A practical english grammar - Vyssaja skola 1978
Chapter 4 - Prepositions
Sound symbols
There are about 50 words and expressions in English that function as prepositions. The purpose of a preposition is to connect a noun (or noun substitute) to some other element of the sentence, along with some meaning that is inherent in the preposition itself. They express such ideas as location, destination, direction of motion, time, manner, and so on. We will consider in this chapter some of the more common ones.
A preposition is always followed by a noun construction, and the two together make a phrase. These prepositional phrases usually function like adjectives or adverbs; that is, they modify nouns, verbs, or some other element in the sentence.
The woman is at the door.
The child is in the house.
The bird is on the roof.
The bicycle is between the house and the tree.
The picture is over the fireplace.
The picture is above the fireplace.
The fireplace is below the picture.
The fireplace is under the picture.
It is warm inside the house.
It is cold outside the house.
The dog sits by the chair. Tire hill is behind the house.
The boy is beside the chair. The girl is in front of the house.
The tree is near the house. The truck is ahead of the bus.
The bicycle leans against the tree.
The woman is in the house.
The child goes into the house.
The man goes to the car.
The car points toward the corner.
The girl gets out of the car.
The boy walks from the car toward the house.
The school is across the street.
The next house is beyond the hill.
We walk through the field.
Birds fly over the house.
Children are running up the hill.
The man is walking down the hill.