English Prepositions For the ESL Student of Grammar, Syntax, and Semantics by Hal Niergarth

A preposition usually connects - comes between - two words or phrases. The written word or phrase before or to the left of the preposition is, or contains, 1) a (PRO)noun, 2) a verb, or 3) an adjective: 1) a book of poems; a pain in the neck 2) she talked about quitting; we all voted against his proposal 3) they're ready for action; she's really good at math.

Right after the preposition, to the right of it in writing, there is a word or phrase that is the preposition's object, or complement. This complement is 4) a noun (phrase), 5) a gerund (phrase), or 6) a how or wh- phrase: 4) a glass of water; a letter from my sister 5) they were fired for fighting on the job; the director gave a talk on cutting costs 6) the cops asked questions about how the fight started; I'm interested in what you think of the idea [A preposition cannot have as complement/object the subjective form of a personal pronoun, a to- infinitive clause, or a that finite clause. So utterances such as I looked at she, We're surprised for to see you, and They're mad about that you did that are all unacceptable English.]

Thus a prepositional phrase - a preposition followed by its complement/object - can be used to complete the meaning of a noun, a verb, or an adjective, and the prepositional complement/object - what follows the preposition and completes the meaning - can be a noun, a gerund, or a how or wh- phrase. Below are examples of the nine syntax patterns that are possible:

I noun + preposition + noun: a trip to the store
II noun + preposition + gerund: a manual on dieting
III noun + preposition + how/wh-: an explanation of how to clear a plugged sink
IV verb + preposition + noun: she laughed at me
V verb + preposition + gerund: they're thinking about leaving
VI verb + preposition + how/wh-: we knew from what we'd heard that....
VII adjective + preposition + noun: fit for service
VIII adjective + preposition + gerund: excited about getting the offer
IX adjective + preposition + wh-/how: surprised at what she said

Stranded Prepositions

A preposition remains alone at the end of its clause when:

1) the prepositional complement replaces anticipatory IT as grammatical subject

It's fun to work with her.
She's fun to work with.

2) the prepositional complement becomes the subject of a passive construction

We've paid for the room.
The room's been paid for.

3) the prepositional complement has how or a wh- word as its first word

Where are you from? I'm from Ontario.

4) the prepositional complement is a relative pronoun that is not the clause subject

There's the house [that] I'm talking about.

Independent English Prepositional phrases

A prepositional phrase can stand alone, not grammatically connected to the language it modifies, and it can be like an incidental comment on a whole sentence or even a paragraph. The utterance that such a prepositional phrase modifies is always grammatically complete without the prepositional phrase:

By the way - you still owe me fifty euros.
On the other hand, she may be right.
In the long run, we'll be better off, because.... (Grammarians call phrases like these adverbial disjuncts.)

There may be at least hundreds of such prepositional phrases in the English language and a lot of them, like the three italicized above, are idioms - phrases that pose problems of semantics because they have to be learned and memorized as a unit. The sharper ESL students may have questions about them.

This paper gives a grammatical description - it names the three different permissible parts of speech - of the word that an English preposition can modify. And it describes the three different parts of speech that can occur in that modification (in the prepositional phrase). It also names three fairly common mistakes made by ESL students who are studying prepositions. In short, it describes the linguistic context where a preposition does (or should not) occur.

For more help with English grammar, syntax,or semantics Click Here