preposition
part of speech
noun (a preposition, prepositions)
meaning for a pupil
1) A preposition is a small word that shows how a noun or pronoun is linked to other words, often telling where, when or how: in, on, under, behind, after, with, by, to, from. tree →
2) (formal, rare) A preposition can also mean an idea put forward, but this is very rare; usually «proposition» is used. tree →
sense in the lessons
In English grammar lessons and SATs pupils find prepositions, use them to describe where things are (the cat under the table) and when things happen (after lunch, on Monday, in the morning), and learn prepositional phrases. In maths, position words like above, below, between and next to are prepositions. Phrases: preposition of place, preposition of time, prepositional phrase.
examples
- «Under» is a preposition in «under the bed». tree →
- Circle all the prepositions in the sentence. tree →
- The ball rolled behind the sofa. tree →
- We have PE after lunch. tree →
- «In», «on» and «at» are tricky prepositions of time. tree →
- The book is between the two boxes. tree →
- Use a preposition to say where the treasure is hidden. tree →
- She walked across the bridge. tree →
note
Countable: a preposition, prepositions. A preposition is followed by a noun, pronoun or noun phrase (its object): «with my friend». Trap: the same word can be a preposition or a conjunction or adverb: «before lunch» (preposition), «before we ate» (conjunction), «I've seen it before» (adverb). Old «rule»: some say never end a sentence with a preposition, but in everyday English «Who are you talking to?» is fine.
In the corpora
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «preposition» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.