PREPOSITIONS MADE EASY

A preposition is a word placed before a noun or a pronoun to show in what relationship the person or thing denoted by it stands in relatin to something else. Prepositions indicate relationship in time and space.

Simple Preposition :

Simple prepositions are single syllable words. These words show :

Location : at, by, in, on, nearDirection : to, from, down, through, out, up
Asssociation : of, for, with, like

Compound Preposition:

Compound prepositions are two syllable words.

e.g.,about, above, across, after, along, amidst, among, around, before, behind, below, beneath, beside, between, beyond, inside, outside, within, without, etc.

Phrase Preposition :

Phrase prepositions are groups of words functioning as prepositions.

e.g., according to, along with, away from, becasue of, by reason of, by means of, by virtue of, for the sake of, in accordance with, in addition to,in comparision to, in course of, in favour of, in front of, in in lieu of, in order to, in place of, in regard to, in spite of, in stead of, in the event of, in way of, on account of, owing to, with a view to, with an eye to, with reference to, with regard to, etc.

Participle Preposition :

Participle prepositions are Present Participle (v+ing) form of the verb functioning as prepositions.

e.g., barring, concerning, considering, notwithstanding, pending, regarding, respectiong, etc.

USES OF PREPOSITIONS

OF is used to show :

1. SEPERATION IN TIME AND DISTANCE
e.g., After two years of marriage she had a child.

2. ORIGIN

e.g., The plays of Shakespeare.

The people of Chitradurga.

3. CAUSE

e.g., She was full of joy.

He is afraid of girls.

4. CONNECTION AND RELATION
e.g., She is the sister of Chayapathi.

This is the first of May.

5. WEIGHTS AND MEASUREMENTS
e.g., A piece of chalk.

Samarth drank a litre of milk.
Sheela sang a number of devotional songs.

AT is used to show :

1. WHERE SOMEBODY OR THING IS
e.g., The train is at the platform.

Suma lives at Chatnahally.

2. DIRECTION
e.g., He always looks at girls.

Shobha is looking at you.

3. TIME :

e.g., Please, come at 5 O’clock.

I married at the age at 25.

ON is used to show :

1. DAY AND DATE
e.g., People go to temples on Tuesdays.

My birthday is on the 10th of June.
Visitors come to the Fort on Sundays.

2. ON THE TOP OF A THING
e.g., The newspaper is on the floor. The book is on the table.
The teacher is writing a poem on the board.

3. ABOUT A THING
e.g., Samarth has written a book on Quizzics.
Spoorthy has done research on rice.

IN is used to show :

1. TO SHOW THE PLACE
e.g., The children play in the street.

Geetha has a stick in her hand.

2. TO SHOW TIME
e.g., The club members come here in the evening.

There are seven days in a week.

3. TO SAY ABOUT DRESS
e.g., That girl in red dress is my sister.

Shobha looks pretty in chudidar.

BY is used to show :

1. TO SHOW NEARNESS
e.g., Please, don’t sit by the window.

Her house is by the college.

2. TO SHOW CAUSE: ( Usually by is used in the Passive Voice after Past Participle.)
e.g., A story was told by the student.

He was caught by the police.

3. TO SHOW THE METHOD
e.g., Why don’t you send the letter by courier?

We have to travel by bicycle.

FOR is used to show :

1. TO SHOW DESTINATION & RECIPIENT
e.g., This train is leaving for Lahore.

This is a letter for you.

2. TO TELL ABOUT PREPARATION
e.g., India is not preparing for war.

Study hard for your exams.

3. TO SHOW THE PURPOSE & CAUSE
e.g., Dr. Shivarudrappa went for a walk.

Raju works for money only.

4. TO SHOW SUITABILITY & FITNESS
e.g., Smoking is bad for lungs.

This films is for adults only.

5. PURCHASING
e.g., I bought this dictionary for Rs. 595/-.

Sudha purchased ten saries for Rs.3000.

6. TO SHOW TIME & SPACE
e.g., Children sleep for 12 hours a day.

Dr. Shivaprasad walks for two kilometres.

WITH is used to show :

1. TO INDICATE COMPANY :
e.g., Ravi came to our home with Suma.

Those books are with Sanjay.

2. TO SHOW THE METHOD :
e.g., Smitha covered herself with a blanket.

Cut an apple with a knife.

Fill in the blanks with appropriate prepositions
Vikram Sarabhai thought of going ——— England.
A. in ___B. for ___C. at ___D. to

————working as a teacher, he also writes books in his spare time.
A. besides ___B. beside ___C. by ___D. about.

Sir. M. Visvesvaraya was a man ————principles.
A. with ___B. for ___C. by ___D. of

Keep ————the grass.
A. off ___B. of ___C. on ___D. into

We can only achieve success ——— hard work.
A. in ___B. by ___C. through ___D. along

Narendra heard ——— Sri Ramakrishna from Prof. Hastie.
A. of ___B. from ___C. at ___D. to

Andy’s face was gleaming ——— delight.
A. from ___B. for ___C. at ___D. with

Swamiji went ——— a walk in the afternoon.
A. in ___B. for ___C. at ___D. to

Many stories are told about the Desais ——— Jainur.
A. in ___B. for ___C. of ___D. to

Fill in the blanks with appropriate prepositions

Andy slapped them down under his fist on the table before the squire.

"Ride into the town and see whether there is any letter for me."

Andy waited for about half an hour, in spite of the taunts of the postmaster.

Andy came to the squire’s presence, his face beaming with delight.

Just at this moment, a person who knew Andy came to the shop.

Vikram was born on 12th August 1919 in Ahmedabad.

Many of his classmates went to him with their problems.

Vikram was awarded Ph.D. by the Cambridge University for his studies on the subject.

Vikram thought of going to England for higher studies in physics.

Vikram was good at his studies, especially in science.

Vishwanath was known for charity and was respected by everyone.

There was thunderous applause from the vast audience, and it lastedfor two minutes.

Sometimes Narendra turned the classroom into a place of lively discussion.

The misssion aimed at translating into action the message Sri Ramakrishna all over the world.

Narendra would get lost in thoughts about God.

You come under pressure only when you begin to think of your disadvantage.

He is going to the USA to spend some time with his son.

The first session of the Parliament was opend in the Great Hall ofColumbus at Chicago.

We will have to honour the pandit by taking him round in procession.

I can empty the ocean with that small wooden bowl if you stop all the reivers flowing into the ocean with this bundle of cotton.

There is a total silence for sometime. Slowly the courtiers started talking among themselves.

Examples from Previous Question Papers

The headmaster was returning home from his walk.

He saw Tapan rubbing medicine on the ox’s leg. ( on, by, with, from )

The bomb was armed in the air to avoid the possibility of a nuclear accident on take off. ( for, of, in, to )

The appearace of such planes was a common occurence and most people did not bother to take shelter. ( on, to, by, of )

I walked around my desk and sat in my chair. ( around, of, in, for)

I have a position in one of the city departments. ( of, at, in, for )

The community life of the Soligas is based on the sharing system.
( in, at, on, of)

The bomb exploded with a brilliant flash of light. ( of, with,by, in)

No soliga has ever suffered from want of food. ( for, from, to, of)

She spoke to the Dutch king on the state of prisons in Holland.
( to, for, about, on)
Tapan rubbed some medicine on its leg. There were tears in his eyes. ( of, in, on, by)

The policeman on the beat, moved up the avenue impressively.
( under, on, up, with )

He intends to give a special gift of surprise. ( for, of, to, with)

After cultivation for some years, the land is abandoned and it turnsinto a forest again. (for, in, into, up)

The Soligas find God in every blade of grass. ( of, to in, for )

The bomb was armed in the air to avoid the possiblity of a nuclear war. ( of, on, in, by )

Tapan has been given fifteen strokes for riding an ox into the class room. (with, for, in, into)

It is true that I threw stones at his shop with Ratan and others.
( in, for, at, by, with, about)

It crashed into the room of class VII ( of, to, into, in )

India was freed from the clutches of the British rule on 15th August 1947.