback.
c. Instrument, agentive: with, by
Instrument: inert and inanimate cause of action: The ball that
breaks a window
Agentive: animate (often human) initiating cause: The boy who threw the
ball.
In a passive sentence: both expressed by a by-phrase, only instrument by a with-
phrase
The window was broken by a ball/ by a boy
with a ball/ (NOT: with a boy)
d. Stimulus: at
The relation between an emotion & its stimulus can be expressed by at or by:
I was alarmed at/by his behavior.
Other prepositions introducing stimuli are:
Resentful of Sorry about Disappointed with Worried about Interested in
5. Accompaniment: with
Followed by an animate complement, with has the meaning: “ in company with/ together
with”: I‟m so glad you‟re coming with us
Without is the negative of with: They‟re going without us
6. Support, opposition: for, with, against
For: support
With: solidarity or movement in sympathy
Against: the contrary idea of opposition
Are you for or against the plan? (= Do you support or oppose the plan?)
7. “Having”: of, with, without
(1) (2)
(a) a man of courage the courage of the man
(b) a man with large ears the man‟s large ears
The two columns differ in that (1) makes a man the centre of attention, while (2) makes
something about him the centre of attention
The negative of with is again without:
Women without children („childless women‟)
8. Concession: in spite of, despite, for +all, with + all, notwithstanding
I admire him, in spite of his faults.
In spite of : general purpose preposition of concession
Despite: more formal
Notwithstanding: formal & rather legalistic
For all & with all: chiefly colloquial.
9. Reference: with regard to, with reference to (formal), as to ( BrE), as for
With reference to your letter of April 29th, I confirm…..
As for the burglar, he escaped through the attic window
As to & as for: less formal
Others: regarding, in regard to, with respect to, in respect of, and on the matter
of.
Most can be used in post modifying phrases as well as disjuncts
I‟d like to know your opinions as to / with regard to the burglar‟s behavior
10. Exception: except for, but…
All the students except/ but John passed the test.
Except, excepting & but function generally in post modifying phrases
But can not occur initially as a preposition:
INCORRECT: But me, everyone was tired
CORRECT: Everyone but me was tired
Note: The resemblance and the contrast but as a preposition & but as a
conjunction:
All the students had a good time but John (preposition)
#Most of the students had a good time but not John (conjunction) = but John did not
11. Negative condition: but for
But for is used in sense of „negative condition‟
E.g.: But for Gordon, we should have lost the match = If it hadn‟t been for Gordon,...
= If Gordon hadn‟t played as he did, ...
12. Subject matter: about, on
About, on = on the subject of, concerning: He told me about his adventures
On = deliberate, formal linguistic communication (speaking, lecturing, writing,
etc.) inappropriate for V like chat or quarrel
Think of # think about:
He thought about the problem (=He pondered/ considered the
problem)
He thought of the problem (=He brought the problem to his mind)
13. Ingredient, material: with, of, out of
After verbs of “making”:
with indicates an ingredient: You make a cake with eggs
of and out of signify the material or constituency of the whole thing:
He made the frame (out) of wood (wood
was the only material)
14. Respect, standard: at, for
We can make the norm explicit by a for phrases :
He‟s not bad for a youngster (i.e. considering he is a youngster)
Use at to introduce the respect in which the adj is appropriate to its noun
phrase:
He‟s bad/hopeless/terrible at games.
15. Reaction: to
We can express the REACTION by the preposition to followed by an abstract
noun of emotion:
To my annoyance, they rejected the offer.
Alternatively ,we can use a to-phrase to identify the person reacting:
To me, their rejection of the offer was a surprise.
To also applies equally to intellectual or perceptual response:
It looked to me like a vast chasm.
To a mind based in common sense, his ideas are utterly absurd
IV. Modification of prepositional phrases.
Prepositions may be preceded by intensifiers.
Now their footsteps could be heard directly above my head
Thanks!
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