2. Prepositions
- Small words, but probably the most difficult to use
correctly.
- at, for, from, in, of, on, to
- Not logical, vague rules
Typical ELL Errors
- After that, all you have to do is wait your passport to come
back with a Brazilian tourist visa in it.
- I want to thank you so much for to call me while I was in the
hospital. Your call meant a lot to me.
- However, I was involved an accident last Sunday, and I
couldn’t call you.
- I know you’re very busy now, so thanks for wrote an e-mail at
this time.
- My friend and I bought an apartment in Argentina, so I’m
pretty sure that I will go there on August.
3. Prepositions
Why are prepositions so difficult?
1) Prepositions do not translate well from one language
to another.
. English: I am in love with Janet.
. Portuguese: Estou apaixonado por Janet. (for?)
. Spanish: Estoy enamorado de Janet. (of?)
2) In English, many times the same preposition has
different uses.
. on the wall, on the table, on Friday
. on May street, on second thought
4. Prepositions
Why are prepositions so difficult? (cont.)
3) A language may not have any one-word to express the
same concept.
. They walked along the river. (= to continue the lengh of)
4) Some languages do not require a preposition after
some words, different from English. And some
languages require a preposition after some words,
different from English.
. English: I walk through the park.
. Japanese: I walk the park.
. English: I entered the room.
. Portuguese: I entered in the room.
5. Prepositions
Why are prepositions so difficult? (cont.)
5) Some languages do not use prepositions in the same
way done in English.
. English: I go to the post office for stamps. (PREpositions)
. Japanese: Stamps’ purpose post office to I go. (POSTpositions)
6) Prepositions in idiomatic expressions are hard to
translate.
. in love with someone / up to you / of course
. at odds with someone / kind of / down the road
6. Prepositions
- a word that shows the relationship between a noun (or
a pronoun) and the rest of the words in the sentence.
- many purposes (mainly place, time and directions)
Prepositional Phases
- a combination of a preposition and its object (noun /
pronoun / modifier(s) + noun)
on Tuesday in the middle at a secret location
(prep + noun) (prep + art + noun) (prep + art + adj + noun)
7. Prepositional Phases
- The position of prepositional phrases in a sentence
most of the times confuse ELLs.
BEGINNING In northern China, the weather can be very cold.
MIDDLE Zina worked in northern China for several years.
END Dr. Kevin teaches at a college in northern China.
What ELLs should know
- We usually use a comma after prepositional phrases in the
beginning of sentences.
- No comma is used when the prepositional phrase occurs at the end
of the sentence.
8. Prepositional Phases
- When a sentence has a prepositional phrase of place
and a prepositional phrase of time, which one do we
normally place first?
Engineers discovered oil _______________ _______________.
in 1901 in Texas 1 2
- When a sentence has two or more prepositional
phrases of place, or two or more prepositional phrases
of time, how do we place them?
Your dictionary is ____________ ____________ ____________
1 2 3
on the table in the kitchen in the box
9. Prepositions
- Prepositions are countless.
- We should focus on the most frequently used.
One-word Prepositions – Pages 164/165/166
Two-word Prepositions – Page 166
Three-word Prepositions – Page 167
10. Prepositions (AT / ON / IN)
smaller PLACE TIME smaller
at MacDonald’s
at
at 5:00 PM
on Green Street on on Monday
in San Francisco in July
in California in the summer
in the United in in 1996
States
bigger Special Idiomatic Expressions Rooms at Home bigger
- in the morning / - in the kitchen/
afternoon / evening bedroom/ bathroom
- at night
11. Problem Prepositions
For vs. Since – Page 170
Before vs. Ago – Page 170
In vs. After – Page 170
For vs. During – Page 171
Verbs of Motion – Page 171
Preposition Combinations
Adjective + Prepositions – Page 172
Nouns + Prepositions – Page 173
Prepositions + Nouns – Page 173
Verbs + Prepositions – Page 174
