The State University of Zanzibar

(SUZA)DE: 201 : PART TWO

Prepared by: Mr. Nahoda, A.M

PREPOSITION

• Prepositions are words like at, in, e.t.c with which precede nouns, noun phrases and pronouns to form a unit.

• Prepositions may consist of: One word e.g..................... from, Two words e.g..................... because of or Three words e.g....................in contact with.Or occasionally four e.g......with the exception of. All are single prepositions.

Prepositional Phrase

• A Prepositional Phrase is a group of words in a sentence that begin with a preposition.

• A prepositional phrase consist of a preposition followed by propositional complement.

• What comes after the preposition is called the prepositional complement.

• All two elements are obligatory parts.

Prepositional Compliment

• The complement of a preposition can be:• A noun phrase (NP) a noun or a pronoun

She lives in townHer bright smile greeted me at the breakfast tableHe came after me

• Wh- ClauseShe comes from what she called a small farm of two hundred acre

• An -ing Clause

Prepositional Compliment

Salum tried to shake off his fears by looking at the sky.

• An adverb You can see the station from here• A propositional phrase

You can call me any time except at work

2 clauses can not be PP Complement

• That clause• To infinitive clauseIn No. 2 and 3 clauses the preposition is omitted1. I was surprised at the news.2. I was surprised that things changed so quickly.3. I was surprised to hear you say it had been raining.

FUNCTIONS OF PP

• Adverbial/ AdjunctYou may need to do some work in the eveningFinally I went back to my old job

• Modifier in a noun phraseShe felt she had no chance of promotion

• Modifier of Adjective phraseThe floor was wet near the bathtub

• Compliment of adjectiveMy son is brilliant at Mathematics

FUNCTIONS OF PP

• Compliment of a nounHe is a teacher of French literature

• Complement of adverbStudents don’t live far from here

• Complement of prepositional phraseI’m free all day except on Mondays.

• Compliment of VerbYou mustn’t worry too much about thisThe woman relies on her babysitter

FUNCTIONS OF PP

• ObjectWe prefer at six o'clock.

• SubjectBefore lunch is when I do my best work

Thus: PP function as:-• Modifiers of Phrases• Complements of Phrases• Adjuncts and Adverbials

EXCERSIZE

• The little girl with blonde hair smiled at me• The children played in the backyard.• The couple danced after dinner.• Librarians are fond of book• He is the writer of the book• In my opinion you understood every things

Reference

• Todd, Loreto (1995) An Introduction to Linguistics. Longman: UK

• Leech, G and Svartvic (2001) A Communicative Grammar of English. Longman: London

• Downing, Angela and Locke, Philip (2006) English Grammar a University Course. Routledge: New York

• Trask, R. L.; Stockwell, Peter (2007) Language and Linguistics : The Key Concepts. Routledge: New York

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