Prepositions Part 5
A preposition is a word placed before a noun or a pronoun to show in what relation the person or thing denoted by it stands in regard to something else. There are over 100 prepositions in English. This is a very small number compared with the vast number of nouns, adjectives and verbs found in English. Here are some of the prepositions used in English:
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Minus
Minus a particular part or thing means with that part or thing missing or removed.
Roger came back minus a couple of teeth.
Near
If someone or something is near a place or thing, they are only a short distance from it.
Susan stood near the gate, watching the procession.
Next to
If one thing is next to another, it is at the side of it.
My house is next to the bank.
Notwithstanding
‘Notwithstanding a particular thing’ means ‘although that thing exists or occurs’
Modern computers, inefficient software notwithstanding, are quicker than human brains.
Of
‘Of’ is used to refer to amounts or groups to show what substance or thing is involved.
This is a complicated set of rules.
‘Of’ is used after a pronoun, noun or number.
The Sunday Observer has published one of my poems.
‘Of’ is used after ordinal numbers.
Rex was born on the 10th of April.
‘Of’ is used to indicate who or what thing or quality belongs to or is connected with.
The King of Nepal died recently.
Following intransitive verbs are usually followed by ‘of’:
Approve, beware, boast, complain, conceive, consist, despair, disapprove, dispose, dream, hear, know, learn, partake, savour, smack, smell, speak, think, weary
Following transitive verbs are usually followed by ‘of’:
Absolve, accuse, acquit, advise, assure, avail, balk, cheat, cleanse, convict, convince, cure, denude, deprive, disabuse, divest, inform, make, notify, purge, warn
‘Of’ is used to indicate how old someone is.
Joe is a man of forty.
‘Of’ is used to indicate what illness or injury caused someone’s death.
Emma died of heart failure.
Off
If something moves or moved off something else, it comes away so that it is separate and no longer on the other thing.
Carlo fell off his stool.
When you get off a bus, train or plane, you leave it.
Let us get off at Borella.
If you keep off a piece of land, you do not go on it.
Keep off the grass.
If you are off work, you are not working because you are ill.
Jack is frequently off work with various health problems.
When a radio or television stops broadcasting, it goes off the air.
Some radio stations go off the air at midnight.
On
If you are standing or resting on something, it is underneath you and is supporting your weight.
I left my mobile phone on the dining table.
If you are on a bus, plane, train or ship, you are travelling in it.
I became friendly with a child on the plane.
If there is something on a piece of paper, it has been written or printed there.
Bill wrote something on a piece of paper and gave it to me.
If you are on an area of land, you are there.
Many women work on tea estates.
If a building is on a road, it is next to it.
Their house is on Main Street.
If something is on a vertical surface, it is attached to it.
The queen’s photograph is on the classroom wall.
Certain things happen on a particular day or part of a day.
Where will you be on Sunday morning?
If something is done on an instrument or machine, it is done using that instrument or machine.
Barbara played Chopin on the piano.
If you live on a particular kind of food, you eat it.
Bats feed on insects.
If you are on a committee or council, you are a member of it.
Brian was on the Executive Committee.
Following transitive verbs are usually followed by ‘on’:
Base, bestow, blame, confer, foist, force, impose, inflict, lavish, model, spend
