About

Prepositions are one part of the speech and tell the reader about relationships between words.

Prepositions show the relationship between:

• phrases,
• clauses
• and words,

They illustrate four primary relationships:

• condition,
• direction
• location
• or time.

There are literally hundreds of prepositions. When writing, it's a good idea to have a list.

Even though knowing individual prepositions is important, prepositional phrases are used far more frequently.

Articles Related

Example

• I found the hammer behind the toolbox. Behind because it shows location.
• The players stayed on the field in spite of the weather. On shows us again their position, in spite of (a three word preposition)

List

Reference

• Crafting an Effective Writer: Tools of the Trade