SEMINAR 13B -- PREPOSITIONS - prepositions are a closed class of items connecting two units in a sentence and specifying a relationship between them e.g. I don't like to drink out of a cracked cup. (the link is to the verb phrase) He was very grateful for her help. (the link is to an adjective phrase) The elderly man in the raincoat looks ill. (the link is to a noun phrase) - a prepositional phrase may act as a postmodifier in noun-phrase structure, or as an adverbial e.g. In a few minutes, we'll know the result of the blood test. - prepositions may be: a) simple -- e.g. at, or, down, during, without, etc. b) complex -- e.g. owing to, by means of, as a result of, etc. - the complements of prepositions are usually noun phrases, but they can also be non-finite (-ing) clauses, or nominal (wh-) clauses e.g. near the small town from scrutinizing the results from where I was sitting Deferred prepositions - prepositions are normally followed by their complements, but in certain cases this is not possible, for example a) passive constructions -- e.g. We have paid for the car. -> The car has been paid for. b) the prepositional complement is at the beginning of the sentence e.g. It is unpleasant to work with that man. -> That man is unpleasant to work with. It is not worth listening to his advice. -> His advice is not worth listening to. c) in questions -- e.g. What are you looking at? Who is she talking about? Who did you sell your house to? d) in relative clauses -- e.g. The building (that) you are standing in front of was designed by Wren. Simple prepositions - monosyllabic items -- at, for, in, on, to, with; typically unstressed (!) except when they are deferred: compare: e.g. She looked at me. /@t/ v. What are you looking at? /et/ - other simple prep. of more than one syllable: inside, during, despite, except Complex prepositions - owing to, away from, because of, etc. - in charge of, by means of, at variance with, in addition to, as a result of, etc. Prepositional meanings - positive v. negative (e.g. off = not on) - destination (=movement to an intended location) v. position (static location) - dimension types -- e.g. My coat is in the wardrobe. They were alone on the tennis court. I. SPACE a) Position and direction - positive v. negative e.g. Jack ran to the corner and then stood at the corner. (positive prepositions) v. Kate moved from Bloomsbury and enjoys living away from the city centre. (negative prep.) - a point on the route (or institution) v. residence e.g. Does this train stop at Lincoln? v. I've never lived in Lincoln. Our daughter is at Oxford studying art. v. They didn't live in Oxford. - surface v. the notion of enclosing e.g. They were rowing on Lake Windermere. v. I was swimming in Lake Windermere. I'll lie on the bed for a few minutes. v. The was a child asleep in the bed. b) Relative position - rather than absolute position, many prepositions indicate the position of something relative to the position of something else: e.g. The police station is opposite my house. My house is opposite the police station. - some prepositions form antonymic pairs (one is the opposite of the other) e.g. above v. below over v. under (=directly above, directly below) in front of v. behind before v. after - like under, there are the less common beneath (formal) and underneath - close to and near to can have comparisons: e.g. Please move this desk close(r) to the wall. Please move this desk near(er) (to) the wall. - between (two objects, groups of objects) . among / amid / amidst - esp. in BrE, about is like around: e.g. She put her arms about him. c) Passage - the notion of passage combines position and motion, disregarding destination e.g. I love walking through woods in spring. - other prep. used for passage: by, over, under, across, past Compare: on the grass v. in the grass across the grass v. through the grass Be careful as you drive round corners. The children were playing around the park. d) Metaphorical extension with spatial prepostitions - with many spatial prepositions, metaphor enables similar but abstract relations to be expressed e.g. in the room : in this book, in some difficulty out of the bottle : out of danger, out of the competition beneath the branches : beneath contempt under the floorboards : under suspicion up the hill : up the social scale downhill : down market beyond the post office : beyond endurance over the mountain : (she's getting) over her illness from Boston to Bangor : from generation to generation between the trees : between ourselves through the tunnel : through the ordeal II. TIME a) Time position - the question is When? -- at, on, in - ´at´ - points of time: e.g. The film begins at 7.30. What are you doing at the weekend? I saw her at Christmas. ... at that time / at noon / at midnight - ´in´ - time is regarded as a period e.g. In the evening, I listened to music. Where did he live in his childhood? I saw her in March / in 1998. - ´on´ - in expressions referring to days: e.g. We can come on Monday / on Tuesday afternoon. I was born on July 12^th. Note: I cannot sleep at night. v. We heard her coughing several times in the night. b) Time duration - the question is How long? - for e.g. We stayed in a rented cottage for the summer. - throughout and all through -- express emphasis on the duration e.g. Try to stay alert throughout the entire ceremony. - during indicates a stretch of time within which a more specific duration can be indicated: e.g. During the summer, we stayed in a rented cottage for a month. - over -- e.g. stay overnight, over the weekend, over the Christmas period - from ... to... - reference to the beginning and ending e.g. The office will be open from Monday to Friday. (also: between Monday and Friday) - duration specifying only a starting point (or only a terminal point) is expressed by phrases with: by, before, from, after, since, till, until, up to e.g. She will be here by Friday night. She will not be here before Friday night. I worked from 8 o'clock (onwards). He did not set out till / until Monday afternoon. You can stay here till / until / up to lunch time. Note: ´prior to´ and ´in advance of´ can replace ´before´ in formal style III. CAUSE and PURPOSE - ´cause, reason, motive´ - because of, on account of, for, out of, etc. e.g. He lost his job because of his laziness. She was fined for dangerous driving. The plane crashed through some navigational error. - the notion of ´motive´ shades into ´purpose, goal and target´- for all of these prepositions for is common: e.g. They are appealing for donations. We had better set out for home. She is applying for a better job. He built a play-pen for the little girl. - ´at´ - the goal or target is usually viewed with hostility: e.g. He shouted at them. (=he was angry) v. He shouted to them. (=called) but in other cases it is quite neutral: e.g. She smiled at the child. She laughed at the idea. Note: X lends st to Y v. Y borrows st from X ´as´ = in the role of: e.g. As a subscriber, I ought to have been consulted. IV. From MEANS to STIMULUS (means, instrument, agency, stimulus) - the question is How? -- by (means), with (instrument) e.g. I go to work by car. Please send this to the London office by telex. She won the match with her fast service. He managed to open the door without a key. - the agent is expressed by the preposition by: e.g. This picture was painted by Degas. I was bitten by a neighbour's dog. - ´stimulus´ and ´reaction´ are chiefly expressed by at, but also others, e.g. about, in, of, to e.g. I am surprised at her attitude. I was pleased about the choice of the date. Are you interested in astronomy? I think he is jealous of her. To me, her proposal is broadly acceptable. - with means of transport, ´on´+article can be used instead of ´by´+zero: e.g. I often go to work on the 8.15 train. V. ACCOMPANIMENT - with = in the company of v. without e.g. I hope you will come to dinner with your husband. For once, Jill went without her husband. What will you drink with your meal? I cannot concentrate without silence. - the accompaniment may become a circumstance and the phrase will then connote ´manner´: e.g. He entered the room with a worried look. - ´manner´ is also expressed with (un)like: e.g. Fred, (un)like his brother, is trusted by few. VI. CONCESSION and other relations - ´concession´- is expressed by prepositions: in spite of, despite, notwithstanding (fml), and informal for all, with all: e.g. The article is being published in spite of her disapproval. / for all her disapproval. - ´exception´ - the chief prepositions are: except (for), excepting, with the exception of, excluding, apart from, aside from, but e.g. Except for the weather, our stay in Scotland was enjoyable. Everyone seemed tired but me. - ´addition´- is expressed by: besides, as well as, in addition to e.g. The orchestra was disappointing as well as the soloist. - ´negative condition´ - is expressed by: but for e.g. But for me, the case would have been lost. (i.e. If it hadn't been for me) - ´respect´ - is expressed by: as for, as to, about, on the matter of, concerning, as regards, with regard to, with respect to e.g. Now, about your application, are you sure you would like a job of this kind? - as for is often used to indicate a change of topic: e.g. The coat is splendid but as for the hat I don't think it suits you. Modification - both prepositions and prepositional adverbs can be modified in terms of ´measure´ and ´degree´ by being accompanied by intensifiers: e.g. She arrived shortly after ten. She arrived at ten or shortly after. He expected to be well ahead of Compton but he finished in fact just behind. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The following section (page 7-12) is a summary of the most common prepositions and prepositional phrases. SUMMARY OT THE MOST COMMON PREPOSITIONS TIME AT (time) - at 5 o'clock, at 11.30 - at midnight, at lunchtime, at night, at noon, at the weekend - at sunset - at Christmas, at Easter - at the moment, at present, at the same time ON (time) - on Friday, on Monday morning, - on Christmas Day - on my birthday - on March 14^th 1990 IN (time) - in October, in 1980, in the 1970s - in the 18^th century, in the Middle Ages - in the past, in (the) future, in winter - in four weeks (in four weeks´ time) Note: - on time = punctual, not late, e.g. The 11.45 train left on time. (at 11.45) the opposite of on time is late, e.g. Be on time. Don't be late. - in time (for something / to do something) = soon enough e.g. Will you be home in time for dinner? I want to get home in time to see the football match on television. the opposite of in time is too late, e.g. I got home too late to see the football match. - at the end of st = at the time when st ends e.g. at the end of the month, the film, January, the concert, the course the opposite of at the end is at the beginning - in the end = finally; we say what the final result of a situation was e.g. We had a lot of problems with our car. In the end we sold it and bought another one. the opposite of in the end is at first, e.g. At first I didn´t like her, but in the end we became good friends PLACE IN (place) - in the room, in the building, in the garden - in your hand, in your mouth, in a box - in Italy, in a small village - in the mountains, in the sea, in the river - in a line, in a row, in a queue, in a street - in a photograph, in a picture, in a mirror - in the sky, in the world - in the sea (We were swimming in the sea) - in a newspaper, in a magazine, in a letter - in the basement - in the corner (in a room) - in the front / back of the car - in bed, in hospital, in prison - in a car, taxi AT (place) - at the bus stop, at the door, at the window - at the traffic lights, at the church, - at the end of the street, at reception (hotel) - at the back of a building - at the front, at the cinema, - at the corner / on the corner (outside) - at school, at home, at work, at university, at college - at sea (=on a voyage) e.g. We were at sea for 30 days. - at a party, at a meeting, at a concert, at a football match - at the hairdresser's, at the doctor's - at Judy's (her place) - at the station, at the airport - at the Odeon (cinema), at the Royal Festival Hall ON (place) - on the ceiling, on the door, the wall, - on the grass, on your nose, on your shirt - on the notice board - on an island - on the left - on the second floor - on a farm, on a map, on the menu, on a list - on the river Thames, on the south coast of England - on the way to London - on the front / back of the letter/ envelope/ piece of paper - on a bus, a train, plane, ship - on a bicycle, on a motorcycle, on a horse - (you will find the article) on page seven (of a newspaper) Compare: I was sitting in the back of the car. v. The garden is at the back of the house. Let's sit at the front (of the cinema). v. Let's sit in the front row. There is some water in the bottle. v. There is a label on the bottle. Tom's parents live in Nottingham. v. Does this train stop at Nottingham? (=at N. station) I was at Jane's house last night. v. The rooms in Jane's house are very small. There were a lot of people in the shop. v. Turn left at the shop. There is somebody at the door. V. Can you read the sign on the door? OTHER PREPOSITIONS / OTHER USES TO - go to America, to bed, to the bank, to a party, to a concert - return to Italy - go to a party x we will meet at the party - drive to the airport - a journey to..., a trip to..., welcome to ... - get to work, the theatre, London - I've been to London, to a football match - get to a place x arrive in / at Compare: - get into the car v. get out of the car - get on the bus v. get off the bus, train, plane ON - on holiday, on business, on a trip, on a tour, on a cruise - on television, on the radio, on the phone - on a diet - on strike - on fire IN - in the rain, in the sun, in the dark, in the shade, in bad weater - in ink, in pencil - in words, in figures, in block letters - in cash x by cheque, by credit card - in my opinion AT - at the age of 17 - at a speed of..., at a temperature of.., at 120 miles an hour BY - by post, by hand - by cheque - by mistake, by accident, by chance - by road, rail, air, sea, underground - by train, plane, boat, ship, bicycle - a play by Shakespeare - by 20% - her salary has increased by 20% Compare: - by car v. in my car, in a taxi - by train v. on the train NOUNS + PREPOSITIONS - a cheque for -L- 100 - a reason for the delay - an advantage of living alone - a cause of the explosion - a photo of her family - an increase in the number of accidents / a decrease in / a rise in / a fall in - damage to the car - an invitation to a party - a solution to a problem - a key to the door - an answer to a question / a reply to a question - an attitude to a job (also: towards) - a relationship with parents - differences between two brothers ADJECTIVES + PREPOSITIONS - nice, kind, good, generous, stupid of somebody to do something - be nice, kind, good, generous to somebody - angry / annoyed / furious about something + with somebody for doing something - excited, worried, upset, nervous, happy about - delighted, pleased, satisfied, disappointed with - surprised, shocked, amazed, astonished at / by something - impressed with / by somebody, something - fed up / bored with something - sorry about something -- I am sorry about the noise last night. - sorry for doing something -- I am sorry for shouting at you. - sorry -- I am sorry I shouted at you - feel sorry / be sorry for somebody -- I feel sorry for George. He has a lot of problems. - afraid / frightened / terrified of - fond / proud / ashamed / jealous / envious of his wife, friends - suspicious / critical / tolerant of - aware / conscious of - capable / incapable of passing the exam - full of mistakes / short of money - typical of this job - tired of waiting - certain / sure of / about - good, bad, excellent, brilliant, hopeless at - married /engaged to - similar to - different from - interested in - keen on - dependent on - independent of - crowded with - famous for - responsible for VERBS + PREPOSITIONS - look, have a look, stare, glance at - laugh / smile at - aim / point at something - shoot / fire (a gun) at - talk / speak to (with is also possible) - listen to - write a letter to - phone somebody (no preposition) - invite st to a party - shout at (angry) v. shout to (call to sb) - throw st at sb, st in order to hit it / them -- He threw an egg at the minister - throw st to sb (to catch) it -- He threw the keys to me from the window. - explain st to sb - apologise to sb for doing st - thank for - ask for st (to be given) v. ask about st ( I want to know) - talk about / tell sb about - discuss something (no preposition) - do st about st (a problem) - care about st / sb -- think that it is important - care for -- a) like st - Would you car for a cup of coffee? b) look after -- She cares for her younger sister. - take care of - wait for - search a person, place, a bag for st - leave for another place compare: She left home. V. She left (work) for home. - look for = search for - look after = take care of - dream about -- while asleep - dream of -- to imagine st - remind sb about a meeting (not to forget) - remind sb of st (cause somebody to remember) - complain about (you are not satisfied) - complain of (say you have a pain) - accuse / suspect sb of st - approve of - die of (an illness) - pay for st v. pay a bill, a fine, a tax, rent - thank / forgive for - blame sb for - suffer from (an illness) - protect st / sb from / against - depend on / rely on - live on (money) - congratulate on - believe in - specialize in - succeed in - break into (a house to steal st) - crash/ bump / run into - divide / split st into - translate a book from one language into another - collide with - fill st with - provide / supply sb with - prefer st to st - concentrate on - insist on - spend money on