Prepositions and Prepositional Phrases

Guidance will be given to enable you to (a) clearly see the linguistic structures of the following expressions; and (b) readily produce expressions with such structures.
To ensure your success, adequate examples will be further provided with clear explanation.

• • He is very competent in his work.
  • His determination carried him through the ordeal.
  • I'll see you on Monday morning.
  • His popularity has been on the wane for some time.
  • a man with strong arms          cf. a man of integrity
  • The guidebook warns against walking alone at night.
  • Barring accidents, we'll be there on time.
  • There is a direct correlation between exposure to the sun and skin cancer.
  • But for Gordon, we would have lost the match.
  • It is a dreadfully expensive toy for what it is.
  • He is proficient in several languages.
  • She looks rather like me.               cf. He is bigger than I am.
  • Don't wander off the subject – keep to the point.
  • We discussed it over a cup of coffee.
  • Xi Jinping and Barack Obama communicated through an interpreter.
  • We are working to a very tight deadline.
  • He has an ambivalent attitude towards her.
  • The ambulance arrived within minutes of the call being made.

Don't forget to include the prepositions in the following sentences:

• • The story of her sufferings was painful to listen to.
  • The river is dangerous to bathe in.
  • That man is impossible to work with.
  • That girl is pleasant to talk to.
  • She has always been easy to get along with.

The following sentences are NOT well formed and should be avoided:

* I saw her on last Friday. (on should be deleted)
* In this year, plums are more plentiful than last year. (In should be deleted)
* See you in next week. (in should be deleted)
* a woman of strong hands. (of should be replaced by with¹ )

* Like I, she is an accountant. (I should be replaced by me)
* He is more intelligent than me. (me should be replaced by I² )
* No one can write like she. (she should be replaced by her³ )
* I have arranged to meet her in Monday morning. (in should be replaced by on⁴ )

¹because hands is a concrete noun; but a woman of courage is fine because courage is an abstract noun

²Than is not a preposition and hence does not require a word in the objective case. Rather, than is a conjunction and hence the sentence, when expanded, reads He is more intelligent than I (am) (intelligent).

³Like is a preposition and hence requires her (objective case) and not she (subjective case).

⁴We use on for a particular morning/ day/ afternoon/ evening, e.g. On the morning of 1 July, there is a flag-raising ceremony.