I) Preposition

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Preposition and postpositionAdpositions perform many of the same functions as case markings, but adpositions are syntactic elements, while case markings are morphological elements.

Definitional issues

Adpositions are non-inflecting (or "invariant"); i.e., they do not have paradigms of forms (for different tenses, cases, genders, etc.) in the same way as verbs, adjectives, and nouns in the same language. There are exceptions, though, for example in Celtic languages (see Inflected preposition).

Properties

The following properties are characteristic of most adpositional systems.

Adpositions are among the most frequently occurring words in languages that have them. For example, one frequency ranking for English word forms[4] begins as follows (adpositions in bold):

the, of, and, to, a, in, that, it, is, was, I, for, on, you, … The most common adpositions are single, monomorphemic words. According to

the ranking cited above, for example, the most common English prepositions are the following:

on, in, to, by, for, with, at, of, from, as, … Adpositions form a closed class of lexical items and cannot be productively

derived from words of other categories.

Classification

Adpositions can be organized into subclasses according to various criteria. These can be based on directly observable properties (such as the adposition's form or its position in the sentence) or on less visible properties (such as the adposition's meaning or function in the context at hand).

An adposition can also, in itself, function as a complement:

as the complement of a {noun}

o a {thirst} for revengeo an {amendment} to the constitution

as the complement of an {adjective} or {adverb} o {attentive} to their needso {separately} from its neighbors

as the complement of {another preposition} o {until} after suppero {from} beneath the bed

Semantic classification

Adpositions can be used to express a wide range of semantic relations between their complement and the rest of the context. The following list is not an exhaustive classification:

spatial relations: location (inclusion, exclusion, proximity), direction (origin, path, endpoint)

temporal relations comparison: equality, opposition, price, rate content: source, material, subject matter agent instrument, means, manner cause, purpose Reference

Subclasses of spatial adpositions

Spatial adpositions can be divided into two main classes, namely directional and static ones. A directional adposition usually involves motion along a path over time, but can also denote a non-temporal path. Examples of directional adpositions include to, from, towards, into, along and through.

Bob went to the store. (movement over time) A path into the woods. (non-temporal path) The fog extended from London to Paris. (non-temporal path)

A static adposition normally does not involve movement. Examples of these include at, in, on, beside, behind, under and above.

Bob is at the store.

Directional adpositions differ from static ones in that they normally can't combine with a copula to yield a predicate, though there are some exceptions to this, as in Bob is from Australia, which may perhaps be thought of as special uses.

Fine: Bob is in his bedroom. (in is static)

Bad: *Bob is to his bedroom. (to is directional)

Directional spatial adpositions can only combine with verbs that involve motion; static prepositions can combine with other verbs as well.

Fine: Bob is lying down in his bedroom. Bad: *Bob is lying down into/from his bedroom.

When a static adposition combines with a motion verb, it sometimes takes on a directional meaning. The following sentence can either mean that Bob jumped around in the water, or else that he jumped so that he ended up in the water.

Bob jumped in the water.

In some languages, directional adpositions govern a different case on their complement than static ones. These are known as casally modulated prepositions. For example, in German, directional adpositions govern accusative while static ones govern dative. Adpositions that are ambiguous between directional and static interpretations govern accusative when they are interpreted as directional, and dative when they are interpreted as static.

in seinem Zimmer (in his-DATIVE room) "in his room" (static) in sein Zimmer (in his-ACCUSATIVE room) "into his room" (directional)

Directional adpositions can be further divided into telic ones and atelic ones. To, into and across are telic: they involve movement all the way to the endpoint denoted by their complement. Atelic ones include towards and along. When telic adpositions combine with a motion verb, the result is a telic verb phrase. Atelic adpositions give rise to atelic verb phrases when so combined.[14]

Static adpositions can be further subdivided into projective and non-projective ones. A non-projective static adposition is one whose meaning can be determined by inspecting the meaning of its complement and the meaning of the preposition itself. A projective static adposition requires, in addition, a perspective or point of view. If I say that Bob is behind the rock, you need to know where I am to know on which side of the rock Bob is supposed to be. If I say that your pen is to the left of my book, you also need to know what my point of view is. No such point of view is required in the interpretation of sentences like your pen is on the desk. Projective static prepositions can sometimes take the complement itself as "point of view," if this provides us with certain information. For example, a house normally has a front and a back, so a sentence like the following is actually ambiguous between two readings: one has it that Bob is at the back of the house; the other has it that Bob is on the other side of the house, with respect to the speaker's point of view.

Bob is behind the house.

A similar effect can be observed with left of, given that objects that have fronts and backs can also be ascribed lefts and rights. The sentence, My keys are to the left of the phone, can either mean that they are on the speaker's left of the phone, or on the phone's left of the phone.[15]

Classification by grammatical function

Particular uses of adpositions can be classified according to the function of the adpositional phrase in the sentence.

Modification o adverb-like

The athlete ran {across the goal line}.o adjective-like

attributively

A road trip {with children} is not the most relaxing vacation.o in the predicate position

The key is {under the plastic rock}. Syntactic functions

o complement

Let's dispense with the formalities. Here the words dispense and with complement one another, functioning as a unit to mean forego, and they share the direct object (the formalities). The verb dispense would not have this meaning without the word with to complement it.{In the cellar} was chosen as the best place to hide the bodies.

Adpositional languages typically single out a particular adposition for the following special functions:

marking possession marking the agent in the passive construction marking the beneficiary role in transfer relations

Overlaps with other categories

Adverbs

There are many similarities in form between adpositions and adverbs. Some adverbs are clearly derived from the fusion of a preposition and its complement, and some prepositions have adverb-like uses with no complement:

{down the stairs}/downstairs, {under the ground}/underground. {inside (the house)}, {aboard (the plane)}, {underneath (the surface)}

It is possible to treat all of these adverbs as intransitive prepositions, as opposed to transitive prepositions, which select a complement (just like transitive vs intransitive verbs). This analysis[16] could also be extended to other adverbs, even those that cannot be used as "ordinary" prepositions with a nominal complement:

here, there, abroad, downtown, afterwards, …

A more conservative approach is to say simply that adverbs and adpositional phrases share many common functions.

Particles

Phrasal verbs in English are composed of a verb and a "particle" that also looks like an intransitive preposition. The same can be said for the separable verb prefixes found in Dutch and German.

give up, look out, sleep in, carry on, come to Dutch : opbellen ("to call (by phone)"), aanbieden ("to offer"), voorstellen ("to

propose") German : einkaufen ("to purchase"), aussehen ("to resemble"), anbieten ("to

offer")

Although these elements have the same lexical form as prepositions, in many cases they do not have relational semantics, and there is no "missing" complement whose identity can be recovered from the context.

Conjunctions

The set of adpositions overlaps with the set of subordinating conjunctions (or complementizers):

(preposition) before/after/since the end of the summer (conjunction) before/after/since the summer ended (preposition) It looks like another rainy day (conjunction) It looks like it's going to rain again today

All of these words can be treated as prepositions if we extend the definition to allow clausal complements. This treatment could be extended further to conjunctions that are never used as ordinary prepositions:

unless they surrender, although time is almost up, while you were on the phone

A. TIME

about: about noon (approximately) after: after the gameat: at five o'clock after lunch at last (finally) after threeby: by midnight (no later than) for: for an hour (duration)from: from Monday to Friday in: in the morningof: a quarter of three (15 in the fall minutes before) in Aprilon: on Tuesday (day of the week) in 1987 on May 8 (date) in six months (at the end of) on time (punctual) in time (early enough)past: a quarter past three (15 to: a quarter to three (15 minutes minutes after) before)

B. PLACE OR DIRECTION

around: She walked around the car. at: They are at home.down: They lived down the hall. We were at the restaurant.from: We immigrated from Peru He smiled at her. in 1991. in: He lives in a trailer. The restaurant is one We waited in the bus. mile from here. inside: Put it inside the house. of: We moved south of Montreal on: We sat on the ocean pier.through: They drove through the tunnel. She left on the train.to: He went to Prague. up: He walked up the stairs. Give it to me. with: He went with me.

C. MEANS OR AGENT

by: He was hit by a ball. from: His success results from She came by train. careful planning. He did it by hard work. in: He takes pleasure in it. It came by special delivery. on: They live on bread and water. He got there by swimming. with: He chased the mongoose with a stick.

D. MANNER

by: By doing it yourself, you in: He left in confusion.

save time. The room was in a turmoil.like: He looks like a hero. You can do it in a day.on: I swear it on my word of honor. with: He ate it with a fork.

E. STATE OR CONDITION

at: My friend is at work. by: They are by themselves She is at home. (alone).in: He is in a state of on: He is on duty (scheduled to confusion. work).for: I mistook you for someone as: I see her as a good person. else.

F. QUANTITY OR MEASURE

for: We drove for twenty miles. by: We bought them by the kilo. We bought it for ten cents.

G. PURPOSE

for: He bought it for an emergency. She went to the city for sightseeing. He loved her for her thoughtfulness.

II ) Preposition phrase

A prepositional phrase will function as an adjective or adverb.

Prepositional phrases

The bolded phrases are examples of prepositional phrases in English:

She is on the computer. (She is using the computer.) Ryan could hear her across the room. David walked down the ramp. They walked to their school. Philip ate in the kitchen.

Prepositional phrases have a preposition as the central element of the phrase. In contrast to other types of phrases, this cannot be described as a head, since the preposition cannot stand on its own. The remaining parts of the phrase, usually a noun phrase, are called the prepositional complement.

The first example could be diagrammed (using simplified modern notation):

IP / \NP VP| | \N V \| | PPShe is / \ / \ P NP | / \ on Det N | | the computer

Where by convention:

IP = Inflectional phrase (sentence) NP = Noun phrase N = Noun VP = Verb phrase V = Verb PP = Prepositional phrase P = Preposition Det = Determiner

The diagram shows that the prepositional phrase in this sentence is composed of two parts: a preposition and a noun phrase. The preposition is in the head position, and the noun phrase is in the complement position. Because English is a head-first language, we usually see the head before the complement (or any adjuncts) when we actually read the sentence. (However, the head comes after the specifier, such as the determiner "the" in the noun phrase above.)

See adposition for more examples of complements found in prepositional phrases.

Prepositional phrases generally act as complements and adjuncts of noun phrases and verb phrases. For example:

The man from China was enjoying his noodles. (Adjunct of a noun phrase) She ran under him. (Adjunct of a verb phrase) He gave money to the cause. (Oblique complement of a verb phrase) A student of physics. (Complement of a noun phrase) She argued with him. (Complement of a verb phrase)

A prepositional phrase should not be confused with the sequence formed by the particle and the direct object of a phrasal verb, as in turn on the light. This sequence is structurally distinct from a prepositional phrase. In this case, "on" and "the light" do not form a unit; they combine independently with the verb "turn".

Another common point of confusion is that the word "to" may appear either as a preposition or as a verbal particle in infinitive verb phrases, such as "to run for president".

III) Noun phrase

A noun phrase may consist of a single word (a noun or pronoun) or a group of words. The most important noun in a noun phrase is called the headword. After we hv post Head string and pre head string. It acts like a noun.

IV) clause

Clause - A group of Subject - Predicate construction is called a Clause. OR A Subject and a Predicate form a clause. OR Such a group of words which forms part of a sentence, and contains a Subject and a Predicate, is called a Clause.

There are independent and dependent clauses. An independent clause is any phrase that can stand alone as its own sentence. For instance, in the sentence "Jane and I were walking when we saw the dog," the first portion "Jane and I were walking" would be an independent clause.

A dependent clause, however, doesn't make sense when taken out of the sentence; it is therefore dependent on the sentence as a whole. For instance, "when we saw the dog" would be a dependent clause (here, a prepositional phrase to be more specific) because it does not have the necessary elements of a sentence that an independent clause has.

syntactic and semantic

A relative clause is a kind of subordinate clause, one of whose arguments shares a referent with a main clause element on which the subordinate clause is grammatically dependent.

Most typically, a relative clause modifies a noun or noun phrase, and uses some grammatical device to indicate that one of the arguments within the relative clause has the same referent as that noun or noun phrase. For example, in the sentence I met a man who wasn't there, the subordinate clause who wasn't there is a relative clause, since it modifies the noun man, and uses the pronoun who to indicate that the same "man" is referred to within the subordinate clause (in this case, as its subject).

n linguistics, a dependent clause (or a subordinate clause) is a clause that augments an independent clause with additional information, but which cannot stand alone as a sentence. Dependent clauses either modify the independent clause of a sentence or serve as a component of it. Some grammarians use the term subordinate clause as a synonym for dependent clause. Other grammars use subordinate clause to refer only to adverbial dependent clauses. There are also different types of dependent clauses, including noun clauses, relative (adjectival) clauses, and adverbial clauses.

That is the person about whom I was talking.That is the person about whom I was telling you.

A relative clause—also called an adjective or adjectival clause—will meet three requirements. it functions like an adjective—it gives more information about a noun.

First, it will contain a subject and verb. Next, it will begin with a relative pronoun [who, whom, whose, that, or which] or

a relative adverb [when, where, or why]. Finally, it will function as an adjective, answering the questions What kind? How

many? or Which one?

An adverbial clause is a dependent clause that functions as an adverb. In other words, it contains a subject (explicit or implied) and a predicate, and it modifies a verb.

I saw Joe when I went to the store. (explicit subject 2) He sat quietly in order to appear polite. (implied subject he)

The Difference Between Phrasal Verbs and Prepositional Verbs"There are a number of syntactic criteria you can use for distinguishing phrasal verbs from prepositional verbs:

1. in transitive phrasal verbs, the particle is movable, but the preposition in a prepositional verb is not;

2. the NP is the object of the verb in phrasal verbs rather than of the preposition;

3. in both transitive and intransitive phrasal verbs, the particle carries stress, as in She took the cap off or The plane took off, while prepositions are unstressed, as in We knocked on the door.

4. adverbials cannot intervene between the verb and the particle whereas they can between the verb and the preposition, *looked quickly up the information, but looked quickly into the oven.

Single words

a abaft aboard about above absent across afore after against along alongside amid amidst among amongst an (see "a" for usage in front of consonants) apropos ("apropos of" is a common derived term) apud around as (also an adverb and a conjunction) aside astride at athwart atop barring before behind below beneath beside

besides between beyond but by circa (sometimes abbreviated as "c." or "ca.") concerning despite down during except excluding failing following for from given in including inside into lest like mid (from "amid". Usually used poetically.) midst (from "amidst". Usually used poetically.) minus modulo near next notwithstanding (also used postpositionally) of off on onto opposite out outside over pace past per plus pro qua regarding round

sans save since than through , thru (informal) throughout , thruout (informal) till times to toward towards under underneath unlike until unto up upon versus , commonly abbreviated as "vs.", or (principally in law or sports) as "v." via vice , meaning "in place of"[1]

with (sometimes written as "w/") within (sometimes written as "w/in" or "w/i") without (sometimes written as "w/o") worth

Multiple words

Two words

according to ahead of apart from as for as of as per as regards aside from back to because of close to due to except for far from in to (contracted as into) inside of (note that inside out is an adverb, not a preposition)

instead of left of near to next to on to (contracted as onto) out from out of outside of owing to prior to pursuant to rather than regardless of right of subsequent to thanks to that of up to where as

Three words

as far as as long as as opposed to as soon as as well as

With as X as', a wide variety of adjectives can be used, so this could be treated as a syntactic construction rather than a group of multiword prepositions.

Preposition + (article) + noun + preposition

English has a number of idiomatic expressions which act as prepositions, but can be analyzed as a preposition followed by a noun (sometimes preceded by the definite or, occasionally, indefinite article) followed by another preposition.[2] Common examples include:

at the behest of by means of by virtue of for the sake of in accordance with in addition to

in case of in front of in lieu of in order to in place of in point of in spite of on account of on behalf of on top of with regard to with respect to with a view to