Category: 06. Prepositions

One of the most common preposition mistakes is adding an unnecessary at to the end of a question. Where is your brother at? Although this is common in some English dialects, it’s considered nonstandard in writing. You can fix the problem by simply deleting the at. Where is your brother? On the bright side, if you’re not sure which preposition…

The old claim that it’s wrong to end a sentence with a preposition has been debunked. It’s not true now and it never was true. Writers who insist that a preposition can’t end a sentence often end up with stilted and unnatural-sounding sentences: There’s no one else to hide behind. (Correct and natural) There’s no one else behind whom to hide. (Correct…

Unfortunately, there’s no reliable formula for determining which preposition to use with a particular combination of words. The best way to learn which prepositions go with which words is to read as much high-quality writing as you can and pay attention to which combinations sound right. Here are a few examples of the most common prepositions used…

Prepositions indicate direction, time, location, and spatial relationships, as well as other abstract types of relationships. Direction: Look to the left and you’ll see our destination. Time: We’ve been working since this morning. Location: We saw a movie at the theater. Space: The dog hid under the table.

“Vampires! Zombies! Werewolves!” “Where?!” “Behind you!” Thank goodness for prepositions. Imagine not knowing where the danger lay . . . Prepositions tell us where or when something is in relation to something else. When monsters are approaching, it’s good to have these special words to tell us where those monsters are. Are they behind us or in front…