RULES OF PREPOSITION

The common run of prepositions usually establishes a space or time relationship between ideas within a phrase, clause, or sentence, and they can be divided into five groups: 1. The prepositions of place and location: in, at, and on 2. The prepositions of motion: to, toward, in, and into 3. The prepositions of movement and direction: to, onto, and into 4. The prepositions for specific points of time: on, at, in, and after 5. The prepositions for periods or extended time: since, for, by, fromto, fromuntil, before, during, within, between, and beyond. Rules for Usage: PREPOSITIONS THAT ESTABLISH RELATIONSHIPS IN SPACE The prepositions in, at, and on for indicating place and location. The general rule is to use in for an enclosed space, at for a point, and on for a surface. Here are some specific guidelines for their use in American English: Use in for spaces: They always meet in a secret room [in a suburban hotel, in a parking lot, in a farm, in a ricefield+. Use in for names of specific land areas: She lives in a quiet town [in Tagaytay, in Cavite, in Southern Tagalog, in the island of Palawan, in the Philippines, in Southeast Asia]. Use in for bodies of water: That kind of fish thrives in freshwater [in the river, in the lake, in streams, in the sea+. Use in for lines: The registrants are in a row [in a line, in a queue+. Use at to indicate points: Youll find us at the entrance [at the taxi stand, at the supermarket, at the intersection+. Use at for specific addresses, as in She lives at 40 Lilac St. Use on for names of streets, roads, avenues, and boulevards: Her apartment is on San Pablo Street [on Ortigas Avenue, on Santolan Road, on Roxas Boulevard+. Use on for surfaces: Theres a large stain on the floor [on the wall, on the ceiling, on the roof+. The prepositions in, at, and on for indicating location.

Use in in these cases: The children are in the kitchen [in the garden, in the car, in the library, in the class, in school+. (The article the is mandatory except for the fourth and last example.) Use at in these particular cases: She was at home [at the library, at the office, at school, at work] when we arrived. Use on in these particular cases: They are on the plane [on the train, on the boat+. Some locations, though, dont need a preposition between them and the verb: They sleep downstairs [inside, outside, downtown, upstairs, uptown+. Rules for Usage: PREPOSITIONS THAT ESTABLISH MOTION AND DIRECTION The prepositions of motion to, toward, in, and into. These four prepositions link the verbs of movementmove, go, transfer, walk, run, swim, ride, drive, fly, travel, and many moreto their object destination. All of these verbs, except transfer, can take both to and toward. We must keep in mind, however, that to is used to convey the idea of movement toward a specific destination, while toward is used to convey movement in a general direction that may not reach a specific destination: Please take me to the bus station. (The speaker obligates the listener to specifically take him to a particular place.) The speedboat headed toward the harbor. (The speaker indicates only a movement in a general direction.) We can actually interchange into and in more or less freely when used with verbs of motion. There are exceptions, though. We can only use in (or inside) when the preposition is the last word in the sentence or occurs right before an adverbial of time (today, tomorrow), manner (quickly, hurriedly) or frequency (once, twice). Examples: The woman went into the managers office. The woman went in twice. The woman went in. The new tenants moved into the apartment yesterday The new tenants moved in hurriedly. The new tenants moved in. We can also use into as the last word in a question: What sort of trouble have you gotten yourself into? But we should use in if the question is said in this form: What sort of trouble are you in?

In/into also has two unique uses with the verb move. The first is when move in is followed by a clause indicating purpose or motive: The hunters moved in for the kill. The soldiers moved in for the attack. In both examples, in is part of the verb phrase, so we cannot use into. The second case is when we use into with move to convey the idea of simple movement: The firemen moved into the burning building. The prepositions of direction to, onto, and into. These prepositions correspond to the common prepositions of location: to for at, onto for on, and into for in. Each is defined by the same space relations of point, line, surface, or area as in the prepositions of location. To, the basic directional preposition, signifies orientation toward a goal. If that goal is physical, like a specific destination, to conveys the idea of movement in the direction of that goal: The troops returned to their base. Toward, of course, also works as a directional preposition, and means about the same thing as the directional preposition to. If the goal is not a physical place, as in an action, to simply puts the verb in the infinitive form to express a particular purpose: She sings to earn extra money. She cut her hair to show her displeasure. The directional prepositions onto and into are, as we know, compounds formed by to with corresponding prepositions of location: on + to = onto, to signify movement toward a surface, and in + to = into, to signify movement inside a finite three-dimensional space or volume. When used with many verbs of motion, however, on and in already have a directional meaning. We therefore can freely use them instead of onto and into. Note that on and onto work equally well in the following sentences: The cats fell on [onto+ the floor. The whales washed up onto [on] the beach. The girl jumped into [in+ the river. You will notice, however, that always, the compound locational prepositions onto and into convey the consummation of an action, while the simple locational prepositions on and in indicate the subjects end-position as a result of the action. Lets look at some examples. Consummation of action: The boy fell onto [to+ the ground. The sailor dived into [to+ the pool. Position of subject: The boy is on the ground. The sailor is in the pool. Now we discover something interesting: directional prepositions actually serve to convey the idea of cause, while locational prepositions serve to convey the idea of effect. This, in fact, is as near a rule of thumb as we can get in dealing with these two kinds of prepositions.

We cannot leave this subject, of course, without discussing at as a preposition of motion and direction. Being the least specific of the prepositions in space orientation, we can use at in a good number of ways. To mark a verb of motion directed towards a point: She arrived at the airport late. The marksman aimed at the hostage-taker with precision. To indicate direction: The man leaped at the thief to subdue him. She jumped at me without warning. Rules for Usage: PREPOSITIONS THAT ESTABLISH RELATIONSHIPS IN TIME The prepositions for specific points in time: on, at, in, and after. On is used with the days of the week: We are going out on Monday [on Tuesday, on Sunday+. On is used for specific dates (optional in informal usage): The trade fair will start on March 12, 2003 [on March 12, on the 12th of March, on the 12th +. At is used with clocked time: She picks her son from school at 4:30 p.m. At is used with the following times of the day: noon, night, midnight, sunrise, sunset: We sail for Palawan at noon [at midnight, at sunrise+. At is used with certain major holidays (without the word Day) as points of time: The family always gets together at Thanksgiving [at Christmas, at Easter, at Halloween+. In is used with the following times of the day: morning, afternoon, evening: She waters her roses in the morning [in the afternoon, in the evening+. In is used with dates that do not carry the specific day: The Spanish explorer reached the Philippines in March 1521. In is used with months, years, decades, and centuries as points of time: The famous writer was born in April [in 1946, in the 1940s, in the 20th century+. In is used with the seasons as points of time: He promised not to leave her in autumn [in summer, in spring, in winter+. After is used with events that happen later than another event or point of time: The overseas worker came home only after the holidays.

The prepositions for periods or extended time: since, for, by, from...to, from...until, during, within, between, and beyond. Since is used with an event that happens at some time or continuously after another time or event: She has not watched a movie since last month. They have been producing noodles since the war. For is used with particular durations: Our president will be abroad for three weeks [not for long, for most of next month+. By is used with an act completed or to be completed by a certain time: She expects to finish writing the book by April [by then, by the second quarter+. From...to is used to refer to the beginning and end of an activity or event: The weather was stormy from Wednesday to Friday. From...until is used to refer to the beginning of one period to the beginning of another: Our sales rose continuously from Christmas until right before Holy Week. During is used to refer to a period of time in which an event happens or an activity is done: She had coffee during the morning break. Between is used to refer to an action taking place between the beginning and the end of a period: You must get the job done between now and Friday. Within is used to refer to an action that must take place or be completed within a given period: You must get the job done within the week. Beyond is used to refer to a period of time after a particular event has taken place or a particular time has elapsed: Beyond the mid-1990s all of our offices had shifted to word processors. Prepositions for specific time frames. In is used with the three basic time frames: past, present, future: He was a kindly man in the past. She is doing nothing in the present *...at present is the preferred usage at present+. In the future, change the oil of your car regularly. In is used with prescribed time periods: The project must be completed in a month [in a year, in five years+.