Prepositions Prepared by: Younes TAIA

Outline Preposition of occurrence Meanings of preposition Problems ESL/ EFL Exercise Activity

I. Position of occurrence

 WHEN or WHERE do prepositions occur?

• At the head of a prepositional phrase and usually before the head of a noun phrase.

Prepositional verbs

• An Example should be like below:

They [Decided on] [the bus]. Prepositional Verb

vp

Adjectives + Preposition Combination

An Example should be like below:

Some people should be very [ sorry ].

Some people should be very [ sorry] [ for]

[ the inconvenience].

Adj

Adj Prep

Np

Idiomatic constructions with two prepositions

Prepositions can function as well as parts of idiomatic constructions...

In comparison with…With regards to …In accordance with…

Construction with Preposition followed by ‘That clauses’

You should pay me [in the event] [ that you understand the lesson.]clausePrep

In Order + infinitive clauses

usually in this construction ‘in order’ is removed or absent so instead of:

She worked hard [ in order ] [to get rich ].

We use :

She worked hard to get rich.

Prep clause

Preposition + preposition combination

Some types of prepositions may be directley followed by another Preposition

The sound seemed to be coming [ from inside the chest ]

II. The meanings of prepositions

Thematic roles

These are roles of preposition that describe the NP in terms of its relation to the verb.

Location

• Static location. prepositions such as: In, On , Under, and Beside.

Ex:

The Book is On the Table

location

• Source prepositions. such as: from , and off are used to describe an action’s point of origin or source.

Ex :

Naima has just came [ from khenifra ]

location• Goal preposition. Such as: to, into, and

onto can be used an action’s point of termination.

Ex :

Ahlam went to [ Tetouan ].

Instrumental The prepostion with and by can be used to

indicate: who or the thing with which the action is made.

Ex:

Akklouch disturbs me by his comments.

Comitative• Please note that with also expresses the

notion of accompaniment.

Ex:

Last Wednesday, I saw Aziz running away from the armed students with Zakaria.

ComitativeThe prototypical meanings of many prepositions

are often extended into different domains. For instance, can be used to refer to time.

He said he was coming at four o’clock.

Jennifer’s class runs from 10 am to 1:30.

Problems that ESL/ EFL students have with prepositions

Thinking that language rules are the same.

Ex :

Està en la mesa. Està en el curato.

It is on the table. It is in the room.

Exercise• Sophia went to the movies with her friend.

• With => comitative

• On the way to the class, they had to walk through the whole campus.

• To => Goal, Through => intermediate location

Exercise • He opened the room with a key.

• With => Instrumental

• Asma fired her gun directly at takey-Eddin.

• At => Goal

• Hayda was standing by the water fountain.

• By => static location

Activity

The EndEnjoy Next presentation With Mr. Zakaria

On ‘Multi Verbs’