How to use prepositions in sentence?

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Please only include the rules.

A preposition is a word that helps describe the relationship of a noun in a sentence with something else.

Usually it describes the location, but it can also touch upon the time, order, etc. of different objects. The ones that describe location I learned with the little mnemonic: Anything a frog can do to a log. This includes being in, on, around, beside, under, on top of, etc.

Note that, for prepositional phrases (see below), they provide more details. You should always be able to remove the prepositional phrase and still have a sentence be grammatically correct. As for how to use these little words, follow some of these rules:

 

Use the preposition at the beginning of a phrase, in front of the noun. This is true for all cases, unless you are using the preposition at the very end of a sentence (especially for a question). Most of the time, prepositions are used in prepositional phrases that are between 3 and 4 words long (though they can be longer). For example:

 

  • The frog is near the log.

In this case, near the log is the prepositional phrase. The preposition, near, describes the location of the frog and the log relative to each other. Take another example:

 

  • I will go to the school before noon.

In this sentence, the prepositional phrase is before noon. The preposition is before, which is a preposition of time. It describes when I will go to the school. An exception to the rule above is this sentence:

 

  • I really need to know if this is something that I can depend on.

The preposition here actually is not part of a prepositional phrase. It is simply a word, on, that describes what you can depend. You could easily turn it into a prepositional phrase by saying that you can depend on your friend, but it is not necessary. In addition, note that it comes at the end of a sentence. Many people do not like ending with a preposition, but it is grammatically correct.

 

Like is a preposition meaning alike, or similar to. When it comes in a prepositional phrase, the rest of the phrase should include an object of the preposition, not a subject or verb. You should not use like when the phrase that follows has a verb. For example, this is correct:

 

  • He seems like a great person.

Note that the core of the sentence is “he seems”. When you look at the prepositional phrase, “like a great person”, there is no verb here. If the phrase were changed to something like this:

 

  • He seems like a great person is. (WRONG!)

That would be INCORRECT.

 

Different should be followed with from, rather than than. The following is correct:

  • Going to a theme park on a cool summer day is different from going in the worst heat.

Do not say:

  • Going to a theme park on a cool summer day is different than going in the worst heat.

 

Use into rather than in to talk about movement toward something. Use in to tell the location.

  • He goes into the store. (there is an action)
  • The box is in the truck. (no action)
  • Talia dropped her doll into the water. (there is an action)
  • Put the book into your bag. (there is an action)

There are several other rules that you can come across when you use prepositions, but if you start off with some of these, you should be good to go!

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