Usage of Preposition:

Prepositions
Prepositions are short words (on, in, to) that usually stand in front of nouns (sometimes also in front of gerund
verbs).Even advanced learners of English find prepositions difficult, as a 1:1 translation is usually not possible. One
preposition in your native language might have several translations depending on the situation. There are hardly any
rules as to when to use which preposition. The only way to learn prepositions is looking them up in a dictionary,
reading a lot in English (literature) and learning useful phrases off by heart .The following table contains rules for
some of the most frequently used prepositions in English:

Prpositions Time
English Usage Example

O days of the week on Monday

n

in months / seasons in August / in winter

time of day in the morning
year in 2006
after a certain period of time in an hour
(when?)

at for night at night

for weekend at the weekend
a certain point of time (when?) at half past nine

si from a certain point of time (past till since 1980

nce now)

fo over a certain period of time (past till for 2 years

r now)

ag a certain time in the past 2 years ago

o

be earlier than a certain point of time before 2004

fore

to telling the time ten to six (5:50)

pa telling the time ten past six (6:10)

st
 English Usage Example

to marking the beginning and end of a from Monday to/till Friday

/ till / until period of time

til in the sense of how long something He is on holiday until Friday.

l / until is going to last

B in the sense of at the latest I will be back by 6 oclock.

y up to a certain time By 11 o'clock, I had read five pages.

Prpositions Place (Position and Direction)

English Usage Example

in room, building, street, town, in the kitchen, in London

country in the book
book, paper etc. in the car, in a taxi
car, taxi in the picture, in the world
picture, world

at meaning next to, by an object at the door, at the station

for table at the table
for events at a concert, at the party
place where you are to do at the cinema, at school, at work
something typical (watch a film, study,
work)

on attached the picture on the wall

for a place with a river London lies on the Thames.
being on a surface on the table
for a certain side (left, right) on the left
for a floor in a house on the first floor
for public transport on the bus, on a plane
for television, radio on TV, on the radio

by, left or right of somebody or Jane is standing by / next to / beside

next to, something the car.
beside

und on the ground, lower than (or the bag is under the table
er covered by) something else
 English Usage Example

bel lower than something else but above the fish are below the surface
ow ground

ove covered by something else put a jacket over your shirt

r meaning more than over 16 years of age
getting to the other side (also walk over the bridge
across) climb over the wall
overcoming an obstacle

abo higher than something else, but not a path above the lake
ve directly over it

acr getting to the other side (also over) walk across the bridge
oss getting to the other side swim across the lake

thro something with limits on top, drive through the tunnel

ugh bottom and the sides

to movement to person or building go to the cinema

movement to a place or country go to London / Ireland
for bed go to bed

into enter a room / a building go into the kitchen / the house

tow movement in the direction of go 5 steps towards the house

ards something (but not directly to it)

ont movement to the top of something jump onto the table

o

fro in the sense of where from a flower from the garden

m

Other important Prepositions

English Usage Example

fr who gave it a present from Jane

om

o who/what does it belong to a page of the book

f what does it show the picture of a palace
 English Usage Example

b who made it a book by Mark Twain

y

o walking or riding on horseback on foot, on horseback

n entering a public transport vehicle get on the bus

i entering a car / Taxi get in the car

n

o leaving a public transport vehicle get off the train

ff

o leaving a car / Taxi get out of the taxi

ut of

b rise or fall of something prices have risen by 10 percent

y travelling (other than walking or by car, by bus
horseriding)

a for age she learned Russian at 45

t

a for topics, meaning what about we were talking about you

bout

Modifiers- Dangling and Misplaced:

A modifier describes, clarifies, or gives more detail about a word or a word group.

A dangling modifier is a phrase that modifies the wrong word or phrase because of the
absence of the word or phrase it is supposed to modify. In other words, the modifier is left
"dangling".

A misplaced modifier is placed incorrectly in the sentence such that it modifies the wrong
word and makes the sentence sound illogical.

Dangling- Reaching Europe at the beginning of the 17th century, they called it "the wine of
Arabia".
Correction- Reaching Europe at the beginning of the 17th century, the coffee was called
"the wine of Arabia" by them.
In the first sentence "Reaching Europe at the beginning of the 17th century" is supposed to
modify "coffee" but the word coffee is missing.

Misplaced- Called the wine of Arabia, at the beginning of the 17th century the coffee
reached Europe.
Correction- Called "the wine of Arabia", the coffee reached Europe at the beginning of the
17th century.
In the first sentence, called "the wine of Arabia" is supposed to modify coffee.

Type 1- Modifying phrases with relative pronouns:-

Who, whom, whose, that, which, where

Incorrect- In Ethiopia started the story of coffee, where the coffee tree probably originated
in the province of Kaffa.
Correct- The story of coffee started in Ethiopia, where the coffee tree probably originated in
the province of Kaffa.
In the above sentence, where the coffee tree probably originated in the province of Kaffa
should relate back to the noun Ethiopia.

Type 2- Most of the times, modifiers are set off from the sentence by commas. Have a look
at the following sentence: Eaten by slaves, the succulent outer cherry flesh was taken from
present day Sudan into Yemen and Arabia through Mocha, the great port of its day, now
synonymous with coffee. Observe that the modifiers eaten by slaves and "the great port of
its day" are set apart from the rest of the sentence by commas.

Type 3- Do not use adjective when you require an adverb.

Incorrect- Mocha was also the main port for the one sea route to Mecca, and was a real
busy place in the world at the time. But the Arabs had a strict policy not to export any fertile
beans, so that coffee could not be cultivated anywhere else.
Correct- Mocha was also the main port for the one sea route to Mecca, and was a really
busy place in the world at the time. But the Arabs had a strict policy not to export any fertile
beans, so that coffee could not be cultivated anywhere else.

Type 4- Modifiers are very smart at times. How? They pick up a word or a phrase from a
sentence that seems to be finished and then add information. Then is the time to enrich
your brains by having a sip of coffee and not get carried away with a modifier.

The coffee house in Arabia was nothing quite like the coffeehouse that had existed before:
a place where society and business could be conducted in comfortable surroundings and
where anyone could go, for the price of coffee.

Type 5- Single words can be misplaced and cause confusion.

Incorrect- The Dutch were growing koffie also at Malabar in India, and in 1699 took some to
Batavia in Java, in what is now Indonesia. Within a few years the Dutch colonies had become
the main suppliers of coffee to Europe. Today Indonesia is the fourth largest exporter of
koffie in the world.
Correct- The Dutch were also growing koffie at Malabar in India, and in 1699 took some to
Batavia in Java, in what is now Indonesia. Within a few years the Dutch colonies had become
the main suppliers of coffee to Europe. Today Indonesia is the fourth largest exporter of
koffie in the world.
The first sentence erroneously implies that the Dutch were growing other crops AND
growing coffee also.
Type 6- The pronoun who modifies a person or group of persons, which modifies things
and that can be used with either person or things. See the sentence below:

The race to make off with some live koffie trees or beans was eventually won by the Dutch in
1616, who brought some back to Holland where they were grown in greenhouses.

In 1400, Sjehab-eddin, a mufti, learned to make the brew, which made the need to sleep
disappear, and took the bushes to his hometown Aden, now known as Yemen.

NOTE: Use the relative pronoun "that" to introduce an essential modifier that cannot be
logically removed. Use "which" to introduce a non-essential modifier, usually separated by
commas, which can be removed from the sentence.

The largest insurance market, Lloyd's of London, which began its life as a coffeehouse, was
started in 1688 by Edward Lloyd while preparing lists of the ships that his customers had
insured.

Type 7- "Which" should not have more than one potential antecedent.

In 1511 the governor of Mecca, Kair Beg proclaimed that coffee was equal to wine, which
was banned in the Koran.
It is not clear whether the coffee or the wine was banned in the Koran.

Apothecaries stocked the bean for medicinal uses, which were ranging from ridding the body
of bad humors to preventing plague.
Here it is clear that "which" is referring to "medicinal uses" only and nothing else.

Type 8-If a modifier is able to justify "how" of the verb it is called an adverbial modifier.
Please keep the modifying noun close to each other. They should be placed in such a way as
to avoid ambiguity in the word it is modifying.

In an interesting and romantic manner, the story of coffee started in 1720s. Gabriel Mathieu
de Clieu, a French naval officer serving in Martinique, went to Paris on leave in 1720.Slowly
and painfully, he acquired a koffie tree, which he took with him on the ship back. The plant
was kept in a glass case on deck to keep it warm and prevent damage from salt water.

Type 9- Adjective helps (modifies) Noun or Pronoun and Adverb is usually busy in helping
(modifying) Verb, some other Adverb, Preposition or Phrase.

During the journey, pirates from Tunis threatened the ship. There was a violent storm and
the plant had to be tied down. Mathieu de Clieu courageously faced a jealous enemy on
board who was trying to sabotage the plant. There was a violent struggle in which a branch
was torn off, but the plant survived this horror. Finally, the ship arrived in Martinique and
the coffee tree was re-planted at Preebear, where it was surrounded by a thorn hedge and
watched over by slaves. It grew, and multiplied, and by 1726 the first harvest was ready.
Notice that the adjectives, "violent" and "jealous" are modifying nouns whereas the
adverbs, "courageously" and "finally" are modifying verbs.

Type 10- Identify the modifier and try to locate the word it is modifying. You will know
whether the modifier is correct or incorrect.