English prepositions are
word
A word is a basic element of language that carries an semantics, objective or pragmatics, practical semantics, meaning, can be used on its own, and is uninterruptible. Despite the fact that language speakers often have an intuitive grasp of w ...
s – such as ''of'', ''in'', ''on'', ''at'', ''from'', etc. – that function as the
head
A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, and mouth, each of which aid in various sensory functions such as sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Some very simple animals may ...
of a
prepositional phrase
An adpositional phrase, in linguistics, is a syntactic category that includes ''prepositional phrases'', ''postpositional phrases'', and ''circumpositional phrases''. Adpositional phrases contain an adposition (preposition, postposition, or circ ...
, and most characteristically license a
noun phrase
In linguistics, a noun phrase, or nominal (phrase), is a phrase that has a noun or pronoun as its head or performs the same grammatical function as a noun. Noun phrases are very common cross-linguistically, and they may be the most frequently oc ...
object
Object may refer to:
General meanings
* Object (philosophy), a thing, being, or concept
** Object (abstract), an object which does not exist at any particular time or place
** Physical object, an identifiable collection of matter
* Goal, an ...
(e.g., ''in
the water'').
Semantically
Semantics (from grc, σημαντικός ''sēmantikós'', "significant") is the study of reference, meaning, or truth. The term can be used to refer to subfields of several distinct disciplines, including philosophy, linguistics and comput ...
, they most typically
denote
In linguistics and philosophy, the denotation of an expression is its literal meaning. For instance, the English word "warm" denotes the property of being warm. Denotation is contrasted with other aspects of meaning including connotation. For in ...
relations in
space
Space is the boundless three-dimensional extent in which objects and events have relative position and direction. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually consider ...
and
time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
.
Morphologically, they are usually simple and do not inflect.
They form a
closed lexical category.
Many of the most common of these are
grammaticalized and correspond to case markings in languages such as Latin. For example, ''of'' typically corresponds to the
genitive
In grammar, the genitive case (abbreviated ) is the grammatical case that marks a word, usually a noun, as modifying another word, also usually a noun—thus indicating an attributive relationship of one noun to the other noun. A genitive can al ...
.
History of the concept in English
The history of the idea of prepositions in
English grammar writing can be seen as one of relative stagnation, only exceptionally interrupted by certain more influential authors... It was only in the second half of the twentieth century that the situation radically changed and since then, grammarians have introduced scientifically precise definitions and developed detailed and elaborate frameworks for their description.
The word ''preposition'' is from "Latin ''praepositionem'' (nominative praepositio) 'a putting before, a prefixing,' noun of action from past-participle stem of ''praeponere'' 'put before'," the basic idea being that it is a word that comes before a noun. Its first known use in English is by
John Drury, writing in
Middle English
Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English p ...
on
Latin grammar
Latin is a heavily inflected languages, inflected language with largely free word order. Nouns are inflected for grammatical number, number and grammatical case, case; pronouns and adjectives (including participles) are inflected for number, cas ...
c1434.
The meaning was essentially the same as the general idea today: a simple word preceding a noun expressing a relation between it and another word.
William Bullokar
William Bullokar was a 16th-century printer who devised a 40-letter phonetic alphabet for the English language. Its characters were in the black-letter or "gothic" writing style commonly used at the time. Taking as his model a Latin grammar by ...
wrote the
earliest grammar of English, published in 1586. It includes a chapter on prepositions. His definition follows:
A part of speech properly used prepositively, that is governing an accusative case set next after it (except sometime in verse it is set after his casual word) as, ''I go to the church'': and is sometime postpositively used, that is, when it governeth the relative, that, or which, coming before a verb, whose governing preposition is set after such verb: as, ''this is the man whom we spoke of'', or ''of'' ''whom we spoke''; and is some time used in composition after a verb, but being severed from the verb by the adverb, not, or by an accusative case, may be said to be set in apposition adverbially. (p. 320; orthography has been modernized)
Some grammarians, though, noted problems. In 1746, John Kirkby complains: "we have several instances of the same word being used at one time as a conjunction and at another time as a preposition." And in 1784, John Hunter
argued in much more detail, in a paper presented to the Royal Society of Edinburgh
The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...
in its first year, that neither conjunctions nor adverb An adverb is a word or an expression that generally modifies a verb, adjective, another adverb, determiner, clause, preposition, or sentence. Adverbs typically express manner, place, time, frequency, degree, level of certainty, etc., answering ...
s were in all cases usefully distinguished from prepositions in English (or in Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
and Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
). He stressed that classifications were being based on the "merely accidental" differences in what constituent (if any) happened to follow the word. The rational analysis is to treat ''after'' as simply a preposition governing (optionally) a complement that can be either a noun phrase or a clause
In language, a clause is a constituent that comprises a semantic predicand (expressed or not) and a semantic predicate. A typical clause consists of a subject and a syntactic predicate, the latter typically a verb phrase composed of a verb with ...
.
In 1924,
Otto Jespersen
Jens Otto Harry Jespersen (; 16 July 1860 – 30 April 1943) was a Danish linguist who specialized in the grammar of the English language. Steven Mithen described him as "one of the greatest language scholars of the nineteenth and twentieth ce ...
developed these ideas, pointing out that prepositions were the only lexical category defined by the type of
complement
A complement is something that completes something else.
Complement may refer specifically to:
The arts
* Complement (music), an interval that, when added to another, spans an octave
** Aggregate complementation, the separation of pitch-clas ...
. In other words, prepositions were defined as words that take a noun phrase (NP) complement. Verbs, though, take various complements, including object, goal complement, predicative complement, and no complement at all, in the case of an
intransitive verb
In grammar, an intransitive verb is a verb whose context does not entail a direct object. That lack of transitivity distinguishes intransitive verbs from transitive verbs, which entail one or more objects. Additionally, intransitive verbs are ...
. Similarly, an
adjective phrase An adjective phrase (or adjectival phrase) is a phrase whose head is an adjective. Almost any grammar or syntax textbook or dictionary of linguistics terminology defines the adjective phrase in a similar way, e.g. Kesner Bland (1996:499), Crystal (1 ...
may consist of an
adjective
In linguistics, an adjective (list of glossing abbreviations, abbreviated ) is a word that generally grammatical modifier, modifies a noun or noun phrase or describes its referent. Its semantic role is to change information given by the noun.
Tra ...
alone or with a complement (e.g., ''I'm happy''; ''I'm happy
to be here''). Jespersen also noted that many words, such as ''before'' in ''I came before'', which were categorized as
adverbs An adverb is a word or an expression that generally modifies a verb, adjective, another adverb, determiner, clause, preposition, or sentence. Adverbs typically express manner, place, time, frequency, degree, level of certainty, etc., answering que ...
, were very similar in meaning and syntax to prepositions (e.g., ''I came before you.''). And the same held for many words categorized as
subordinating conjunctions
In grammar, a conjunction (abbreviated or ) is a part of speech that connects words, phrases, or clauses that are called the conjuncts of the conjunctions. That definition may overlap with that of other parts of speech and so what constitutes a ...
(e.g., ''I came before you did.''). He therefore proposed that all these words are prepositions, and that the requirement that they be followed by a noun phrase be dropped. This is the position taken in many modern grammars, such as ''
The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language
''The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language'' (''CGEL'') is a descriptive grammar of the English language. Its primary authors are Rodney Huddleston and Geoffrey K. Pullum. Huddleston was the only author to work on every chapter. It was publ ...
''.
On the other hand, dictionaries and ESL grammars have not adopted these ideas. For example, Merriam-Webster's Dictionary has ''before'' as an adverb, preposition, and conjunction.
Preposition vs other lexical categories
Prepositions vs verbs
Both prepositions and verbs license NP objects, but in most cases, the distinction is clear because
verbs conjugate, and prepositions do not. There are, however, a number of prepositions
derived
Derive may refer to:
* Derive (computer algebra system), a commercial system made by Texas Instruments
* ''Dérive'' (magazine), an Austrian science magazine on urbanism
*Dérive, a psychogeographical concept
See also
*
*Derivation (disambiguatio ...
from
participial
In linguistics, a participle () (from Latin ' a "sharing, partaking") is a nonfinite verb form that has some of the characteristics and functions of both verbs and adjectives. More narrowly, ''participle'' has been defined as "a word derived from ...
verb forms (e.g., ''
come
Come may refer to:
*Comè, a city and commune in Benin
*Come (Tenos), an ancient town on Tenos island, Greece
Music
*Come (American band), an American indie rock band formed in 1990
*Come (UK band), a British noise project founded in 1979
**Come ...
'' or ''
barring''), which could be confused with verbs.
Modification by ''really'' is typically possible with a VP (e.g., ''spring
has really come'') but not with a PP (e.g., ''the *flowers will bloom
really come spring'').
Intransitive prepositions vs adverbs
One of the results of the reconceptualization of prepositions by Jespersen and others (see ) is confusion between intransitive prepositions and adverbs. Many adverbs end in ''-ly'', which clearly distinguishes them from prepositions, but many do not. One simple test that is often telling is to modify the phrase by ''right'' or ''just''. In
Standard English
In an English-speaking country, Standard English (SE) is the variety of English that has undergone substantial regularisation and is associated with formal schooling, language assessment, and official print publications, such as public service a ...
,
adverb phrase
In linguistics, an ''adverbial phrase'' ("AdvP") is a multi-word expression operating adverbially: its syntactic function is to modify other expressions, including verbs, adjectives, adverbs, adverbials, and sentences. Adverbial phrases can be divi ...
s do not accept such modification (e.g., ''it ran
right up the tree''
P ''*it ran
right vertically''
dvP DVP may refer to:
* ''decessit vita patris'', "died in the lifetime of his father", term used by genealogists to denote a child who pre-deceased his or her father and did not live long enough to inherit the father's title or estate.
* Delivery versu ...
) Also, PPs commonly function as complements in a ''be'' VP (e.g., ''it's
in the car''), while adverbs cannot normally do so.
Prepositions vs complementizers
"
Complementizer
In linguistics (especially generative grammar), complementizer or complementiser (glossing abbreviation: ) is a functional category (part of speech) that includes those words that can be used to turn a clause into the subject or object of a s ...
" is a term which has its origins in generative grammar. It refers to a restricted subset of what are classified as
subordinating conjunctions
In grammar, a conjunction (abbreviated or ) is a part of speech that connects words, phrases, or clauses that are called the conjuncts of the conjunctions. That definition may overlap with that of other parts of speech and so what constitutes a ...
in traditional grammar. There are only a very few complementizers: ''that'', ''whether'', and ''if'' are the main examples.
Traditional grammar
Traditional grammar (also known as classical grammar) is a framework for the description of the structure of a language. The roots of traditional grammar are in the work of classical Greek and Latin philologists. The formal study of grammar based ...
includes words like ''because'', ''while'', and ''unless'' in the class of subordinating conjunctions. But since at least Jespersen (see ) most modern grammarians distinguish these two categories based on whether they add meaning to the sentence or are purely functional. The distinction can be shown with ''if'', since there is a complementizer ''if'' and a preposition ''if''.
The preposition introduces a conditional meaning (e.g., ''if it works, that's great''). Complementizers, though, have no meaning. They just mark a clause as subordinate; there is no difference in meaning between ''I know
that you were there'' and ''I know you were there''. Similarly, in ''She asked if we were there'' the complementizer ''if'' merely marks the following clause as a
closed interrogative content clause, without adding any conditional meaning.
The syntax of prepositions and PPs
Internal structure
PPs are usually quite simple in their internal structure. The following syntax tree shows a PP with an
adverb phrase
In linguistics, an ''adverbial phrase'' ("AdvP") is a multi-word expression operating adverbially: its syntactic function is to modify other expressions, including verbs, adjectives, adverbs, adverbials, and sentences. Adverbial phrases can be divi ...
as
modifier
Modifier may refer to:
* Grammatical modifier, a word that modifies the meaning of another word or limits its meaning
** Compound modifier, two or more words that modify a noun
** Dangling modifier, a word or phrase that modifies a clause in an am ...
and a
head
A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, and mouth, each of which aid in various sensory functions such as sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Some very simple animals may ...
PP. The head PP has a head preposition ''in'' and an object NP ''the rain''.
![Syntax_tree_for_](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/13/Syntax_tree_for_%22even_in_the_rain%22.png)
When the preposition governs an argument of a larger phrase, such as a noun phrase, the object of the preposition is sometimes called a prepositional or oblique
argument
An argument is a statement or group of statements called premises intended to determine the degree of truth or acceptability of another statement called conclusion. Arguments can be studied from three main perspectives: the logical, the dialectic ...
.
For example, ''convert
the energy of ocean waves into electricity'' becomes ''the conversion''
the energy of ocean waves''">'of the energy of ocean waves''''into electricity'', where the underlined NP – which is the object in the PP headed by ''of'' – is the oblique argument of ''conversion''.
Postpositions
A very small number of prepositions (see ) may occur after their object, for example, ''
notwithstanding'', which can appear either before the object (e.g., ''notwithstanding the fact'') or after (e.g., ''the contrary notwithstanding'').
Complements of prepositions
Traditional grammars of English characterize prepositions as words that take
objects
Object may refer to:
General meanings
* Object (philosophy), a thing, being, or concept
** Object (abstract), an object which does not exist at any particular time or place
** Physical object, an identifiable collection of matter
* Goal, an ...
in the form of
noun phrases
In linguistics, a noun phrase, or nominal (phrase), is a phrase that has a noun or pronoun as its head or performs the same grammatical function as a noun. Noun phrases are very common cross-linguistically, and they may be the most frequently occ ...
. Though the prototypical prepositional phrase consists of a noun phrase complement following a preposition, prepositions can take a wider variety of complements than just noun phrases.
English prepositions can also take
clauses
In language, a clause is a constituent that comprises a semantic predicand (expressed or not) and a semantic predicate. A typical clause consists of a subject and a syntactic predicate, the latter typically a verb phrase composed of a verb with ...
,
adjective phrases,
adverb phrases, and other prepositional phrases as complements, though they occur less frequently than noun phrase complements.
Noun phrase complements
Prepositions typically take noun phrases as complements.
For example, the prepositional phrase ''on the table'' consists of the head ''on'' and the complement ''the table'', and the prepositional phrase ''in the area'' consists of the head ''in'' and the complement ''the area''. By analogy with noun phrase complements of verbs, noun phrase complements of prepositions are occasionally called ''objects'' in grammars of English.
Like objects of verbs, objects of preposition typically carry accusative
case.
Thus, we expect to see prepositional phrases like ''near me'' and ''at her'' rather than ''near I'' and ''at she'' because ''me'' and ''her'' are
accusative case
The accusative case (abbreviated ) of a noun is the grammatical case used to mark the direct object of a transitive verb.
In the English language, the only words that occur in the accusative case are pronouns: 'me,' 'him,' 'her,' 'us,' and ‘the ...
pronouns while ''I'' and ''she'' are
nominative case
In grammar, the nominative case (abbreviated ), subjective case, straight case or upright case is one of the grammatical cases of a noun or other part of speech, which generally marks the subject of a verb or (in Latin and formal variants of Engl ...
pronouns. Indeed, some grammars treat the inability of prepositions to have nominative case pronouns as a defining characteristic of prepositions.
An exception to this rule about case seems to occur when the preposition takes a coordinated pair of objects, such as ''someone and'' ''I''. In these cases, usage varies, and the pronoun can carry either nominative or accusative case. For example, users of English might say "between you and I" or "between you and me". Some commentators have called the former "illiterate" and a sign that the English language is deteriorating, according to ''Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage'', nominative case pronouns as part of a coordinated pair of prepositional objects have occurred in respected works of literature and are actually more characteristic of educated varieties of English than of less educated varieties.
In some cases, the object NP in the PP is atypical in that it lacks a
determiner
A determiner, also called determinative (abbreviated ), is a word, phrase, or affix that occurs together with a noun or noun phrase and generally serves to express the reference of that noun or noun phrase in the context. That is, a determiner m ...
.
For example, ''I'm
at school'' is grammatical, even though an NP headed by the singular noun ''school'' usually requires a determiner; *''They're building new school'' is not grammatical because it is lacking a determiner. Other examples are ''in hospital'' and ''to bed''. Typically the meaning here implies a purpose. For example, ''going to the bed'' does not suggest sleeping in the way that ''going to bed does''.
Clause complements
Prepositions that take a clause as a complement are called ''conjunctive prepositions'' or ''subordinating prepositions''.
Conjunctive prepositions can take a variety of kinds of clauses as complements. Most often, they take finite clauses as complements.
These finite clause complements can be declarative (''this happened after
Stacy left'') or
interrogative
An interrogative clause is a clause whose form is typically associated with question-like meanings. For instance, the English sentence "Is Hannah sick?" has interrogative syntax which distinguishes it from its declarative counterpart "Hannah is ...
(''they ignored the question of
whether it was ethical''). They can also be
subjunctive
The subjunctive (also known as conjunctive in some languages) is a grammatical mood, a feature of the utterance that indicates the speaker's attitude towards it. Subjunctive forms of verbs are typically used to express various states of unreality ...
clauses (''lest
there be any doubt'').
Less commonly, conjunctive prepositions take non-finite clauses as complements. These non-finite clause complements include
infinitive
Infinitive (abbreviated ) is a linguistics term for certain verb forms existing in many languages, most often used as non-finite verbs. As with many linguistic concepts, there is not a single definition applicable to all languages. The word is deri ...
clauses (''we can't agree on
how much to charge'') and present participle clauses (''you can't just put it on without
them knowing''). These clauses may occur with or without subjects, and subjects that do occur can be in accusative case (''without them knowing'') or
genitive case
In grammar, the genitive case (abbreviated ) is the grammatical case that marks a word, usually a noun, as modifying another word, also usually a noun—thus indicating an attributive relationship of one noun to the other noun. A genitive can al ...
(''without their knowing'').
Though various usage commentators have called both cases incorrect in such clauses, many writers use both constructions, and the choice of case often depends on the context. For example, the accusative case is more likely when the subject is emphasized, a phrase intervenes between the subject and the verb, or the subject is plural.
Other complements of prepositions
In more limited cases, prepositions can take other kinds of complements. The preposition ''as'' can take an adjective phrase complement to form a prepositional phrase that functions as an
object complement (''you described them as
jealous'').
Prepositions also take adjective phrase complements in certain
fixed phrases, such as ''at last'' and ''in brief.''
As with adjective phrase complements, prepositions can take adverb phase complements in fixed phrases, such as ''by far'' and ''since when''.
Further, certain prepositions (namely, ''before/ere'', ''for'', and ''till/until'') can take temporal adverbs (such as ''later'', ''long'', ''one'', and ''recently'') as complements, forming prepositional phrases such as ''for later'', ''until recently'', ''for once'', and ''before long''.
Prepositions can also take prepositional phrases as complements. These prepositional phrase complements can be specified by the preposition or not. In the prepositional phrase ''apart from Jill'', for example, the preposition ''apart'' requires that the complement include the preposition ''from''. In the prepositional phrase ''since before the war'', however, the preposition ''since'' does not require the preposition ''before'' and could have instead been something else, such as ''since after the war''.
Modifiers of prepositions
Prepositions may optionally be modified by other phrasal categories. Adverb phrases, noun phrases, and prepositional phrases can function as pre-head modifiers of prepositions (that is, modify prepositions that follow them), and prepositional phases can also function as post-head modifiers (that is, modify prepositions that precede them).
Pre-head modifiers
Adverb phrases can function as pre-head modifiers in prepositional phrases. For example, the prepositional phrase ''after midnight'' can be modified by adverb phrases such as ''shortly'' (''shortly after midnight'') or ''quite obviously'' (''quite obviously after midnight'').
A subset of adverb phrase modifiers of prepositions express degree and occur within prepositional phrases but not other phrasal categories. These degree adverbs include ''clear'', ''flat'', ''plumb'', ''right'', ''smack'', and ''straight.'' Examples of prepositional phrases modified in this way include ''clear up the tree'', ''straight out the door'', and ''right out of the park''.
Noun phrases indicating spatial or temporal extent can occur before a preposition that expresses spatial or temporal meaning in order to modify it. For example, the prepositional phrase ''beyond the post office'' can be modified by the noun phrase ''two miles'' (''two miles beyond the post office'') or ''a few minutes' walk'' (''a few minutes' walk beyond the post office'').
Certain prepositions with directional meanings can function as pre-head modifiers in prepositional phrases.
The prepositions ''down'', ''out'', ''over'', and ''up'' frequently occur in this role.
For example, the preposition ''down'' can modify the prepositional phrases ''by the beach'' (''down by the beach'') and ''by the sea'' (''down by the sea'').
We can tell that these directional prepositions are modifying other proportional phrases rather than taking prepositional phrases as complements because the other preposition determines whether the whole phrase is grammatical. Thus, "I placed it up on the shelf" is grammatical because "I placed it on the shelf" is also grammatical, but "I placed it up to the attic" is not grammatical because "I placed it to the attic" is not grammatical.
Post-head modifiers
Prepositional phrases can also modify prepositions that precede them. In the clause ''they go out in the cold'', for example, the preposition ''out'' is modified by the prepositional phrase ''in the cold''. Though it may appear that ''in the cold'' could be modifying the verb ''go'' rather than the preposition ''out'', movement of the elements to different parts of the clause suggests that ''in the cold'' is actually linked with the preposition ''out'': the prepositional phrase ''in the cold'' cannot move to the start of the clause by itself (*''in the cold they go out'') but it can move to the start of the clause as part of the larger prepositional phrase ''out in the cold'' (''out in the cold they go'').
Functions
PPs typically function as
adjuncts in
clause
In language, a clause is a constituent that comprises a semantic predicand (expressed or not) and a semantic predicate. A typical clause consists of a subject and a syntactic predicate, the latter typically a verb phrase composed of a verb with ...
s, verb phrases, NPs, and AdjPs. They also function as complements in VPs, PPs, AdjPs, and NPs.
Particle
Prepositions may function as
particles
In the physical sciences, a particle (or corpuscule in older texts) is a small localized object which can be described by several physical or chemical properties, such as volume, density, or mass.
They vary greatly in size or quantity, from s ...
, a kind of dependent in a VP that may, unusually, come between a verb and an object. An example is ''up'' in ''pick
up the children'' or ''pick the children
up''.
Subject
In rare cases, a PP can function as the subject of a clause, such as the underlined PP in the following conversation:
A: ''What time can we meet?''
B: ''
Before noon doesn't work.''
Types of prepositions
Subcategorization
In linguistics,
subcategorization
In linguistics, subcategorization denotes the ability/necessity for lexical items (usually verbs) to require/allow the presence and types of the syntactic arguments with which they co-occur. The notion of subcategorization is similar to the notio ...
is the "assignment of a lexical item to a subclass of its part of speech, especially with respect to the syntactic elements with which it can combine."
. Prepositions can be subcategorized based on complement type. The
list of English prepositions
This is a list of English prepositions.
Prototypical prepositions
The following are single-word prepositions that can take a noun phrase complement following the preposition. Prepositions in this section may also take other kinds of complements ...
is categorized this way.
Though the prototypical preposition is a single word that precedes a noun phrase complement and expresses spatial relations, the category of preposition includes more than this limited notion (see ). Prepositions can be categorized according to whether the preposition takes a complement, what kind of complement the preposition takes, on what side of the preposition the complement occurs, and whether the preposition consists of one word or multiple words.
A preposition that takes a noun-phrase complement is called a transitive preposition (e.g., ''She went
up the hill''), and one that does not take any complements is called an intransitive preposition (e.g., ''She went
up'').
Prepositions can also take the following complements: clauses (e.g.,
''after'' ''you arrived''), adjective phrases (e.g., ''accepted
as valid''), and other prepositional phrases (e.g., ''
because of the problem'').
A preposition whose complement precedes it (e.g., ''the constitution
notwithstanding'') may be called a postposition to distinguish it from more prototypical prepositions, whose complements follow them.
Some grammars classify prepositions and postpositions as different kinds of adpositions while other grammars categorize both under the heading of the more common variety in the language. Thus, in the latter categorization method, postpositions may be considered a variety of preposition in English.
Complex prepositions
A complex preposition is a multi-word preposition.
''The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language'' (CGEL) says of complex prepositions,
In the first place, there is a good deal of inconsistency in the traditional account, as reflected in the practice of dictionaries, as to which combinations are analysed as complex prepositions and which as sequences of adverb + preposition. For example, ''owing to'' and ''out of'' are listed as prepositions, but ''according to'', ''because of'', and ''instead of'' are treated as adverb + preposition. Modern descriptive grammars have tended to extend the category of complex prepositions, and there is accordingly some variation in dictionary practice, depending on how far they are influenced by such work.
CGEL generally argues against a complex preposition analysis, and favours a "layered head analysis" for expressions like ''in front of the car''.
In this analysis, ''in front'' is a PP, which is head of a larger PP that has ''of the car'' as a complement.
Fronting and stranding
Preposition fronting (see ) and
stranding can occur when the complement PP is an interrogative or relative
pronoun
In linguistics and grammar, a pronoun (abbreviated ) is a word or a group of words that one may substitute for a noun or noun phrase.
Pronouns have traditionally been regarded as one of the parts of speech, but some modern theorists would not co ...
, as in the following examples.
Fronting
Preposition fronting is a feature of very
formal registers and rare in casual registers.
Not just the interrogative phrase but the PP containing it is fronted. In the example above, the PP ''with whom'' is not in its usual position inside the VP after the head verb. Instead, it appear at the front of the clause. When the pronoun is ''who'' the
accusative
The accusative case (abbreviated ) of a noun is the grammatical case used to mark the direct object of a transitive verb.
In the English language, the only words that occur in the accusative case are pronouns: 'me,' 'him,' 'her,' 'us,' and ‘the ...
''whom'' form is typically used.
Stranding
In preposition stranding, the relative or interrogative phrase appears at the front of the clause instead of in its usual position inside the P after the head preposition. The preposition is then "stranded", typically at the end of the clause.
Semantics
Space and time
Prepositions most typically
denote
In linguistics and philosophy, the denotation of an expression is its literal meaning. For instance, the English word "warm" denotes the property of being warm. Denotation is contrasted with other aspects of meaning including connotation. For in ...
relations in
space
Space is the boundless three-dimensional extent in which objects and events have relative position and direction. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually consider ...
and
time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
.
Location
Prepositions like ''in'' and ''at'' typically denote locations in space (e.g., ''I live
in Toronto'') and time (e.g., ''I arrived
in January''). These prepositions often locate something relative to the object (e.g., the speaker relative to Toronto).
Goal and source
Prepositions like ''to'' and ''from'' typically denote the beginning or end point of a path in space (e.g., ''I went
from Ottawa
to Toronto'') and time (e.g., ''I lived there
from 1992
to 2003'').
Path
Prepositions like ''through'' and ''over'' typically denote the course of a path in space (e.g., ''I went
over the hill'') and time (e.g., ''I lived there
through the 1990s'').
Other
The semantic classification of prepositions has no principled limit.
But a small sample of the variation can be presented. ''Because'' and ''since'' are connected to reasons. ''Concerning'' and ''regarding'' are related to topicality, ''with'' and ''without'' to having. The prepositions ''plus'', ''minus'', and ''times'' are related to mathematical operations. ''Than'' and ''as'' signify comparison. And so forth.
Morphology
Given that English prepositions hardly ever inflect, discussion of their morphology is generally limited to
word formation
In linguistics, word formation is an ambiguous term that can refer to either:
* the processes through which words can change (i.e. morphology), or
* the creation of new lexemes in a particular language
Morphological
A common method of word form ...
. English prepositions are formed through both
derivation
Derivation may refer to:
Language
* Morphological derivation, a word-formation process
* Parse tree or concrete syntax tree, representing a string's syntax in formal grammars
Law
* Derivative work, in copyright law
* Derivation proceeding, a proc ...
and
compounding
In the field of pharmacy, compounding (performed in compounding pharmacies) is preparation of a custom formulation of a medication to fit a unique need of a patient that cannot be met with commercially available products. This may be done for me ...
, and some carry inflectional morphology associated with other parts of speech.
Derivational morphology
Most prepositions are simple bases consisting of a single
morpheme
A morpheme is the smallest meaningful Constituent (linguistics), constituent of a linguistic expression. The field of linguistics, linguistic study dedicated to morphemes is called morphology (linguistics), morphology.
In English, morphemes are ...
, like ''in'', ''from'', and ''under''. Historically, however, English prepositions have been formed from the prefixes ''a-'' and ''be-''.
This ''a''- prefix originally contributed the meaning "on" or "onto" but is no longer
productive
Productivity is the efficiency of production of goods or services expressed by some measure. Measurements of productivity are often expressed as a ratio of an aggregate output to a single input or an aggregate input used in a production proces ...
; that is, it is no longer used to form new words. The preposition ''aboard'', for example, can be paraphrased as "on board of". The ''be''- prefix originally meant "about" but, in prepositions, came to mean something closer to "at" or "near". For example, one sense of the preposition ''before'' means "at or near the front". Though the ''be''- prefix is still productive in forming words of certain parts of speech, it is no longer used to form new prepositions.
Some morphological bases of prepositions remain productive. For example, ''-wards'', which occurs in prepositions such as ''afterwards'' and ''towards'', can attach to other morphemes to form new prepositions such as ''sun'' in ''we looked sunwards''.
Inflectional morphology
Despite lacking an inflectional system of their own, English prepositions occasionally carry inflectional morphemes associated with other parts of speech, namely verbs and adjectives. For example, some English prepositions derive from
non-finite verb forms and still carry the associated inflectional affixes. The prepositions ''barring'' and ''concerning'', for example, contain the -''ing'' suffix of present participle verb forms. Similarly, the prepositions ''given'' and ''granted'' contain, respectively, the -''en'' and -''ed'' suffixes of past participle verb forms.
The prepositions ''near'' and ''far'' are unusual in that they seem to inflect for comparison, a feature typically limited to adjectives and adverbs in English''.''
Compound prepositions
A compound preposition is a single word composed of more than one base.
Often, the bases of compound prepositions are both prepositions. Compound prepositions of this kind include ''into'', ''onto'', ''throughout'', ''upon'', ''within'', and ''without''. Compound prepositions have also been formed from prepositions and nouns. Compound prepositions of this kind include some transitive prepositions, such as ''alongside'', ''inside'', and ''outside'', but they are typically intransitive, such as ''downhill'', ''downstage'', ''downstairs'', and ''downstream''.
Phonology
Harold Palmer noted in 1924, that when a preposition is the last element in a
clause
In language, a clause is a constituent that comprises a semantic predicand (expressed or not) and a semantic predicate. A typical clause consists of a subject and a syntactic predicate, the latter typically a verb phrase composed of a verb with ...
or
intonation group, it is in its "strong form" or
stressed and when it comes before, it is in its "weak form" or unstressed. For example, ''I'm
from Toronto'' is unstressed as , while ''Where are you
from'' is stressed as or . This observation is originally due to
Henry M. Sweet.
References
{{Reflist
Prepositions
Prepositions and postpositions, together called adpositions (or broadly, in traditional grammar, simply prepositions), are a class of words used to express spatial or temporal relations (''in'', ''under'', ''towards'', ''before'') or mark various ...