PREPOSITIONS

NOVEMBER 5 2020

WORDS FOLLOWED BY PREPOSITIONS

Certain Verbs, Nouns, Adjectives, and Participles are always followed by particular Prepositions.
Read the following sentences, noting appropriate Prepositions:-

Mumbai is famous for its textiles.

The goat subsists on the coarsest of food.
Jawaharlal Nehru was fond of children.
India is a noble, gorgeous land, teeming with natural wealth.
Being apprised of our approach, the whole neighbourhood came out to meet their minister.
In the classical age the ideal life of the Brahman was divided into four stages or ashrams.
It is natural in every man to wish for distinction.
He was endowed with gifts fitted to win eminence in any field of human activity.
The writer is evidently enamoured of the subject.
These computers are cheap enough to be accessible to most people.
Ambition does not always conduce to ultimate happiness.
The true gentleman is courteous and affable to his neighbours.
Newly acquired freedom is sometimes liable to abuse.
Little Jack proved quite a match for the giant.
The African elephant is now confined to Central Africa.
Camels are peculiarly adapted to life in the desert.
He is a man of deep learning, but totally ignorant of life and manners.
The income derived from the ownership of land is commonly called rent.
Alexander profited by the dissensions of the Punjab Rajas.
Few things are impossible to diligence and skill.
I am indebted to you for your help.
Ashoka, although tolerant of competing creeds, was personally an ardent Buddhist.
Ivory readily adapts itself to the carver's art.
The holy tree is associated with scenes of goodwill and rejoicing.
The noise from downstairs prevented me from sleeping.
I am already acquainted with the latest developments of the situation.
His duties were of a kind ill-suited to his ardent and daring character.
Man is entirely different from other animals in the utter helplessness of his babyhood.
He (Dr. Johnson) was somewhat susceptible to flattery.
A man who always connives at the faults of his children is their worst enemy.
NOVEMBER 10 2020

PREPOSITIONS

Very Important Expressions

1) When we buy things we express

a) I bought this camera for five dollars

b) I bought apples at twelve rupees per dozen ( “at” when we mention “rate”)

2) When we tell time

a) It is 10 o’ clock by my watch

3) We become angry at something but angry with someone

a) He became angry with me

b) He became angry at the idea of being busy

4) We hit/ injure/ shoot someone with some instrument/ weapon/ tool

a) He shot him with a gun

5) “Off” shows detachment “of” shows relation

a) He jumped off the car

b) He is a man of courage

6) “Beside” means “side by side” and besides means “in addition to”

a) He sat beside me

b) Besides being a musician, he is an actor

7) “Among” is followed by a word beginning with consonant letter and “amongst” by a vowel

a) He distributed pens among the students

b) He distributed pens amongst us

8) The use of “made of” and “made from”

a)Made of is used when the material the subject consists of doesn't change during the
process of making the subject.

Chairs are made of wood.(Here, wood is still wood. It doesn't transform into something
else).

b) On the other hand, made from is used when the material changed its nature.

Paper is made from wood.(Now, wood disappeared — it was transformed into paper.)

Some more examples:

The house is made of bricks. [They are still bricks.]

Wine is made from grapes. [Grapes turn into wine.]

9) “Written in” and “written with”

a) The note was written in pen/ pencil/ ink (no article)

b) The note was written with a pen/ a pencil/ ink (article is used)

10) Use “on” before such expressions

a) He arrived on Friday Morning/ Wednesday afternoon/ Christmas Morning

11) “On time” means neither before nor after a fixed time and “ in time” means “not late”

a) The Satellite was launched on time

b) You should reach the exam hall in time

12) “At the end” means “ at a particular point” and “in the end” means “eventually”

a) He stopped at the end of his speech

b) He was murdered in the end without regret

13) We use “ over” for covering a thing with another.

a) He threw the piece of clothe over the body

14) “Die of” disease and “die from” something else

a) He died of Cholera/ Cancer/ Aids

b) He died from overeating

15) The use of Below, under and beneath

These words have very similar meanings and are often confused. Both below and under
can be used to mean ‘in a lower position than something’. Although they are both
possible in some cases, sometimes we use them in different circumstances.

To talk about something being covered by something else, we use under.

The cat was sleeping under the blanket. (NOT The cat was sleeping below the jacket.)

I felt that he was hiding something under his jacket. (NOT He was hiding something
below his jacket.)

The whole village was under water.

Below is mainly used in cases where an object is not directly under another.

We could find something below the surface of the water.

Millions of people still live below the poverty line. (Somewhere below that hypothetical
line separating the poor from the rich)

Below is also used in measurements where we think of a vertical scale.

This part of the country is below sea level.

Under can also mean ‘younger than’ or ‘less than’.

Children under the age of twelve are not supposed to watch this film.

There are quite a few fixed expressions using the word under. Common examples are:
under construction, under fire, under attack, under arrest, under pressure, under these conditions
etc. Below cannot be used in these expressions.

a) You are under arrest.

 b) The bridge is still under construction.

c) Her actions have always been under constant media scrutiny.

d) Beneath is mainly used in a literal or formal style.

Coral reefs that lie beneath the waters were a beautiful sight.

a) They sat beneath a huge mango tree.

b) As you can see below and under are also possible in these cases.

16) We say “entered the room/ hotel/ class( building) but we say entered into the job or
profession ( take part in ) or “consider”

a) He entered the class ( not entered in/ into the class

b) He entered in to the job of weaving

17) Look at the following expressions ( no need to use any of prepositions )

a) The committee comprises x five members (not of)

b) He ordered x a cup of tea (not for)

c) He resembled me (not with)

d) He emphasized the idea (not on or upon)

e) He accompanied me (not with me)

f) He reached the station (not at the station )

g) The dog attacked the child ( not on the child)

h) He advised x me( not advised to me)

i) He approached x the house ( not to the house)

18) The preposition ‘during’ is used to give the idea of continuity of an event throughout
the period

a) During the war food was rationed

b) He was campaigning for his favourite candidate during the day.
NOVEMBER 15 2020

Prepositions

The Expression of Time

1.. For a particular point of time, the preposition ‘ at’ is used:

at dawn, at dusk, at noon, at midnight, at 8 a.m., at ten ‘ o clock, at the end of the celebrations, at
dinner time, at Dewali, at New Year, at 55 years of age, etc.

(b) It is used to indicate period of time in case of festivals:

At Dewali, at New Year, at Easter (It means around the time of Dewali, New
Year or Easter)

2. The preposition ‘ on’ is used to refer to a date, a day or part of a day:

on 11th February, on July 6th, on Sunday, on Christmas Day, on his birthday, on the
morning of December 15, on New Year’ s Day, on a sunny day in January etc.

3. The preposition ‘ in’ is used to refer to a period of time:

in the morning, in the evening, in September, in the year 2001, in daytime, in two
hours, in sixty days, in a week, in twenty years, in five months, in a few minutes,
in an hour’ s time etc.

4. The preposition ‘ during’ is used to give the idea of continuity of an event throughout

the period:

During the war food was rationed.

He was campaigning for his favourite candidate during the day.

(b) It is also used when the intention is to tell that an event took place, or is to take place within a
specified period of time:

The shop was burgled during the night.

I shall call at him during the day.
5. The preposition ‘ by’ is used when the intention is to express the limit of the period allowed
for an activity:

I shall complete this job by Thursday.

You must harvest this field by tomorrow.

6. The preposition ‘ for’ is used to show the period during which an event occurred:

He has not come here for a month.

She will not be here for another fortnight.

Note: The prepositions ‘ at’ , ‘ on’ and ‘ in’ are not used if the noun referring to the
time comes after an adjective:

I visited Mumbai last week.

Prateek will be twenty next year.
He calls her up almost every day.
Also, ‘ yesterday’ , ‘ today’ and ‘ tomorrow’ do not take a preposition when they
are used as adverbs:
Mohan will meet his competitor tomorrow.
Did you not visit Delhi yesterday?

NOVEMBER 20 2020

The Expression of Place

1. When the reference is to the place of residence in general, the preposition ‘ in’ is
used: in a cottage, in a mansion, in a bungalow, in a village, in a city etc.
Prepositions 63

2. For a big city as also for the name of a state, country, continent, the preposition
‘ in’ is used: in Mumbai, in Haryana, in India, in Asia etc.

3. The preposition ‘ at’ is used to refer to a small town: at Sonepat, at Narwana etc.

4. ‘ At’ is also used in case of a particular house or place of residence: at Taj Hotel,
at Buckingham Palace etc.
5. For a place of work in general or the particular department of a big organization,
‘ in’ is used: in the Home Ministry, in the Immigration Department of the Foreign
Ministry, in a factory, in a bank, in a restaurant etc.

EXERCISE NO
Supply the correct preposition in the following sentence.
1. Would you rather live…….the town, or…….the country?
2. My uncle lives……...a large house………a village a few miles from Delhi.
3. John was brought up………..a farm, but at the age of sixteen.
4. My father is employed as a cashier……….the local branch of the Midland Bank.
5. When we were ……..London we stayed ………..the Cumberland Hotel.
6. He told me that he lived……….23 Clarendon Road.
7. When he retired, he left London and went to live…….Kent.
8. People who live…….glass houses should not throw stones at others.
9. Mr. Smith teaches Modern Languages…… ..the High School.
10. I believe his father is a solicitor ……..a small town not far from here.
11. He gave us to understand that he had some sort of job ……..the dockyard.
12. A friend of my fathers has offered to get me a post …….the office of a large steel woks.
13. Miss Johnson is a typist……..the Town Hall.
14. Would you prefer to work……..a factory, or…....a farm?
15. Mr. And Mrs. Jones stay……..the seaside for a month each year.

SOLUTION:
1. in, in 2. in, in 3. at 4. in 5. in, at 6. at 7. in 8. in 9. at 10. In 11. at 12. in 13.at 14. in, on 15.
at

NOVEMBER 25 2020

ALL THE CONENT GIVEN IN THIS ARTICLE.