Grammar Handbook: Prepositions

The Center for Writing Studies, The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

A preposition is a word or group of words that shows the relationship--in time, space, or some other sense--between its object (the noun or pronoun that follows the preposition) and another word in the sentence:

Allison put the bag in her locker.
("In" shows the spatial relationship between the verb "put" and the object of the preposition "locker.)

Jamie kicked the ball through the goalposts.
("Through" indicates the direction which the ball traveled.)

Kinds of Prepositions
Common Prepositions
Prepositional Phrases

:: Kinds of Prepositions
There are three kinds of prepositions: simple, compound, and phrasal. The following are representative examples of each.

Simple: after, except, off, with
Compound: alongside, throughout, underneath
Phrasal: across from, near to, in place of
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:: Common Prepositions
A list of most of the common prepositions in English include:

aboard, about, above, according to, across, across from, after, against, along, alongside, alongside of, along with, amid, among, apart from, around, aside from, at, away from, back of, because of, before, behind, below, beneath, beside, besides, between, beyond, but, by, by means of, concerning, considering, despite, down, down from, during, except, except for, excepting for, from, from among, from between, from under, in, in addition to, in behalf of, in front of, in place of, in regard to, inside, inside of, in spite of, instead of, into, like, near, near to, of, off, on, on account of, on behalf of, onto, on top of, opposite, out, out of, outside, outside of, over, over to, owing to, past, prior to, regarding, round, round about, save, since, subsequent to, together, with, through, throughout, till, to, toward, under, underneath, until, unto, up, up to, upon, with, within, without
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:: Prepositional Phrases
A prepositional phrase includes the preposition, the object of the preposition, and the modifiers of the object. It may function as an adverb or an adjective:

The cat climbed on the couch.
(The phrase describes "climbed," so it's an adverb.)

The park by the lake is a great place to play volleyball.
(The phrase acts as an adjective because it gives more information about the park.)
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