Study material for the TOEIC®, Part 6

This page © 1997 by Nicholas E. Miller

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Part 6: Identifying Grammar Errors

Grammar: Prepositions

Prepositions are those little words which cause big problems. Pre-position comes from Latin, and means before place, or to place before. Prepositions may be of four types:

one-syllable

at, by, down, from, in, to, toward

multi-syllable

after, along, behind, below, between

participle

considering, during, pending, touching

a phrase (phrasal)

because of, instead of, in addition to

This little word (or phrase), which is placed before another word or phrase, is used to indicate the relationship between that which follows it and that which precedes it. There are many types of relationships, such as: cause, condition, degree, destination, manner, source, etc.

Today, we will just look at three: direction, location and time:

Prepositions of direction:

across, along, around, at, behind, between, by, from, in, into, over, through, to, toward

Over the river and through the woods to Grandmother's house we go... Go along the river, cross over the bridge, head toward the house, and drive between the gate...

Prepositions of location:

above, across, after, against, along, among, around, at, behind, below, beneath, beside, between, by, in front of, inside, near, off, on, over, through, under, upon, with

My computer is on my desk, beside the wall, near the closet, in my apartment.

Prepositions of time:

about, after, at, before, between, by, during, from, in, on, over, through, to, since, until, upon

The monthly meeting is between 2 PM and 5 PM. No one comes before 2 PM, they all show up sometime after 2 PM. Also, everyone leaves at 5 PM. We hold the meeting during that time, and it lasts about three hours.

Last tip: Be sure to use a preposition where it is called for, but donšt use them just to make a sentence sound more complicated.

Do not say "Our city is 5 kilometers width" for "Our city is 5 kilometers in width" or "Our city is 5 kilometers wide".

Likewise, "I returned home at about 9 PM" should be "I returned home at 9 PM" or "I returned home about 9 PM".

C/D

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