Preposiciones

Preposiciones en español:

a ante bajo cabe con contra de desde en entre

hacia hasta por para segun Sin sobre so tras

Preposiciones en inglés:

Lugar

Above Across Behind Beneath Near Over

Along Around Beside Between On Under
At Against Below Inside Opposite Underneath
By Closet o In In front of Outside Upon

Tiempo

About After Around Before Beyond By

During For Past Since Throughout Until

Movimiento

Across Along Around Away from Down From

Into Off Onto Out of Over Past
To Towards Under Up

Ubicación

In At On

- Words which are used before a noun or a pronoun to show its relationship with
another word in the sentence.
- They can be of 3 different types: Simple, Compound and Phrasal.
- The noun or pronoun which follows a preposition is called its object.
- Pronouns used after a preposition should be in the objective case.

Ex: He is fond of her. (NOT He is fond of she.)

- A preposition may have two or more objects.

Ex: Between you and me there are few secrets. (Here the pronouns you and me are the
objects of the preposition between.)

Simple Prepositions: These are words like at, in, for, to, with, on, off, out, etc.

Ex: He is in the office. She sat on the bench. She is angry with him.

Compound Prepositions: These are words like above, before, behind, below, across, among,
around, beside and between. Compound prepositions are generally formed by adding the
prefix ‘a-‘ or ‘by-‘ to a noun, an adjective or an adverb.
Phrasal Prepositions: These are groups of words that serve as prepositions. Examples are:
according to, along with, because of, in front of, by means of, on behalf of, in accordance
with, in addition to, with reference to and in spite of.

Ex: Owing to his ill health, he retired from business. He succeeded by dint of perseverance and
hard work.

Cases where prepositions are omitted

1. Prepositions of time are generally omitted before words like ‘last’, ‘first’, ‘next’ or
‘this’

Ex: I met him last Friday. (NOT I met him on last Friday.) I will visit my parents this week.

2. The use of preposition in the following types of sentences is optional.

Ex: They visited us (on) the day before yesterday. He left the city (on) the next day. We lived
there (for) three months.

3. Prepositions are after certain verbs

- Some intransitive verbs become transitive when a preposition is placed after them.

Ex: listen to, apply to, partake of, aware of, beware of, depend upon, dispense with, dispose of
and prevail upon.

Special uses of some prepositions

In and at

- Both can be used with the names of cities, towns and villages. We use in when we are
talking about the place as an area; we use at when we see it as a point.

Ex: My sister lives in Tokyo. Our plane stopped at Tokyo on the way to Iran. (Tokyo = Tokyo
airport)

- We use at to talk about group activities and shops/workplaces.

Ex: I first met him at a party. (NOT …in a party.) There weren’t many people at the meeting.

I saw him at the baker’s.

- We use in with the names of streets and at when we give the house number.

Ex: He lives in MG Street. He lives at 128 MG Street.

- We use on when we think of a place as a surface.

Ex: The cat is lying on the floor. Hang this picture on the wall.

Till and until

- Both till and until are used of time.

Ex: We waited till / until 12 o’ clock. He slept till / until 11 am.

Since

- Since is used before a noun or phrase denoting some point of time. It is preceded by a
verb in the perfect tenses.

Ex: He hasn’t eaten anything since yesterday. He has been ill since last Monday. It has been
raining since yesterday.

In

- In is used before a noun denoting a period of time. It means ‘at the end of’. Within
means ‘before the end of’.

Ex: I shall return in an hour. (= at the end of one hour) I shall return within an hour. (= before
the end of one hour)

In and At

- In is usually used with large places – countries, districts, large cities etc. At is generally
used for small and unimportant places like villages, small towns etc.

Ex: We shall meet him at the club this evening. His brother lives in Paris.

Notes: This rule is not very rigidly followed. In is often used with small places. At, however, is
seldom used for big places.

On, in, at and by

- At shows an exact point of time; on shows a more general point of time and in shows a
period of time.

Ex: I have a meeting at 4 pm. The train leaves at 2 o’clock. I was born on a Monday. I was born
on April 21st. I was born in January. We will visit them in the summer. It is very hot in the day
but quite cold at night.

By

- Shows the latest time at which an action will be finished. So it is usually used with a
future tense.

Ex: I will be leaving by 6 o’clock. I hope to finish the work by next week.

On and upon

- On is generally used to talk about things at rest. Upon is used about things in motion.

Ex: She sat on a chair. He jumped upon his horse.

In, within
 - With reference to time, in means at the end of a certain period; within means before
the end of a certain period.

Ex: I will finish writing this book in three days. (at the end of three days) I will finish writing this
book within three days. (before the end of three days)

Ejercicios

1. Fill in the blanks

a. I have invited them ………………………….. lunch. (to, for, on)

b. You are not supposed to park …………………………… double yellow lanes. (On, At, in)
c. She took some money ………………………….. her wallet. (out of, out, in)
d. The people in my office are all easy to get ………………………..( by with, on, on with, with)
e. Take that stupid smile ……………………………. your face. (Of, off, from)
f. There were remains of the meal all ………………………….. the floor. (Across, on, over)
g. The road goes …………………………….. a steep hill. (Over, Up, on)
h. You know that girl …………………………. a brother who plays the piano?( With, of, to)
i. I am quite pleased …………………………….. myself. (For, by, with)
j. She suffers …………………………….. an incurable disease. (Of, from, by)
k. What is wrong ……………………………… you? (At, with, to)
l. Why are you always yelling ……………………………… me? (To, at, with)

2. A passage is given below with some blank spaces. You have to fill in the blanks using
an appropriate preposition.

There are of course no friends like living, breathing, corporeal men and women; my
devotion………………1…………… reading has never made me a recluse. How could it? Books are
………………2………………….. the people, by the people. Literature is the immortal part
…………………..3……………….. history; it is the best and most enduring part of personality. But
book-friends have this advantage …………………4………………… . living friends; you can enjoy the
most truly aristocratic society …………………5………………… the world whenever you want it. The
great dead are beyond our physical reach, and the great living are usually almost as
inaccessible; as for our personal friends and acquaintance, we cannot always see them.
Perchance they are asleep, or a way …………………..6………………… a journey. But in a private
library, you can at any moment converse ………………….7………………….. Socrates or Shakespeare
or Carlyle or Dumas or Dickens or Shaw or Barrie or Galsworthy. And there is no doubt that in
these books you see these men ………………..8………………. their best. They wrote for you. They
‘laid themselves out’, they did their ultimate best ………………..9………………. entertain you, to
make a favorable impression. You are necessary to them as an audience is to an actor; only
instead of seeing them masked, you look …………………..10………………….. their inmost heart of
heart.

3. Complete the following sentences using appropriate prepositions.

a. We started …………………. six ……………….. the morning.
b. He was born ………………. a small village.
c. They killed the snake ………………….. hitting it.
d. That portrait was painted ……………… my grandfather.
e. You have eaten six mangoes ………………… morning.
f. The boy has been missing ………………… two days.
g. They don’t let anybody in ……………… five o’clock.
 h. An old feud existed …………………. the families.
i. I heard this ……………… a friend ………………. mine.
j. His illness has taken a turn ……………….. the worse.
k. I saw him felling the tree ……………… an axe.
l. ………….. Mark and Harry, there were three other boys in the team

REPORTED SPEECH (INDIRECT SPEECH)

El estilo indirecto consiste en decir las palabras que otra persona ha dicho antes

Se deben cambiar los sujetos que aparecen en las oraciones de 1era Persona del Singular a
3era persona del Singular y de 1era Persona del Plueral a 3era Persona del Plural. Se deben
cambiar también todos los adjetivos y pronombres posesivos que aparezcan en las oraciones.

Todos los tiempos verbales conjugados (menos los verbios en infinitivo o gerundio) que
aparecen en la oración deben retrasarse un tiempo.

Tenses Direct Speech Reported speech

Simple present : I work Simple past: He said he worked
Present Continuous: I am working Past continuous: He said he was working
Simple past: I worked Past Perfect: He said he had worked
Present perfect: I have worked Past Perfect: He said he had worked
Future: I will work Conditional: He said he would work
Modal verbs: I can work Conditional: He said he could work

Los tiempos se retrasan. De esta manera se tienen que cambiar también todas las expresiones

Time and Place changes

Here There
This That
These Those
Now Then
Yesterday The day before, the previous day
Today That day
Tomorrow The following day , the day after
Last week, month… The week before, the month before
Next week, month… The following week, the week after
2 days ago 2 days before

When transforming statements, check whether you have to change:

- Pronouns
- present tense verbs (3rd person singular)
- place and time expressions
- tenses (backshift)

Ej: Direct speech – I speak English

Reported speech (no backshift) - He says that he speaks English

Reported speech (backshift) – He said that he spoke English

When transforming questions, check whether you have to change:

- pronouns
- present tense verbs (3rd person singular)
- place and time expressions
- tenses (backshift)

Also note that you have to:

- transform the question into an indirect question

- use the interrogative or if / whether

Ej: Interrogative

Direct speech – Why don’t you speak English?

Reported speech – He asked me why didn’t I speak English

Without interrogative

Direct speech – Do you speak English?

Reported speech – he asked me whether / if spoke English

Questions in reported speech:

- Existen dos maneras de hacer preguntas en inglés:

• Preguntas con verbo auxiliar: Do you live in Madrid?

• Preguntas con partícula interrogativa: Where do you live?

- Una pregunta en estilo directo se convierte en una oración afirmativa una vez que la
pasamos a estilo indirecto, por tanto, seguirá la estructura de las oraciones afirmativas
(SUJETO + VERBO + COMPLEMENTOS)

- Los verbos introductorios con los que comienzan las preguntas en estilo indirecto son
“he asked me o he wanted to know”.

Hay dos tipos de preguntas en inglés y hay dos maneras de pasarlas a estilo indirecto.

1.- Preguntas con auxiliar:

He asked me if I lived in Madrid.

En las preguntas con auxiliar, después del verbo auxiliar utilizamos la expresión condicional if,
pasa a ser una oración afirmativa, así añadimos el SUJETO + VERBO (comprobar que se hayan
retrasado los tiempos según la lista anterior) + COMPLEMENTOS.

2.- Preguntas con partícula interrogativa:

He asked me where I lived.

En las preguntas con partícula interrogativa, después del verbo introductoria añadimos la
partícula interrogativa correspondiente para después añadir el sujeto y el verbo en el tiempo
correspondiente.
Orders in reported speech:

Para dar órdenes en ingles se utiliza el imperativo. El imperativo es el único tiempo en inglés
en el que no necesitamos sujeto en las oraciones.

Órdenes afirmativas:

VERBO + COMPLEMENTOS

Open the door

Órdenes negativas:

DON’T + VERBO + COMPLEMENTO

Don’t close the window

Los verbos introductorios en este caso son: “he ordered me o he told me”.

Órdenes afirmativas:

He ordered me TO open the door.

Órdenes negativas:

He ordered me NOT TO close the window.

EJERCICIOS

1. Put the following questions into the reported speech:

- Who has been using my typewriter? My mother asked

- Do you want to see the cathedral? The guide asked

- Did you sleep well? My hostess asked

- Have you been here long? The other students asked him

- How long have you been learning English? Paul asked.

- Where are you going for your summer holidays? I asked

- Do you grow your own vegetables? My friend asked.

- How many sleeping pills have you taken? The night sister asked.

2. Put the following sentences into the reported speech:

- Don’t put sticky things in your pockets! His mother ordered him

- Don’t do anything dangerous! His wife told him

- Get into the right lane! The driving instructor ordered her

- Hold the ladder! He told him

- Don’t take more than two of these! The doctor ordered me

- Fasten your seat belts! The hostess told us

- Don’t drive through fog with only a fog light on! She ordered him

3. Report the following message from the head of a department to all the members of
staff.

“You’d better read the new guidelines and please check out the database before you fill in the
forms. Don’t forget to report about any inconvenience you find “.

4. Report the following situations

a) The customer: “I had a big problem with this supplier so I`m writing a complaint now”

b) The customer: “Will the shipment have arrived to my office by next Monday? I am in a hurry
so I need that delivery!

c) The manager: “I am checking the new project because it has to be ready by summer . Will
you help me, please?

d) The manager: “I won ́t be late again to a meeting if I were you”

e) The staff: “Did you pay cash or did you have a 60-day credit?”

f) The staff: “Please take a seat and complete the form”

5. Change the following sentences into reported speech:

- I need help desperately, he said.

- I don’t need your help today but I will be busy tomorrow, said Peter.

- My car has been stolen, he said, I will have to ask you a few questions.

- I can’t live on my basic salary, said Peter, I will have to offer to do overtime.

- My young brother wants to be a tax inspector, said Mary, I can’t think why, none of my
family has ever been a tax inspector.

6. Last week you had lunch with Rachel, a friend you hadn’t seen for a long time. Look
at the things she said to you, then tell another friend what she said. Use reported speech.

- I’m going to work in Spain next year.

- I work for a small publishing company.

- I’m their marketing manager.

- The company has opened an office in Barcelona.

- It’s been very successful.

- I’ve been chosen to run a new office in Madrid.

- I’m studying Spanish in the evenings.

- I don’t have much time to enjoy myself.

- I haven’t had lunch with friends for ages.

- I hope my friends will come and visit me in Madrid.

- I went there last week with my secretary.

- We didn’t have much time for sightseeing.

- I have to get bacek to work now.

8. Rellena los espacios en blanco con lo que corresponde para formar un reported
speech:
a) John usually paints cars here. --- He said that ____________________.
b) I don’t find my keys in this car. --- She said that ____________________.
c) My dogs are destroying my courtyard now. --- He said that ____________________.
d) My husband played football yesterday. --- She said that ____________________.
e) I have just arrived at my party. --- He said that he ____________________.
f) A. I have missed you a lot. --- He said that ____________________.
g) Our friend can run 30 km per day. --- They said that ____________________.
h) I will be on holiday next month. --- He said that he ____________________.
i) They must do their homework tonight. --- We said that _________________.

9. Complete the sentences in reported speech. Note the change of pronouns and
tenses.

"Where is my umbrella?" she asked.

a) She asked ___________________________________

"How are you?" Martin asked us.

b) Martin asked us ___________________________________

He asked, "Do I have to do it?"

c) He asked ___________________________________

"Where have you been?" the mother asked her daughter.

d) The mother asked her daughter ___________________________________

"Which dress do you like best?" she asked her boyfriend.

e) She asked her boyfriend ___________________________________

"What are they doing?" she asked.

f) She wanted to know ___________________________________

"Are you going to the cinema?" he asked me.

g) He wanted to know ___________________________________

The teacher asked, "Who speaks English?"

h) The teacher wanted to know ___________________________________

"How do you know that?" she asked me.

 i) She asked me ___________________________________

"Has Caron talked to Kevin?" my friend asked me.

j) My friend asked me___________________________________

10. Complete the sentences in reported speech. Note the change of pronouns and
tenses.

"What's the time?" he asked.

a) He wanted to know ___________________________________

"When will we meet again?" she asked me.

b) She asked me ___________________________________

"Are you crazy?" she asked him.

c) She asked him ___________________________________

"Where did they live?" he asked.

d) He wanted to know ___________________________________

"Will you be at the party?" he asked her.

e) He asked her ___________________________________

"Can you meet me at the station?" she asked me.

f) She asked me ___________________________________

Who knows the answer?" the teacher asked.

g) The teacher wanted to know ___________________________________

"Why don't you help me?" she asked him.

h) She wanted to know ___________________________________

"Did you see that car?" he asked me.

i) He asked me ___________________________________

"Have you tidied up your room?" the mother asked the twins.

j) The mother asked the twins ___________________________________

11. Complete the sentences in reported speech. Note the change of pronouns in some
sentences.

"Stop talking, Joe," the teacher said.

a) The teacher told Joe to stop talking. ___________________________________

"Be patient," she said to him.

 b) She told him to be patient. ___________________________________

"Go to your room," her father said to her.

c) Her father told her to go to her room. ___________________________________

"Hurry up," she said to us.

d) She told us to hurry up. ___________________________________

"Give me the key," he told her.

e) He asked her to give him the key. ___________________________________

"Play it again, Sam," she said.

f) She asked Sam to play it again. ___________________________________

"Sit down, Caron" he said.

g) He asked Caron to sit down. ___________________________________

"Fill in the form, Sir," the receptionist said.

h) The receptionist asked the guest to fill in the form. _____________________________

"Take off your shoes," she told us.

i) She told us to take off our shoes. ___________________________________

"Mind your own business," she told him.

j) She told him to mind his own business. ___________________________________

12. Complete the sentences in reported speech. Note the change of pronouns in some
sentences.

"Don't touch it," she said to him.

→ She told him ___________________________________

"Don't do that again," he said to me.

→ He told me ___________________________________

"Don't talk to me like that," he said.

→ He told her ___________________________________

"Don't repair the computer yourself," she warned him.

→ She warned him ___________________________________

"Don't let him in," she said.

→ She told me ___________________________________

"Don't go out without me," he begged her.

→ He begged her ___________________________________

"Don't forget your bag," she told me.

→ She told me ___________________________________

"Don't eat in the lab," the chemistry teacher said.

→ The chemistry teacher told his students ___________________________________

"Don't give yourself up," he advised her.

→ He advised her ___________________________________

"Don't hurt yourselves, boys," she said.

→ She told the boys___________________________________

13. Complete the sentences in reported speech. Note the change of pronouns in some
sentences.

She said, "Go upstairs."

→ She told me to go upstairs. ___________________________________

"Close the door behind you," he told me.

→ He told me to close the door behind me. ___________________________________

"Don't be late," he advised us.

→ He advised us not to be late. ___________________________________

"Stop staring at me," she said.

→ She told him to stop staring at her. ___________________________________

"Don't be angry with me," he said.

→ He asked her not to be angry with him. ___________________________________

"Leave me alone," she said.

→ She told me to leave her alone. ___________________________________

"Don't drink and drive," she warned us.

→ She warned us not to drink and drive. ___________________________________

"John, stop smoking," she said.

→ She told John to stop smoking. ___________________________________

"Don't worry about us," they said.

→ They told her not to worry about them. ___________________________________

"Meet me at the cinema." he said.

→ He asked me to meet him at the cinema. ___________________________________

14. Complete the sentences in reported speech. Note whether the sentence is a request,
a statement or a question.

He said, "I like this song."

→ He said that he liked that song. ___________________________________

"Where is your sister?" she asked me.

→ She asked me where my sister was. ___________________________________

"I don't speak Italian," she said.

→ She said that she didn't speak Italian. ___________________________________

"Say hello to Jim," they said.

→ They asked me to say hello to Jim. ___________________________________

"The film began at seven o'clock," he said.

→ He said that the film had begun at seven o'clock. ___________________________________

"Don't play on the grass, boys," she said.

→ She told the boys not to play on the grass. ___________________________________

"Where have you spent your money?" she asked him.

→ She asked him where he had spent his money. ___________________________________

"I never make mistakes," he said.

→ He said that he never made mistakes. ___________________________________

"Does she know Robert?" he wanted to know.

→ He wanted to know if she knew Robert. ___________________________________

"Don't try this at home," the stuntman told the audience.

→ The stuntman advised the audience not to try that at home.

____________________________

Change the following sentences into reported speech.

- The spokesman said: “I can’t understand why billiards has been prohibited.”
- Gihan exclaimed: “We have had too many prohibitions.”
- The young lady said: “I did not make such a mistake.”
- She said: “We’ll go and get some food.”
- Winston Churchill said: “I wake up at six every day”
- A company representative said: “This probably won’t happen.”
 - A farmer said: “If the situation goes on like this, we will lose the consumers’
confidence for ever”.
- He added: “We need someone who will realise that celibacy has to be a personal
choice”.
- She said: “I think the amount of immigrants right now is OK, but I don’t think we need
any more”.
- He said: “In Japan paper-folding was valued for its decorative function”.
- “If I don’t win this game, I will retire,” Kasparov said.
- The police said: “Youssef planned the World Trade Centre bombing”.
- She said: “As a woman, my life will change with the new millennium”.
- “I watched a documentary about dolphins on TV yesterday,” said John.
- “I’m living the adventure of my life,” Banderas said.
- Al Gore said: “As a teenager, one of the books that I read was Silent Spring.”
- “I was taught information technology in this course,” she said.
- My aunt said: “Single men should drive slowly if they want to live longer”
- He said: “We are here today to reach consensus”
- Last week Julia said: “We will meet our new instructor tomorrow”
- He said to one of them: “Let me see the streets once more before I die. I’ll be back in
five minutes.”
- “Please, don’t say anything to him”, he said.
- “Don’t talk to me like that,” said his mother.
- She said: “Don’t smoke if you want to save money.”
- “Buy me the paper if you’re going out”, Alice asked her brother.
- He asked: “Do you often play rugby?”
- The doctor asked: “Do you ever feel this pain in your stomach before meals?”
- Michael asked her: “Where did you find these trainers?
- Michael wondered: “Why do I do this every day?”
- “What time did the film start?” she asked.
- Her parents asked her: “Why do you want to become a bullfighter?”
- They asked her mother: “Does he often come home late from school?”
- The judge asked Karl: “How long have you known the accused? “

15. Highlight Direct Speech and Reported Speech

Chapter VI

About ten minutes later, the bell rang for dinner, and, as Virginia did not come down, Mrs Otis
sent up one of the servants. After a little time he returned and said that he could not find Miss
Virginia anywhere. So, the whole family started looking for her.

The hours passed, but they could find no trace of Virginia. So, after dinner, Mr Otis ordered
them all to bed, saying that nothing more could be done that night, and that he would contact
Scotland Yard in the morning. Just when everybody was about to leave the dining-room, the
clock struck midnight, and when the last stroke sounded, a secret door opened in the wall and
in that door stood Virginia with a little box in her hand. Everybody ran up to her.

“Good heavens! child, where have you been?” said Mr Otis, rather angrily, as he thought she
had been playing a trick on them.
“Papa,” said Virginia quietly, “I have been with the ghost. He is dead, and you must come and
see him. He had been very nasty, but he was really sorry for all that he had done, and he gave
me this box of beautiful jewels before he died.”

Then she led the others down a narrow secret corridor to a little low room. There the family
found the skeleton of Sir Simon, who had been starved to death by his wife's brothers. Virginia
knelt down beside the skeleton, and, folding her little hands together, began to pray silently.

Meanwhile, one of the twins was looking out of the window in the little room and suddenly
said, “Look! The old almond-tree has blossoms.”

“Then God has forgiven him,” said Virginia and stood up.

Respuestas:

Ejercicio 1:

John usually painted cars there

she didn’t find her keys in that car

his dogs were destroying his courtyard then

her husband had played football the day before

had just arrived at his party

he had missed me a lot

their friend could run 30 km per day

would be on holiday the following month

they had to do their homework that night.

Ejercicio 2:

a) where her umbrella was

b) how we were
c) if he had to do it
d) where she had been
e) which dress he liked best
f) what they were doing
g) if I was going to the cinema.
h) who spoke English.
i) how I knew that.
j) if Caron had talked to Kevin.

Ejercicio 3:

a) what the time was.

b) when we would meet again
c) if he was crazy
d) where they had lived.
e) if she would be at the party
f) if I could meet her at the station.
g) who knew the answer.
h) why he didn't help her.
i) if I had seen that car.
j) if they had tidied up their room