BASIC GRAMMAR- 2.PREPOSITIONS

The highly expected India Vs Pakistan match is all set to bring a cup of joy for the winners.Whoever wins Kudos for them. And whoever misses say a big ALLLL IZZZZZZZZZZ WELLLLLLLLLLL to them :)And our preposition article is done :)Here it goes..Prepositional usage is extremely difficult to master, yes. And it is the area where people get struck often. Is it so.? Don’t bother about that right now. Practice makes a man perfect :-) we’ll go for the session without any further delay. And the best of learning the use of prepositions is by careful, avid reading and constant practice.


Prepositions:

The following are the common prepositions in English.

About	Beneath	In front of	Since
Above	Beside	Into	till
Across	Besides	Near	Through
After	Between	Next to	To
Against	Beyond	Of	Towards
Along	Down	off	Under
Among	by	On	Underneath
Around	During	Onto	Until
At	Except	Opposite	Up
Before	For	Out of	Upon
Behind	From	Over	With
Below	In	Past	Without

However we remember the prepositions it’s purely dependent on the context or the situation. Now we’ll explore the usage of prepositions at various contexts.

Prepositions of place:

Follow two simple rules, that’s it:

We use at and in to say where something or somebody is.

Rule 1: at is used when we talk about a position or point.

Rule 2: in is used to talk about something big enough to be all around a person.

Example:

1.       We arrived in Bombay. (=in the city).

2.       We arrived at Bombay airport. (A particular position/point).

Prepositions of Time:

Again follow simple rules:

1.      On is used for days and dates.

Ex: Mary announced her arrival on coming Sunday. (Day)

2.   . In is used for months, seasons and years.

Ex: This year Diwali comes in October. (Month)

3.       In is also used for parts of the day.

Ex: I used to exercise in the morning. (Part of the day)

4.     At is used for points of time, mainly for (a) hours of the day (b) holiday periods.

Ex: Be here at six o ‘clock sharp. (Hour)

5.       By a point of time/in a period of time.

Ex: We must be there by three o’ clock. (Not later than that time).

6.       Since is used with a point of time.

Ex: He has been working here since 1988. (Year)

7.    For is used with a period of time, i.e. Length of time till now.

Ex: He has been working here for five years. (Period of time).

Prepositions of travel and movement:

 We use by + noun (without the or a/an) to talk about means of travel.

    Example:

1.       We get on/onto a bicycle/horse/camel.

2.       We get into a train/bus/car.

3.       We get off a train/car/bus.

                   

   Note: This article doesn't covers the full scope of the above dealt prepositions. It is better  recommended for a basic understanding only. To expertise, a lot to be practiced on those areas.

Happy Reading !!! Leave your valuable comments and help me grow :)

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Source : Wren and Martins'  English Grammar and Composition.

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