PREPOSITION+EXERCISE-HOT

Lecture 16
preposition and prepositional phrases
Designer: Trịnh Thúy Ngàn
Nguyễn Thị Thanh Huệ
Nguyễn Thanh Huyền
Definition
The
preposition
The
prepositional
phrase
Simple
and
Complex
prepositions
Prepositional
adverbs
The preposition
Are words belonging to closed-systems items

Expresses a relation between two entities, one being represented bye the prepositional complement

May show the relation of place, time, instrument, and cause
Eg: the train leaves for Hai Phong at 2 o’clock
The prepositional phrase
consists of a preposition followed by a prepositional complement, which is characteristic a noun phrase or a Wh-clause or a V-ing clause

That-clauses and infinitive clauses do not occur as prepositional complement


Other similar verbs and adjectives are:
He was surprised that she said this
>>> he was surprised at her mark/ her saying this/what she said
decide (on), inform (of) ,insist (on)
afraid (of) , aware (of) ,sorry (about) sure (of)
there are some circumstances in which prepositions are post-positioned, either because the complement has to take first position in the clause, or because it is absent:

WH-QUESTIONS : Which house did you leave it at?

RELATIVE CLAUSE : The old house which I was telling you about.
WH-CLAUSES : What I’m convinced of is that he will be the champion.
EXCLAMATIONS : What a mess he’s got into.

PASSIVES : She was sought after by all the leading impresarios of the day.
INFINITIVE CLAUSES : He’s impossible to work with.
Note
Simple and complex prepositions
Simple prepositions: consist of one word.
E.g.: at, on, in, to, from, of, for, since, with, between, under, against, up, down, by, as, etc.
Complex prepositions: consist of more than one word, including 3 sub-groups:
Adverb of prep + prep
( along with, as for, away from, out of, up to)
Verb/adj/conjunction/etc + prep
( owing to, due to, because of )
Prep + noun + prep
( by means of, in comparison with, in front of )
Prepositional adverbs
A prepositional adverb is a particle which behaves like a preposition with ellipted complement

The prepositional adverb is respectively an adjunct or a postmodifier:
A car drove past the door (past is a preposition)
A car drove past (past is a prepositional adverb; i.e.: past something or someone identified in the context)
Despite the fine weather, we stayed in all day (place adjunct)
The day before, I had spoken to him in the street (postmodifier)
Syntactic
function
of
prepositional
phrases
(PP)
adjunct
disjunct
conjunct
Post modifier
in a N phr
Complement
of a verb
Complement
of an Adj
The people were singing on the bus
To my surprise, the doctor phoned
On the other hand, he made no attempt
to help the victim
The people on the bus were singing
We depend on you
I am sorry for his parents
Note: PP may occasionally have a nominal function
Eg: between six and seven will suit me
Subject of a clause
adjunct
disjunct
conjunct
adjunct
disjunct
Post modifier
in a N phr
conjunct
adjunct
disjunct
Complement
of a verb
Post modifier
in a N phr
conjunct
adjunct
disjunct
Complement
of an Adj
Complement
of a verb
Post modifier
in a N phr
conjunct
adjunct
disjunct
Prepositional meaning
Place (8)
Time (3)
Cause Purpose (4)
Mean Agentive (4)
Accompaniment
Support opposition
“Having”
Concession
Reference
exception
Negative condition
Subject matter
Ingredient material
Respect standard
Reaction
Place (8)
Time (3)
Cause Purpose (4)
Place (8)
Time (3)
Mean Agentive (4)
Cause Purpose (4)
Place (8)
Time (3)
Accompaniment
Mean Agentive (4)
Cause Purpose (4)
Place (8)
Time (3)
Support opposition
Accompaniment
Mean Agentive (4)
Cause Purpose (4)
Place (8)
Time (3)
“Having”
Support opposition
Accompaniment
Mean Agentive (4)
Cause Purpose (4)
Place (8)
Time (3)
Place (8)
Time (3)
Cause Purpose (4)
Place (8)
Time (3)
Mean Agentive (4)
Cause Purpose (4)
Place (8)
Time (3)
Accompaniment
Mean Agentive (4)
Cause Purpose (4)
Place (8)
Time (3)
Support opposition
Accompaniment
Mean Agentive (4)
Cause Purpose (4)
Place (8)
Time (3)
“Having”
Support opposition
Accompaniment
Mean Agentive (4)
Cause Purpose (4)
Place (8)
Time (3)
Respect standard
Reaction
Ingredient material
Respect standard
Reaction
Subject matter
Ingredient material
Respect standard
Reaction
Negative condition
Subject matter
Ingredient material
Respect standard
Reaction
exception
Negative condition
Subject matter
Ingredient material
Respect standard
Reaction
Reference
exception
Negative condition
Subject matter
Ingredient material
Respect standard
Reaction
Place (8)
Time (3)
Cause Purpose (4)
Place (8)
Time (3)
Mean Agentive (4)
Cause Purpose (4)
Place (8)
Time (3)
Accompaniment
Mean Agentive (4)
Cause Purpose (4)
Place (8)
Time (3)
Support opposition
Accompaniment
Mean Agentive (4)
Cause Purpose (4)
Place (8)
Time (3)
“Having”
Support opposition
Accompaniment
Mean Agentive (4)
Cause Purpose (4)
Place (8)
Time (3)
Reaction
“Having”
Support opposition
Accompaniment
Mean Agentive (4)
Cause Purpose (4)
Place (8)
Time (3)
Respect standard
Reaction
“Having”
Support opposition
Accompaniment
Mean Agentive (4)
Cause Purpose (4)
Place (8)
Time (3)
Ingredient material
Respect standard
Reaction
“Having”
Support opposition
Accompaniment
Mean Agentive (4)
Cause Purpose (4)
Place (8)
Time (3)
Subject matter
Ingredient material
Respect standard
Reaction
“Having”
Support opposition
Accompaniment
Mean Agentive (4)
Cause Purpose (4)
Place (8)
Time (3)
Negative condition
Subject matter
Ingredient material
Respect standard
Reaction
“Having”
Support opposition
Accompaniment
Mean Agentive (4)
Cause Purpose (4)
Place (8)
Time (3)
exception
Negative condition
Subject matter
Ingredient material
Respect standard
Reaction
“Having”
Support opposition
Accompaniment
Mean Agentive (4)
Cause Purpose (4)
Place (8)
Time (3)
Reference
exception
Negative condition
Subject matter
Ingredient material
Respect standard
Reaction
“Having”
Support opposition
Accompaniment
Mean Agentive (4)
Cause Purpose (4)
Place (8)
Time (3)
Concession
Reference
exception
Negative condition
Subject matter
Ingredient material
Respect standard
Reaction
“Having”
Support opposition
Accompaniment
Mean Agentive (4)
Cause Purpose (4)
Place (8)
Time (3)
Prepositional meaning
Place (8)
Time (3)
Cause Purpose (4)
Mean Agentive (4)
Accompaniment
Support opposition
“Having”
exception
Negative condition
Subject matter
Ingredient material
Respect standard
Reaction
Place (8)
Time (3)
Cause Purpose (4)
Place (8)
Time (3)
Mean Agentive (4)
Cause Purpose (4)
Place (8)
Time (3)
Accompaniment
Mean Agentive (4)
Cause Purpose (4)
Place (8)
Time (3)
Support opposition
Accompaniment
Mean Agentive (4)
Cause Purpose (4)
Place (8)
Time (3)
“Having”
Support opposition
Accompaniment
Mean Agentive (4)
Cause Purpose (4)
Place (8)
Time (3)
Place (8)
Time (3)
Cause Purpose (4)
Place (8)
Time (3)
Mean Agentive (4)
Cause Purpose (4)
Place (8)
Time (3)
Accompaniment
Mean Agentive (4)
Cause Purpose (4)
Place (8)
Time (3)
Support opposition
Accompaniment
Mean Agentive (4)
Cause Purpose (4)
Place (8)
Time (3)
“Having”
Support opposition
Accompaniment
Mean Agentive (4)
Cause Purpose (4)
Place (8)
Time (3)
Respect standard
Reaction
Ingredient material
Respect standard
Reaction
Subject matter
Ingredient material
Respect standard
Reaction
Negative condition
Subject matter
Ingredient material
Respect standard
Reaction
exception
Negative condition
Subject matter
Ingredient material
Respect standard
Reaction
exception
Negative condition
Subject matter
Ingredient material
Respect standard
Reaction
Place (8)
Time (3)
Cause Purpose (4)
Place (8)
Time (3)
Mean Agentive (4)
Cause Purpose (4)
Place (8)
Time (3)
Accompaniment
Mean Agentive (4)
Cause Purpose (4)
Place (8)
Time (3)
Support opposition
Accompaniment
Mean Agentive (4)
Cause Purpose (4)
Place (8)
Time (3)
“Having”
Support opposition
Accompaniment
Mean Agentive (4)
Cause Purpose (4)
Place (8)
Time (3)
Reaction
“Having”
Support opposition
Accompaniment
Mean Agentive (4)
Cause Purpose (4)
Place (8)
Time (3)
Respect standard
Reaction
“Having”
Support opposition
Accompaniment
Mean Agentive (4)
Cause Purpose (4)
Place (8)
Time (3)
Ingredient material
Respect standard
Reaction
“Having”
Support opposition
Accompaniment
Mean Agentive (4)
Cause Purpose (4)
Place (8)
Time (3)
Subject matter
Ingredient material
Respect standard
Reaction
“Having”
Support opposition
Accompaniment
Mean Agentive (4)
Cause Purpose (4)
Place (8)
Time (3)
Negative condition
Subject matter
Ingredient material
Respect standard
Reaction
“Having”
Support opposition
Accompaniment
Mean Agentive (4)
Cause Purpose (4)
Place (8)
Time (3)
exception
Negative condition
Subject matter
Ingredient material
Respect standard
Reaction
“Having”
Support opposition
Accompaniment
Mean Agentive (4)
Cause Purpose (4)
Place (8)
Time (3)
exception
Negative condition
Subject matter
Ingredient material
Respect standard
Reaction
“Having”
Support opposition
Accompaniment
Mean Agentive (4)
Cause Purpose (4)
Place (8)
Time (3)
exception
Negative condition
Subject matter
Ingredient material
Respect standard
Reaction
“Having”
Support opposition
Accompaniment
Mean Agentive (4)
Cause Purpose (4)
Place (8)
Time (3)
Concession
Prepositional meaning
Place (8)
Time (3)
Cause Purpose (4)
Mean Agentive (4)
Accompaniment
Support opposition
“Having”
exception
Negative condition
Subject matter
Ingredient material
Respect standard
Reaction
Place (8)
Time (3)
Cause Purpose (4)
Place (8)
Time (3)
Mean Agentive (4)
Cause Purpose (4)
Place (8)
Time (3)
Accompaniment
Mean Agentive (4)
Cause Purpose (4)
Place (8)
Time (3)
Support opposition
Accompaniment
Mean Agentive (4)
Cause Purpose (4)
Place (8)
Time (3)
“Having”
Support opposition
Accompaniment
Mean Agentive (4)
Cause Purpose (4)
Place (8)
Time (3)
Place (8)
Time (3)
Cause Purpose (4)
Place (8)
Time (3)
Mean Agentive (4)
Cause Purpose (4)
Place (8)
Time (3)
Accompaniment
Mean Agentive (4)
Cause Purpose (4)
Place (8)
Time (3)
Support opposition
Accompaniment
Mean Agentive (4)
Cause Purpose (4)
Place (8)
Time (3)
“Having”
Support opposition
Accompaniment
Mean Agentive (4)
Cause Purpose (4)
Place (8)
Time (3)
Respect standard
Reaction
Ingredient material
Respect standard
Reaction
Subject matter
Ingredient material
Respect standard
Reaction
Negative condition
Subject matter
Ingredient material
Respect standard
Reaction
exception
Negative condition
Subject matter
Ingredient material
Respect standard
Reaction
exception
Negative condition
Subject matter
Ingredient material
Respect standard
Reaction
Place (8)
Time (3)
Cause Purpose (4)
Place (8)
Time (3)
Mean Agentive (4)
Cause Purpose (4)
Place (8)
Time (3)
Accompaniment
Mean Agentive (4)
Cause Purpose (4)
Place (8)
Time (3)
Support opposition
Accompaniment
Mean Agentive (4)
Cause Purpose (4)
Place (8)
Time (3)
“Having”
Support opposition
Accompaniment
Mean Agentive (4)
Cause Purpose (4)
Place (8)
Time (3)
Reaction
“Having”
Support opposition
Accompaniment
Mean Agentive (4)
Cause Purpose (4)
Place (8)
Time (3)
Respect standard
Reaction
“Having”
Support opposition
Accompaniment
Mean Agentive (4)
Cause Purpose (4)
Place (8)
Time (3)
Ingredient material
Respect standard
Reaction
“Having”
Support opposition
Accompaniment
Mean Agentive (4)
Cause Purpose (4)
Place (8)
Time (3)
Subject matter
Ingredient material
Respect standard
Reaction
“Having”
Support opposition
Accompaniment
Mean Agentive (4)
Cause Purpose (4)
Place (8)
Time (3)
Negative condition
Subject matter
Ingredient material
Respect standard
Reaction
“Having”
Support opposition
Accompaniment
Mean Agentive (4)
Cause Purpose (4)
Place (8)
Time (3)
exception
Negative condition
Subject matter
Ingredient material
Respect standard
Reaction
“Having”
Support opposition
Accompaniment
Mean Agentive (4)
Cause Purpose (4)
Place (8)
Time (3)
exception
Negative condition
Subject matter
Ingredient material
Respect standard
Reaction
“Having”
Support opposition
Accompaniment
Mean Agentive (4)
Cause Purpose (4)
Place (8)
Time (3)
exception
Negative condition
Subject matter
Ingredient material
Respect standard
Reaction
“Having”
Support opposition
Accompaniment
Mean Agentive (4)
Cause Purpose (4)
Place (8)
Time (3)
Place
When we use a preposition to indicate place, we do so in relation to the dimensional properties, whether subjectively or objectively conceived, of the location concerned

a) Positive position and direction: at, to, on, on(to), in, in(to)
b. Negative position and direction: away from, off, out of
c. Relative position: by, over, under, etc
Prepositions may express the relative position of two objects or groups of objects:
He was standing by his brother (=’at’ the side of)
Express relative position vertically: Above, over, on top of, under, underneath, beneath, below
Represent it horizontally: before, in front of, behind, after.

Notes:

Above and below, over and under, in front of and behind are converse opposites:
The picture is above the mantelpiece = The mantelpiece is below the picture
Over and under tend to indicate a direct vertical relationship and/or spatial proximity, while above and below may indicate simply ‘on a higher/ lower level than’:
The castle stands on a hill above (rather than over) the valley
Underneath and beneath are less common substitutes for under: beneath is formal in style. Underneath, like on top of, generally indicates a contiguous relation.
Passage
Express movement with reference to an axis or directional path
Up and down contrast in terms of vertical direction
Along = from one end towards the other in terms of a horizontal axis
Across = from one side to another in terms of a horizontal axis.
(a)round = the directional path is an angle or a curve:
We ran (a)round the corner
Toward (s) = ‘in the direction of’.
Direction
(up, down, along, across, (a)round, toward(s))
Passage
Passage
Passage
Passage
Passage
Passage

Orientation
beyond, over, past, across, through, up, down, along, (a)round
A static sense of orientation: = ’on the far side of’
He lives across the moors (i.e. ‘from here’)
His office is up/down the stairs (i.e. at (or towards) the top/ bottom of...)

Resultative meaning
Indicates the state of having reached the destination, including all prepositions which have motional meaning
I managed to get over the fence/ across the river (i.e. so that I was then on the other side)
Is often signaled by certain adverbs: already, just, at last, (not) yet

Pervasive meaning
all over, all through/ throughout, along, around, etc.
Have pervasive meaning (either stative or motional):
That child was running all over the flower borders
There were crowds (all) along the route
note
Seven senses of over: One preposition may be used in most of the senses discussed above:
POSITION: A lamp hung over the door
DESTINATION: They threw a blanket over her
PASSAGE: They climbed over the wall
ORIENTATION: They live over (= ‘on the far side of’) the road
RESULTATIVE: At last we were over the crest of the hill
PERVASIVE (STATIVE): Leaves lay thick (all) over the ground
PERVASIVE (MOTION): They splashed water (all) over me
Metaphorical (abstract) use of place prepositions:
IN/OUT OF, AMID/AMIDST:
Position  state, condition: In/out of danger; amid many troubles
Enclosure  abstract inclusion: In stories/plays; in a group/party; in/out of the race
ABOVE/BELOW/BENEATH: Vertical direction  abstract scale:
Such behavior is beneath (not below) him; he’s above me in salary
UNDER: Vertical direction  subjection, subordination: Under suspicion/orders/compulsion
UP/DOWN: Movement on vertical axis  movement on list or scale:
Up/down the scale: up/down the social ladder
FROM/TO: Starting point/destination  originator/recipient:
A letter/present from Browning to his wife
BEYOND/PAST/OVER: Resultive meaning: physical  abstract:
Beyond/past endurance; we’re over the worst
BETWEEN/AMONG, AMONGST: Relative position  abstract relation between participants: A fight between two boys; they agree among (st) themselves
Time

a.Time when/ point: at, on, in

2 “dimension-types”:
+ At (point of time): chiefly clock time (at ten o’clock), holiday period (at the weekend)
+ On: Phrases referring to day (on Monday) or a part of a day (on Monday morning)
+ In (periods of time): in the evening, in July

b.Duration: for, over, throughout, from…to

We camped there for the summer (i.e. all through)
# We camped there in the summer (i.e. at some time during the summer)
Time ( relationship: before, after, since, till)
Time (Absence of preposition of time)
Prepositions of time are absent from:

+ Adjuncts having the deictic words: last, next, this, and that, previous, following

+ Quantifying words: some and every

+ Nouns which have last, next, or this as an element of their meaning: yesterday, today, tomorrow

I saw him last Thursday
Every summer she returns to her childhood home

The preposition for is often omitted in phrases of duration:
We stayed there (for) three months
Cause – purpose
Mean-agentive
manner
Means, instrument
Instrument, angentive
Stimulus
a. Manner: with, in….manner, like
We are received with the utmost courtesy.
The task was done in a workmanlike manner
The army swept through the city like a pestilence
Note: As # like
He spoke like a lawyer (manner)
as a lawyer ( capacity)
b. Means, instrument: by, with, without, answer the question “How”
By: “by means of”: I usually go to work by bus/train
With: instrumental meaning: He caught the ball with his left hand
Without: negative meaning: I drew it without a ruler.
Note: - Mode of transport is expressed by on as well as by: on the bus/ the train…
- “On” instead of “by” in the phrases: on foot, on horseback.
c. Instrument, agentive: with, by
Instrument: inert and inanimate cause of action: The ball that breaks a window
Agentive: animate (often human) initiating cause: The boy who threw the ball.
In a passive sentence: both expressed by a by-phrase, only instrument by a with-phrase
The window was broken by a ball/ by a boy
with a ball/ (NOT: with a boy)
d. Stimulus: at
The relation between an emotion & its stimulus can be expressed by at or by:
I was alarmed at/by his behavior.
Other prepositions introducing stimuli are:
Resentful of Sorry about Disappointed with Worried about Interested in
5. Accompaniment: with
Followed by an animate complement, with has the meaning: “ in company with/ together with”: I’m so glad you’re coming with us
Without is the negative of with: They’re going without us

6. Support, opposition: for, with, against
For: support
With: solidarity or movement in sympathy
Against: the contrary idea of opposition
Are you for or against the plan? (= Do you support or oppose the plan?)

7. “Having”: of, with, without
(1) (2)
(a) a man of courage the courage of the man
(b) a man with large ears the man’s large ears
The two columns differ in that (1) makes a man the centre of attention, while (2) makes something about him the centre of attention
The negative of with is again without:
Women without children (‘childless women’)

8. Concession: in spite of, despite, for +all, with + all, notwithstanding
I admire him, in spite of his faults.
In spite of : general purpose preposition of concession
Despite: more formal
Notwithstanding: formal & rather legalistic
For all & with all: chiefly colloquial.
9. Reference: with regard to, with reference to (formal), as to ( BrE), as for
With reference to your letter of April 29th, I confirm…..
As for the burglar, he escaped through the attic window
As to & as for: less formal
Others: regarding, in regard to, with respect to, in respect of, and on the matter of.
Most can be used in post modifying phrases as well as disjuncts
I’d like to know your opinions as to / with regard to the burglar’s behavior

10. Exception: except for, but…
All the students except/ but John passed the test.
Except, excepting & but function generally in post modifying phrases
But can not occur initially as a preposition:
INCORRECT: But me, everyone was tired
CORRECT: Everyone but me was tired
Note: The resemblance and the contrast but as a preposition & but as a conjunction:
All the students had a good time but John (preposition)
# Most of the students had a good time but not John (conjunction) = but John did not

11. Negative condition: but for
But for is used in sense of ‘negative condition’
E.g.: But for Gordon, we should have lost the match = If it hadn’t been for Gordon,...
= If Gordon hadn’t played as he did, ...
12. Subject matter: about, on
About, on = on the subject of, concerning: He told me about his adventures
On = deliberate, formal linguistic communication (speaking, lecturing, writing, etc.) inappropriate for V like chat or quarrel
Think of # think about:
He thought about the problem (=He pondered/ considered the problem)
He thought of the problem (=He brought the problem to his mind)

13. Ingredient, material: with, of, out of
After verbs of “making”:
with indicates an ingredient: You make a cake with eggs
of and out of signify the material or constituency of the whole thing:
He made the frame (out) of wood (wood was the only material)
14. Respect, standard: at, for
We can make the norm explicit by a for phrases :
He’s not bad for a youngster (i.e. considering he is a youngster)
Use at to introduce the respect in which the adj is appropriate to its noun phrase:
He’s bad/hopeless/terrible at games.

15. Reaction: to
We can express the REACTION by the preposition to followed by an abstract noun of emotion:
To my annoyance, they rejected the offer.
Alternatively ,we can use a to-phrase to identify the person reacting:
To me, their rejection of the offer was a surprise.
To also applies equally to intellectual or perceptual response:
It looked to me like a vast chasm.
To a mind based in common sense, his ideas are utterly absurd
IV. Modification of prepositional phrases.
Prepositions may be preceded by intensifiers.
Now their footsteps could be heard directly above my head
Thanks!