Prepositions in Detail
ICSE Class 8 · English · Chapter 7
What this chapter covers
- What a preposition does
- Prepositions of time
- Prepositions of place
- Prepositions of movement
- Prepositional phrases
- Words followed by appropriate prepositions
- Prepositions after adjectives and verbs
- Common prepositional errors
Key points
- A preposition shows how a noun or pronoun is related to another word: in place, time, direction, cause or manner.
- The object of a preposition is the noun or pronoun after it; a pronoun object takes the object form (me, him, them).
- Time: at for exact times, on for days and dates, in for months, years, seasons and parts of the day; no preposition before this, next, last or every.
- For measures a length of time; since marks a starting point; by means "not later than"; until means "up to, then stop".
- Place: at for a point, on for a surface or line, in for an enclosed space or large area.
- Between is for two, among for three or more seen as a group.
- Movement: into, onto and towards show direction; across is for open surfaces and through for enclosed spaces.
- A prepositional phrase begins with a preposition and ends with its object; it works as an adjective or an adverb.
- Fixed phrases (on time, in time, by chance, on purpose) must be learnt as wholes.
- Many nouns, adjectives and verbs take a fixed preposition: interest in, proud of, depend on, congratulate on.
- Some words change preposition with meaning: angry with a person and about a thing; agree with, to and on.
- Avoid extra prepositions (discuss about, reach to, comprise of), missing ones (listen music, wait me) and wrong ones (married with, good in).
Questions answered
Define a preposition and name the object of the preposition in "The kite got stuck in the mango tree."
A preposition is a word placed before a noun or pronoun to show its relation to another word in the sentence. The preposition is "in" and its object is "the mango tree".
Fill in the blanks: Our exams begin ___ March, the first paper is ___ the 4th, and it starts ___ 9:30 a.m.
in, on, at.
What is the difference between "by Friday" and "until Friday"?
"By Friday" means "not later than Friday", a deadline. "Until Friday" means something continues up to Friday and then stops.
Choose the correct word: The money was divided (between / among) the three brothers.
among, because there are more than two people, seen as a group.
Explain the difference between "She ran in the room" and "She ran into the room".
"In the room" means she was already inside and running there. "Into the room" means she moved from outside to inside.
Pick out the prepositional phrase and say whether it is an adjective or an adverb: "The boy in the blue shirt won the race."
"in the blue shirt" — an adjective phrase, because it tells which boy.
Complete with the correct preposition: (a) He is capable ___ better work. (b) Do not insist ___ going alone. (c) I agree ___ your suggestion.
(a) of, (b) on, (c) to.
Correct the sentence: "We discussed about the problem and reached to a decision."
We discussed the problem and reached a decision.