Use of Prepositions
A preposition is used to link nouns, pronouns and
phrases to other words in a sentence. The word or phrase that the preposition
introduces is called the object of the preposition. A preposition is used to
indicate the temporal, spatial or logical relationship of its object to the
rest of the sentence.
Preposition AT
- Used to indicate a specific time:
My father will be here exactly at 3:30 p.m.
- Used to indicate a place:
We will meet at my house.
She
is studying at Virginia State
University.
The doctor works at the hospital.
- Used to indicate a destination:
The waiter was at our table to take our order.
- Used to indicate a direction:
The dog jumped at the intruder.
The policeman leaped at the criminal.
Prepositions FOR
- Used to indicate the use of something:
I baked a cake for your birthday.
- Used to mean because of:
For this reason, I've decided to quit this job.
- Used to indicate time or duration:
He's
been famous for many decades.
I
attended the university for one year only.
Common Combinations and Prepositions
- Verb - Preposition Combinations
|
Agree
on (something)
|
We
agree on that issue.
|
|
Agree
with (a person)
|
I
agree with you in that matter.
|
|
Approve
of
|
Betty
approves of exercising.
|
|
Arrive
at OR in
|
They
arrived in Tokyo last night.
|
|
Have
you arrived at a decision?
|
|
|
Complain
about
|
Please
do not complain about the color.
|
|
Consent
to
|
She
consented to her daughter’s marriage.
|
|
Comment
on
|
She
commented on his haircut.
|
|
Consist
of
|
Water
consists of hydrogen and oxygen.
|
|
Depend
on
|
I
am depending on you to help me.
|
|
Laugh
at
|
We
laughed at his silly shirt.
|
|
Object
to
|
Do
you object to my smoking?
|
|
Succeed
in
|
He
succeeded in making everyone angry.
|
- Some verb preposition combinations take two objects.
|
Compare…
with OR to
|
Why
compare me with ( OR to) my brother?
|
|
Excuse…
for
|
I
cannot excuse you for being late.
|
|
Prefer…
to
|
She
prefers juice to milk.
|
|
Remind…
of
|
She
reminded me of my appointment.
|
|
Thank…
for
|
I
thanked him for letting me use his bike.
|
- Adjective - preposition combinations with verb "be."
|
Be
afraid of
|
Jake
is afraid of dogs.
|
|
Be
accustomed to
|
I
was accustomed to seeing her every day.
|
|
Be
aware of
|
Are
you aware of this problem?
|
|
Be
bored with
|
Todd
is bored with backgammon.
|
|
Be
certain of
|
He
cannot be certain of the date.
|
|
Be
disappointed with
|
Susan
was disappointed with her meal.
|
|
Be
familiar with
|
Is
Doctor Jones familiar with that new pill?
|
|
Be
famous for
|
Michigan
is famous for its Great Lakes.
|
|
Be
frightened by
|
Don’t
be frightened by the dog, he won’t bite.
|
|
Be
happy with
|
The
Smith’s are very happy with their new car.
|
|
Be
in favor of
|
Are
you in favor of abortion?
|
|
Be
interested in
|
John
is interested in anthropology.
|
|
Be
opposed to
|
He
is really opposed to buying a new car.
|
|
Be
satisfied with
|
He
is not satisfied with his new school.
|
|
Be
surprised at (or) by
|
I
was surprised by his behavior.
|
|
Be
tired of
|
Maria
is tired of working for a living.
|
|
Be
worried about
|
Mark
is very worried about his sick mother.
|
- Prepositions in fixed phrases.
|
According
to
|
According
to the news, it will rain tonight.
|
|
Along
with
|
Can
you take this bottle along with these cans, to the recycle bin?
|
|
As
well as
|
I
enjoy physics as well as math.
|
|
Because
of
|
Because
of the strike, there will be no buses today.
|
|
By
means of
|
The
child entered the yard by means of an open gate.
|
|
By
way of
|
John
went to Paris by way of London.
|
|
In
addition to
|
In
addition to studying ballet full-time, Patricia works part-time.
|
|
In
case of
|
In
case of fire, break glass and pull alarm.
|
|
In
consideration of
|
In
consideration of all your hard work I would like to take you to dinner.
|
|
In
contrast to (or) with
|
In
contrast to last summer, this summer is quite cool.
|
|
In
deference to
|
In
deference to her age, we did not argue with her.
|
|
In
hopes of
|
We
came here in hopes of meeting the famous musician.
|
|
In
lieu of
|
He
gave an oral report in lieu of the written exam.
|
|
In
pursuit of
|
The
business is in pursuit of excellence.
|
|
In
search of
|
They
went into the cave in search of lost treasure.
|
|
In
spite of
|
In
spite of his good intentions, he did not study much or do well on the exam.
|
|
In
the face of
|
In
the face of a severe drought, conservation measures needed to be adopted.
|
|
In
terms of
|
He
was a good teacher in terms of getting his students to pass their exams.
|
