Preposition

PREPOSITIONS

Prepositions are a category of words that show relationships between other words in a sentence, typically indicating direction, location, time, or manner. They are function words rather than content words, meaning they help structure sentences and clarify the relationships between elements rather than conveying specific meanings on their own. Some common prepositions:

• About
• Above
• Across
• Among
• At
• Below
• Before
• Behind
• Between
• By
• Beside
• Down
• etc

MORPHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE

From a morphological perspective, prepositions are usually simple (single-word), but they can also be complex (formed by combining two or more words)

☝ Simple Prepositions

These are single-word prepositions that do not change form.

Examples: "in," "on," "at," "by," "with," "for," "to," "from."

☝Complex Prepositions (Compound Prepositions)

These consist of two or more words functioning together as a single preposition.

Examples:

"Because of" ("because" + "of")

"In front of" ("in" + "front" + "of")

"In spite of" ("in" + "spite" + "of")

"Due to" ("due" + "to")

"According to" ("according" + "to")

Complex prepositions can sometimes appear in different morphological forms, depending on their combination.

SYNTACTIC PERSPECTIVE

☝Free Preposition

Free prepositions have an independent meaning: the choice of preposition is not dependent upon any specific words in the context.

eg. 

Jackson is going to go with Ann.

Mr. Michael has lived in this city.

Mrs. Arina will come to the party.

☝Bound Preposition

bound prepositions often have little independent meaning, and the choice of the preposition depends upon some other word (often the preceding verb, adjective, or noun)

eg.

We are talking about love.

The mother is angry with her children.

The interest in science can cause us better and better.

Reference/source:

Aart, Flor. and Aart, Jan. 1982. English Syntactic Structures, Pergamon Press, Oxford.

Azar, Betty Schrampfer, 1989.Understanding and Using English Grammar. New Jersey ; Prentice Hall Regents.

Frank, Marcella. 1972. Modern English, Prentice Hall. Inc., New York.

Hornby, S. A. 1975. Guide to Pattern and Usage in English, Second Edition, Oxford University Press.

Stockwell, Robert and Minkova, Donka. 2001. English Words History and Structure. New York. Cambridge University Press.

Swan, Michael.1995, Practical English Usage, Low Price Edition, Oxford; The English Language Book Society and Oxford University Press.

Vince, Michael. 2007. Macmillan English Grammar in Context Intermediate. Thailand. Macmillan publisher.

Vince, Michael. 2008. Macmillan English Grammar in Context Advance. Thailand. Macmillan publisher.

Whison, George E, 1980. Let’s Write English. United States of America. Litton Educational Publishing.

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