Prepositions are essential to sentences because they provide additional and

necessary details. In this lesson, we will explore the definition and roles of
the preposition.

Definition of a Preposition
There are approximately 80 to 100 prepositions in the English
language. Prepositions are words that introduce information to the reader.
This information can include where something takes place (such as 'at' the
store), when or why something takes place (such as 'before' dinner), or
general descriptive information (such as the girl 'with' the cool tattoo).

Examples of Prepositions
Here are some examples of commonly-used prepositions:

about above across after against

along behind below beneath beside
beside
between down during except
s
for from in off on
onto opposite out outside till
to toward under underneath until
withou
with within
t
Prepositions don't stand alone. They work in groups of words that we call
prepositional phrases. Aprepositional phrase begins with a preposition and
ends in a noun. That noun is called the object of the preposition.

Prepositional Phrases
Here are some examples of prepositional phrases:

'under' the desk

'during' the lecture
'across' the yard
'after' lunch
'behind' the tree

The word in quotes is the preposition and the words that follow the
preposition make up the prepositional phrase. Think about a mountain, for
instance. A prepositional phrase is just about anything that we can say in
relation to a mountain, like 'to the mountain,' 'over the mountain,' 'under the
mountain,' 'toward the mountain.' This is a good way to test a group of
words in order to see if they do, indeed, fit the definition of prepositional
phrases.

The object of the preposition is the noun that follows the preposition. It is
also the stopping point for each prepositional phrase. For instance, we
might say, 'to the store.' The word 'to' is the preposition and 'store' is the
object of the preposition. Here's another example, 'in the light.' The word 'in'
is the preposition and 'light' is the object of the preposition.

Roles of the Prepositions

Now, let's go back to that list of information we saw at the beginning of the
lesson. Prepositions, in the form of prepositional phrases, provide specific
information in a sentence for the reader. The reader would not know key and
necessary facts about a sentence without a prepositional phrase. For
instance, here is a barebones sentence:

My mom laughed.
It is a perfectly good sentence, but it doesn't tell us very much. When we
add a prepositional phrase, we better understand the situation. Here is the
sentence with a prepositional phrase:

My mom laughed 'at the joke'.

Ah ha! Now we know why she laughed