SOME OTHER USES OF PREPOSITIONS

‘Beside’ and ‘Besides’

• ‘Beside’ means ‘by the side of’ or ‘near’ or ‘next to’.

• ‘Besides’ means ‘In addition to’. For example,

• He stood beside the RT bus.

• He gave me a watch besides a pen.

• He is sitting beside his wife.

• The hut is beside the river.

• There are nine students here, besides the teacher.

• We cannot go-we have no touches. Besides it’s raining.

• Across Through

From one to the side.

• I swam across the river.

• ‘With’ cannot be used with ‘come across’.

• E.g. (i) I came across with him. ()

• (ii) I came across him. ()

On Upon

• The books is on the table. (placed in contact)

• E.g. The cat jumped upon the rat. (in motion)

• Over

• Motion or position higher than but no physical contact.

• E.g.: The fan is over my bed. (no physical contact).

• Write the appropriate preposition in the blank spaces.

• 1. On Upon

• (Fixity) (Motion)

Over Above

• (No touch) (Superior/ A little upward)

• (a) Place these books _______ the table.

• (b) The cat is jumping _______ the table.

• (c) The sky is _______ us.

• (d) Prof. B.R. Saraf was _______ every teacher of English in knowledge.

2. At In

• (For a small place) (For a big place)

• (a) He lives _______ Karol Bagh, New Delhi.

• (b) He lives _______ Uttar Pradesh _______ India.

• (c) He lives _______ Karol Bagh _______ street No. 10.

3. By With

• (A person) (The help of something/ some instrument)

• (a) The letter was written _______ him. _______ a pen.

• (b) The tiger was shot at _______ him _______ a gun.

4. In Into

• (Fixity) (Motion)

• (a) He is _______ his house.

• (b) He ran _______ his house.

• (c) He fell _______ the well.

5. Between Among Amongst

• (For two) (For more than two) (For more than two, but before a vowel sound)

• (a) Distribute these sweets _______ two brothers.

• (b) Distribute these sweets _______ three brothers.

• (c) Distribute these sweets _______ us.

6. Of off

• (Possession) (Separation)

• (a) This is the book _______ Ram.

• (b) He fell _______ the horse back.

• (c) Leaves fall _______ the branches of trees.

7. After Behind

• (Time) (Place)

• (a) I met Ravi _______ the college building _______ 1 p.m.

• Exception

• (a) After (place) Meerut comes after Ghaziabad.

• (b) Behind (time) the train is running behind the schedule.

• 8. Beside Besides

• (Near) (In addition to)

• (a) The children were playing _______ the river.

• (b) _______ giving him advice, I gave him money also.

9. In (future) After (past)

• (At the end of a given time) (later on)

• (a) He will return _______ an hour.

• (b) He returned _______ an hour.

10. Under (no touch) Below (inferior)

• (Antonym of ‘over’) (Antonym of ‘above’)

• (a) My books are lying _______ the table.

• (b) It is _______ my dignity to talk to him.

11. Till Until Upto Unto By

• (Simple time) (Conditional) (Space & Death) (Future time)

• (Limit time limit) (time limits) (reference limit)

• (a) Please, wait for me _______ 4 O’clock.

• (b) You cannot move an inch from here _______ my arrival.

• (c) He will return _______ Monday next.

• (d) I went with him _______ the bus-stand.

• (e) You can pay the instalment _______ the 30th of this month.

• (f) He had decided to be on fast _______ death.

12. At On In

• (For hours & minutes) (Days & Dates) (Months & Years)

• (a) He met me yesterday _______ 4.30 p.m.

• (b) He met me _______ Sunday last, the 30th of December, 1995.

• (c) He met me _______ July 1995.

13. In On To

• (Inside the border) (On the border) (Outside the border)

• (a) Madras is _______ the South of India.

• (b) Sri Lanka is _______ the South of India.

• (c) The Himalayas lie _______ the North of India.

14. For Since From

• (Perfect tense of perfect continuous) (Indefinite Continuous)

• For is use for “period of time” (countable separation)

• Since is use of “point of time” (uncountable range)

• (a) I have not met him _______ two hours.

• (b) I have not met him _______ 2 O’clock.

• (c) I shall begin my studies _______ the 1st of April, 2005.

• (d) I felt sad while parting _______ him.

• (e) He studies in the morning _______ 5 O’clock to 7 O’ clock.

When used in the active voice the following verbs do not take any preposition after them:

• accompany, afford,

• answer, ascend, ask, assist, attack, benefit, climb, combat, describe, discuss, enter, examine, inform, investigate,

• love, obey order, pervade, pick, precede, probe, reach, recommend, request, resemble, resign, resist, sign, succeed,

• violate.

• For example,

• He accompanied me.

• Let’s discuss this problem.

• He attacked his enemy.

• He reached his destination.

• He resisted all temptation.

• He investigated this case.

• I ordered his dismissal.

• He has signed the document.

• Don’t violate the rules.

• He asked me several questions.

• I’ve examined the answer-books.

• An uneasy calm pervades here.

• ‘On time’ means ‘exactly at the appointed hours’, ‘punctually’, For example,

• The 10.30 train arrived on time.

• He is on time.

• But ‘in time’ means ‘not late’. For example,

• We were in time for the train.

• Thus in English, different prepositions are used with different expressions of time and date. Here is a chart. It will help

• you know which preposition to use.

• Static position (in contact with the surface; touching something)

• There is a cap on his head.

• There are cups on the table.

• close to a place

• There is a market here on the main road.

• There are trees on either side of this canal.

• means of travel (public vehicle in transit)

• They are on the train to Puri.

• He is on the plane to Amsterdam.

• Note: in/on

• ‘in’ indicates a static position, ‘on’ indicates movement / in transit. For example,

• She is sitting in the bus / plane.

• She is on the plane to Bangalore.

• Direction

• You can see the zoo on the left.

• He pulled a dagger on the traveller.

• There is now a focus on eradicating corruption in public life.

• Place (a definite point in space)

• She is at home.

• He is at the cinem

• Place of learning or work or worship

• She is at Oxford.

• They are at office.

• They are at church.

• means of travel or transport

• I am going to Srinagar by bus.

• a person as an agent or doer

• ‘Adonis’ is a poem by Shelley.

• ‘Shakuntalam’ was written by Kalidasa.

• Energy, power, natural phenomenon as an agent

• In the 18th century the streets of London were lighted by oil lamps.

• He was struck by lightning.

• Part of one’s body or clothes

• I seized him by the collar.

• She caught her by the hair.

• Means of doing something (by + gerund)

• She earns a lot by signing folk songs.

• He amuses himself by drawing cartoons.

• Mode of payment

• He gets his salary by cheque.

• Relationship or ownership

• He is cousin of mine.

• She is friend of Rani.

• Part of whole (of an institution or organization)

• Rajiv is a member of this club.

• Mili is a teacher of this school.

• Cause

• They died of cholera.

• She is proud of her noble birth.

• Time

• Their first child was born within a year of their marriage.

• I made many resolutions on the first of Janua