English Grammar: The Parts of Speech
Parts of Speech — Prepositions
Another important part of speech is the preposition. A preposition is not a modifier. The only parts of speech that are modifiers are adjectives and adverbs. The preposition has a different function to perform in the sentence. A preposition shows the relationship that exists between certain words in a sentence.
The word preposition comes from two Latin words which mean placed before. A preposition is a word that is placed before some noun or pronoun. It shows the relationship that exists between that noun or pronoun and some other word in the sentence. When we say "a bag for the mail," the word for is a preposition. It shows a relationship between bag and mail. The word mail which follows the preposition is called the object of the preposition.
In the sentence, The accident occurred on the bridge, the word on is a preposition. The preposition on is followed by the word bridge which is called its object. The entire group of words, on the bridge, is called a prepositional phrase. The preposition on shows the relation between the noun bridge and the verb occurred. The entire phrase on the bridge tells where the accident occurred.
We might use a number of prepositions to show the relationship between the noun bridge and the verb occurred. Each preposition would show a slightly different type of relationship, as you will clearly see from the following illustrations:
The accident occurred under the bridge.
The accident occurred near the bridge.
The accident occurred above the bridge.
The accident occurred behind the bridge.
The accident occurred beneath the bridge.
You should become acquainted with the words that are commonly used as prepositions. A list of these prepositions is given here for your reference. Refer to this list repeatedly until you are able to identify the prepositions that are in common use. The fact that a word is in this list does not mean that it is always used as a preposition. Some of these words often function as other parts of speech. The test of its use as a preposition is to determine whether it shows the relationship between its object and some other word in the sentence.
