A brief introduction.

TSL641 - Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL)

Created by:

Mohd Afiq Bin Abdul Aziz

2007293892

U8D

Lecturer: Mr. Mahadi Bin Kamaludin

http://ianswerthecall.blogspot.com/

What are Prepositions?

A preposition describes a relationship between other words in a sentence. In itself, a word like "in" or "after" is rather meaningless and hard to define in mere words. For instance, when you do try to define a preposition like "in" or "between" or "on," you invariably use your hands to show how something is situated in relationship to something else. Prepositions are nearly always combined with other words in structures called prepositional phrases. Prepositional phrases can be made up of a million different words, but they tend to be built the same: a preposition followed by a determiner and an adjective or two, followed by a pronoun or noun (called the object of the preposition). This whole phrase, in turn, takes on a modifying role, acting as an adjective or an adverb, locating something in time and space, modifying a noun, or telling when or where or under what conditions something happened.

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Prepositions - An Overall View

Prepositions

How can we use these little words correctly?

Prepositions are used in many different ways in English - perhaps that's why a lot of people have problems with them.
First, they are used with time words:

• on Monday
• in the 20th century
• at night

Second, they are used to show where something or someone is:

• The plate is on the table.
• Julie is in the garden.
• The picture is on the wall.

Third, they are used after some adjectives:

• She is good at tennis.
• Scotland is famous for whisky
• I'm worried about my new job.

Fourth, they are used after some verbs:

• I'm listening to music.
• She is waiting for her friend.
• He borrows money from his sister.

Fifth, they are used after some nouns:

• She has trouble with remembering new vocabulary.

Finally, they are used in certain phrases:

• The bus arrived in the end.
• She arrived just in time for the film.

Prepositions of Time

In, at, on and no preposition with time words:

Prepositions of time - here's a list of the time words that need 'on', 'in', 'at' and some that don't need any preposition. Be careful - many students of English use 'on' with months (it should be 'in'), or put a prepostion before 'next' when we don't need one.

at	times: at 8pm, at midnight, at 6:30 holiday periods: at Christmas, at Easter at night at the weekend at lunchtime, at dinnertime, at breakfast time
on	days: on Monday, on my birthday, on Christmas Day days + morning / afternoon / evening / night: on Tuesday morning dates: on the 20th of June
in	years: in 1992, in 2006 months: in December, in June decades: in the sixties, in the 1790s centuries: in the 19th century seasons: in winter, in summer in the morning, in the afternoon, in the evening
no prep	next week, year, month etc last night, year etc this morning, month etc every day, night, years etc today, tomorrow, yesterday

Prepositions of Place

Prepositions of place can be difficult - here's some help about using 'at', 'in' and 'on' when you're talking about where things are.

Basics:

If something is contained inside a box or a wide flat area, we use ‘in’:

in the newspaper	in a house
in a cup	in a drawer
in a bottle	in a bag
in bed	in a car
in London	in England
in a book	in a pub
in a field	in the sea
in my stomach	in a river

If something is on a line or a horizontal or vertical surface, we use ‘on’:

on the table	on the wall
on the floor	on the fridge
on my face	on a plate
on the page	on the sofa
on a chair	on a bag
on the river	on a t-shirt
on the ceiling	on a bottle
on a bike	on his foot

If something is at a point, (it could be a building) we use ‘at’:

at the airport	at the door
at the table	at the bus stop
at the cinema	at at the top
at the bottom	at the pub
at the traffic lights	at the front
at the back	at school
at university	at the window
at the hospital	at the piano

Here are some more common ones that don’t really fit: • on TV • on the bus • on a train • on a plane • on the radio • at home • at work

Adjectives and Prepositions

Adjectives and prepositions. Some adjectives need a preposition before their object.  It doesn't seem to be logical - I'm afraid we just need to learn them!
Here are some of the most common ones:

• famous for
  France is famous for its food.
  
• proud of
  He is very proud of his new car.
• interested in
  Julie is very interested in sport.
• pleased with
  John is very pleased with his new suit.
• bad at
  They are very bad at maths.
• good at
  Einstein was very good at physics.
• married to
  My mother has been married to my father for 20 years.
• excited about
  I'm very excited about my holiday.
• different from / to
  Coffee is different from tea.
• afraid of
  I'm afraid of spiders.

Verbs and Prepositions

Some verbs need a preposition before an object or another verb. The preposition is only grammatical, it doesn't change the meaning of the verb.
Here are some of the most common ones:

• arrive at / in somewhere
  We arrived at the airport.
  We arrived in London.
• belong to somebody
  This book belongs to me.
• borrow something from somebody
  I borrow a book from my classmate.
• concentrate on something / doing something
  I concentrated on studying at the weekend.
• depend on something / somebody
  It depends on the weather.
• explain something to somebody
  The teacher explained the exercise to the students.
• listen to something / somebody
  I listen to music.
• pay somebody for something
  I pay the waiter for the coffee.
• wait for somebody / something
  Wait for me!
• worry about somebody / something Don’t worry about a thing!

Test your mettle with these exercises!

Prepositions of Time

Prepositions of Place

Verbs and Prepositions

Prepositions after Adjectives