Unit 2: Prepositions

PREPOSITIONS

Prepositions are words that connect nouns and pronouns to other words and show the relationship between the words. While there are hundreds of prepositions, some of the more common prepositions are:

about 
along 
behind 
beyond 
during 
inside 
off 
over 
to 
upabove 
among 
below 
but 
except 
into 
on 
since 
toward 
uponacross 
around 
beneath 
by 
for 
like 
onto 
through 
under 
withafter 
at 
beside 
despite 
from 
near 
out 
throughout 
underneath 
withinagainst 
before 
between 
down 
in 
of 
outside 
till 
until 
without

Even though knowing individual prepositions is important, you will use prepositional phrases far more frequently. A prepositional phrase begins with a preposition and ends with a noun or pronoun and includes any words that come in between the two. Study the examples below.

• in the village
• despite the extensive remodeling project
• underneath the grey blanket
• near him
• between you and me
• with her

Note how each phrase above begins with a preposition and ends with a noun or pronoun. You will learn more about prepositional phrases as well as other phrases in Week 4.