English Compound Prepositions List, Exercises and Examples(as
stated by, on the authority of) According to John, no one enjoyed
the party very much. According to the weatherman, we can expect
more cold weather this week. (before, in front of) ahead of You
should have told us ahead of time that you were coming. That cars
going too slowly. Why dont you try to get ahead of him? (together
with) along with We have to take Physical Education along with all
the academic courses. (beside, parallel with) alongside of I parked
my car alongside of a gray station wagon. (separate from,
considered in separation from) apart from Its a new house, and
stands apart from all the other houses in the street because of its
size and newness. Apart from his habit of talking too much, I have
nothing in particular against him. (in contrast or competition
with) as against As against all other members of his family, I
prefer him. (choosing or judging between two) as between As between
living in the country or in the city, I much prefer the latter. as
compared with (in comparison with) As compared with (to) the other
students in the class, hes no (to) problem at all. (introduces a
new but similar subject for consideration or as for comment) John
will probably pass the examination without difficulty. As for Mary,
Im not so sure! at the point of (about to do somethingfollowed by a
noun or gerund) The sick man was at the point of death. (about to
die) The ship was at the point of break in two. at the time of At
the time of the First and the Second Crusades, Constantinople was
the center of Western civilization. (on account of) because of
Because of the bad weather, we stayed at home. (by the power of) by
force of The country was finally subdued by force of arms (through
the agency of) by means of He has reached this high position by
means of his own abilities, without help. (because, on account of)
by reason of By reason of his many years of experience in this
field, he is the best man for the job. (by the authority or
prestige of) by virtue of I was able, by virtue of my knowledge of
its language and customs, to pass as a not native of the country.
(via) by way of We entered Italy by way of Southern France. (on
account of) due to
according to
I was unable to go to the party, due to a previous engagement.
(with the exception of) except for Except for John, none of us had
ever been there before. (because of fear of) for fear of For fear
of saying the wrong thing, I chose to say nothing at all. (because
of not having) for lack of For lack of something better to do, we
went downtown. If Ive failed, it isnt for lack of trying for the
purpose of (in order to followed by gerund) You have all come to
this school for the purpose of learning English. for the sake of
(in the interest of, for the good of) He treated her badly, but she
stayed with him for the sake of the children. (from a position
above or over) from above Seen from above, the countryside looks
like a checkerboard of brown and green squares. From among the
thousands of students whom he had taught, from among two in
particular stood out in his memory. (from a position behind) from
behind The driver got out from behind the (steering) wheel and
began to roll up his sleeves as though he intended to fight
someone. from beneath He picked the coin up from beneath the table,
where it had rolled. from between He emerged from between two
parked cars and began to walk toward us. (from the direction of)
from over That sound came from over that way, I think. The cat came
out from under the bed, where it had been hiding. from under in
accordance (in agreement with)
with in addition to in behalf of in between in care of in case
of in close connection with in common withIn accordance with your
instructions, we are shipping this item to you by insured air
parcel post. (added to) In addition to his regular job here, he
works in a store downtown three nights a week. (speaking or acting
as a proxy or representative) In behalf of the mayor and the people
of our beautiful city, I am glad to extent a warm greeting and
welcome to al of you. (in the area or time between) He works
overseas most of the time, but in between jobs he sometimes visits
his family. (in the custody of) When we go on our vacation, we
leave the children in care of my wifes sister. (in the event of) In
case of enemy attack, seek shelter at once and await instructions
from your local civil defense officers on your radio. (in
cooperation with) Our units work in close connection with military
personnel of other countries. (sharing the same nature or behavior
as)
in comparison to (with) in compliance with
In common with most elderly people, he was inclined to be a
little set in his ways. (compared with) In comparison to (with) his
brother he is quite easy to get along with. (yielding or submitting
to)
In compliance with your request of January 7, we are returning
the following items of equipment for repair. in connection with (as
an aspect or consequence of) Ill have to make several trips to
Washington in connection with my new assignment. in consequence of
(as a result of) In consequence of the changed situation, we have
had to alter our plans slightly. in consideration (taking into
account, considering)
of in contrast to (with) in default of in deference to in
exchange for in front of in lieu of in opposition to in place of in
preference to in regard to in search of in spite ofIn consideration
of his changed attitude toward his work, we suggest that he be
given another chance. In contrast to (with) his earlier attitude,
he is now very friendly and cooperative. (through failure or lack
of) In default of more accurate information, we were forced to rely
on newspaper accounts of the affair. (submitting to: the attitudes,
opinions, or wishes of) In deference to the sensitivities of some
of his guests, he avoided any discussion of religion or politics.
(in return for) All I got in exchange for my hard earned money was
a piece of junk. (located before) My car is parked in front of the
house. (as a substitute for, in place of) In lieu of the money he
owed us, we received only fine words and more promises to pay.
(opposing) This action was taken in opposition to the expressed
will of the majority of our people. (as a substitute for,
replacing) Im teaching today in place of Mr. Jones, who is sick.
(being preferred to) Through personal influence, he was given the
job in preference to several older and more experienced men.
(concerning) In regard to that question you asked me the other day;
I think I can answer you in affirmative. (looking for) Hes gone to
the library in search of some books on sky diving he just heard of.
(disregarding the difficulty, resistance, hostility, etc, of) In
spite of the weathermans predictions, I think its going to be a
good day.
in terms of in the course of in the event of in the face of
independently of inside of instead of on account of on behalf of on
the part of
on the point of on top of
out of
outside of
owing to
He was able to complete his work in spite of illness. (from the
aspect of) In terms of offensive or retaliatory airpower, the two
nations are on a more or less equal footing. (during) In the curse
of the ages (long periods of time), great alterations have taken
place in the earths surface. (in case of) This policy pays double
in the event of accidental death. (policy = insurance agreement)
(because of) He is always calm in the face of danger. (without
dependence of) He made his decision independently f the other
members of the group. (within-refers to either place or time) Ill
never set foot inside of his house again. He was back inside of 10
minutes. (in place of, substituting for) I wish I were going to a
party instead of to the dentist. (because of) The game has been
postponed on account of rain. (speaking or acting as a proxy or
representative) I make this request on behalf of my government.
(this phrase, which is difficult to translate, serves to attribute
some attitude or behavior to its object) Eagerness to learn on the
part of the students, combined with a clear knowledge of objectives
and of the techniques best adapted to attaining them on the part of
the teacher, constitutes the ideal classroom situation. (about to
followed by gerund) I was on the point of leaving when the phone
rang. a. (on the highest surface of) Theres always slow on top of
those mountains. b. (furthermore, in addition) He ate a full lunch
like the rest of us, but on top of that, he ate two or three candy
bars, and drank two cokes. a. (from the interior of) As soon as she
went out of the room, I got out of bed and began to dress. b. (no
longer in or within as in the idioms out of sight, our of mind, out
of reach, out of fashion, out of business, etc) The plane vanished
out of sight over the horizon. Get out of my way! Out of sight, out
of mind. (proverb) c. (no longer have or be supplied with) We ran
out of gas coming from town. He was out of breath from running so
fast. a. (beyond the limits of an area) He lives in a small town
outside of New York. b. (with the exception of) Outside of his
immediate family and one or two old friends, he sees no one any
more. (because of)
I cant accept your invitation owing to a previous engagement.
(before a certain time) previous to Previous to 1980, he had been
employed as a clerk in a department store. (without regarding,
irrespective of) regardless of All men, regardless of race, color,
or creed, are entitled to equal rights and opportunities. (having
some relation with) relating to He told us several stories relating
to his experiences in East Asia during World War II. (concerning)
relative to He made some interesting observations relative to life
in the tropics. (at approximately.. usually said of time) round
about (around about) Ill be back around about 11:00 (with the
ultimate exception of) short of Ive tried every technique of
teaching I know, short of standing on my head; and they still dont
understand! under cover of a. (concealed by) They accepted from
their guards under cover of darkness. b. (protected by) The attack
was made under cover of a heavy barrage. (this idiomatic, sometimes
humorous, untranslatable phrase what with introduces a list of
various factors in a difficult, confusing, or exasperating
situations) What with the children crying, the dog barking, and
both the telephone and the doorbell ringing at the same time, I
felt that Id go out of my mind. with (in) regard (with respect to,
concerning) With respect to your request for a two-week delay in
the due to payment of annual interest on the above mentioned note,
we regret that it is contrary to the policy of this organization to
grant such requests. with a view to (for the purpose of, intending
to) With a view to increasing the sale value of the property, he
had the house painted and driveway resurfaced. with reference to
(referring to) With reference to your letter of June 17, requesting
information about unshipped items on your order No. 1113, we are
glad to report that these items are now in stock and are being
shipped to you. with the intension (intending to) I went downtown
with the intention of buying some shirts and of ties
