Grammar Smart 3rd Edition - Princeton Review 2014

F. Prepositions
Part 1. The Names of Things

Prepositions express relationships between other words, usually nouns, including relationships of time or space. In, of, to, and with are all prepositions. A helpful trick to determine whether a word is a preposition is to place it before “the fence.”

Beyond the fence, past the fence, over the fence, under the fence, of the fence, across the fence—all of these constructions make some kind of sense, so all the italicized words are prepositions, just doing their job: defining relationships. “The fence” is the object of the preposition.

Rules for Prepositions

1. Use between when you’re talking about two things or groups; use among for more than two things.

Wanda couldn’t decide between the motorcycle and the Jet Ski.

The lottery prize was divided among the three winners.

Ralph was choosing between the Democratic and Libertarian parties.

Possible Confusion: Note that even though the Democratic and Libertarian parties are made up of millions of people, between is still appropriate, because Ralph is considering only two choices—Democratic and Libertarian. Don’t worry about the total number of elements, just figure out how many choices there are.

Prepositions:

across     after  at  as  before

between     by   for  from  in

like      of   on  over  through

to      under  until  up  with

2. A commonly heard grammatical law is: Never end a sentence with a preposition. Well, may, maybe not. If you want to sound formal—for a paper at school, or a memo at work —put the preposition in the middle of the sentence and add a word such as which or whom.

I picked up a rock with which to hit him.

Or more informally:

I picked up a rock to hit him with.

As above, the content of the sentence may indicate which choice is better. If putting the preposition in the middle of the sentence sounds unpleasantly awkward, just leave it at the end.

3. Many idioms require you to use a particular preposition with a particular word. For example, we say: Listen to Destiny’s Child, not Listen at Destiny’s Child. She is involved in her work, not She is involved by her work. For a thorough look at the idiomatic usage of prepositions, see Part 3, Section E.

Quick Quiz #11

Billy Wifflamoo: The Teen Years

Note the prepositional phrases in the following passage:

Billy was not exactly Mr. Popularity at school. Like many American schools, Hoover High was divided into cliques: the jocks and cheerleaders, the theater people, the hoods, the people nobody noticed. Billy was a member of none of them; he was in his own clique, which is an accomplishment in itself, since a clique, by definition, is a group. In fact, Billy was not just Billy, because he was destined for something more dramatic than anything even the theater people could ever have imagined. He was not just Billy, Young Teen. He was, in some hidden way, being prepared for a visit from the alien.

Click here for the answers.