What prepositions come after English. The preposition of in English

Many beginners learning English are familiar with the preposition “of” only in one of its capacities – the designation of the genitive case, which answers the questions “who?” and “what?” And this is not surprising, because in most cases it is used this way:

The importance of education– the importance of (what?) education

The convenience of Skype lessons– convenience (what?) of classes via Skype

The professionalism of teachers– professionalism of (who?) teachers

However, there are other uses of this wonderful and pleasant-to-hear preposition (by the way, it is under no circumstances pronounced [ɔf] - remember, exclusively [ɔv]). There are not so many such cases, and they are less common, but it is advisable to know them in order to adequately translate English thoughts into Russian when communicating and, what is equally important, translate Russian thoughts into English.

So, applications of the preposition “of” that may be interesting to you and will certainly be useful:

1) instrumental case

This case answers the questions “about whom?” and “about what?” Examples:

Will you please tell me of your last night adventures?
Don't you want to tell me (about what?) about your adventures last night?

Have you heard of the recent upheaval in Egypt ?
I heard (about what?) about the recent unrest in Egypt?

Do you ever read anything of famous people? Because you’re confusing their names like hell!
Do you read anything? (about whom?) about famous personalities? You just keep confusing their first and last names!

Note: with the verbs “tell”, “hear”, “read” in these and similar examples, you can use the preposition “about” with almost the same meaning, but “of” will give your speech more variety and elegance. By the way, the title of the article is composed precisely according to this principle, only without the verb.

2) belonging

The question of belonging “whose?” in most cases it can be easily replaced by the genitive case question “whom?”

“The Green Mile” is one of the best novels of Stephen King.
"The Green Mile" is one of the best novels (whose/whom?) Stephen King.

However, in the situation with pronouns, difficulties can arise. I am sure that to many of you the examples below will not seem complicated and incomprehensible, since even in schools this is taught quite early, but it never hurts to be on the safe side, isn’t it?

Asia and Landysh are friends of mine , and I’m happy about it.
Asya and Lily of the Valley - (whose?) my friends, and that's great.

A mistake here could be using, for example, “me” instead of “mine”. To avoid mistakes, let's list all our friends:

friend of mine
friend of yours
friend of his
friend of hers
friend of ours
friend of theirs

The place of the word “friend” can be taken by any other word – “pen”, “idea”, “ability”.

“Which is this pen?” “This one is of mine" (or you can just “This is mine”)
Whose pen is this? This my.

They stole an idea of yours!
They stole yours idea!

It is an ability of hers to seduce men.
Have her such an ability to seduce men.

3) indication of the city, locality, country where the person was born

The following example will involve the question “from where?”. The use of “of” is quite in an original way answer it. A great way to make an impression when meeting someone :)

“Hello! Where did you come from? What is your name?” “Greetings! I am Daniel of the Russian Federation .”
Oh hi! Where are you from ? What is your name?
Greetings! My name is Daniel and I from Russian Federation.

Note: the same can be said about an organization, company, society

My name is Bill Gates, and I am of Microsoft.
My name is Bill Gates, I'm from Microsoft.

Please note that in such examples a noun can be placed before “of”: the citizen of the Russian Federation, the director of Microsoft.

4) definition

The construction “of + noun” (“of” + noun) performs the function of a determiner (adjective) in a sentence and answers the question “which one?” It is translated either as a verb with an adjective, or simply as an adjective. Compare:

This diamond is of tremendous value; it must be protected no matter the cost.
This diamond is of incredible value and must be protected at all costs.

This diamond of tremendous value must be protected no matter the cost.
This diamond (Which?) of incredible value must be protected at all costs.

Apply in the same way:
of taste, of flavor, of importance, of significance, of beauty etc.

5) motivation

Sometimes in a sentence to a noun with the preposition “of” you can ask the question “why?”, “for what reasons?”, “for what reason?”. Study the example:

I am doing it for you of sheer necessity, not of compassion.
I'm doing this for you (Why?) only because it is necessary, and not out of compassion.

Here it should be noted that examples of the use of the preposition “of” in its usual genitive case deserve separate consideration. In this article I focused on less familiar formulations. Follow the updates on our website so as not to miss interesting information!

Prepositions in a sentence are part of a prepositional phrase, where they occupy the first position. A prepositional phrase necessarily requires a noun after the preposition. A phrase can be completed by either a single noun or a group of dependent words. This nominal part is called the prepositional complement. In addition, prepositions can act as particles in a phrasal verb.

Use of prepositions in English in the table

A prepositional phrase can play the role of an adverb of time and place, an object, a complement of a verb or adjective, and even the role of a subject. Sometimes prepositions act as links between the main and secondary clauses. For competent speech (and writing), the correct use of prepositions is very important. The following describe the behavior of prepositions and prepositional phrases in various situations.

As a circumstance of place

Prepositions can show physical or abstract direction (location).

at/ at point;
in/ within a certain area;
on/ on the surface;
in front of/ before;
near/ near;
on top of/ at the top;
across/ through;
down/down, etc.

As a circumstance of time

Prepositions can be used to limit time periods ('for', 'during', from ... to/till/until ...) and to define points in time relative to each other ('ago', 'before', 'since', 'at', 'after', 'in').

He is here for a month/ He is here for a month.
There were two big victories during the war/ During the war there were two major victories.
They have lunchtime from one o"clock till two o"clock/ They have from one o'clock to two.
His frog died a month ago/ His frog died a month ago.
We met even before lunch/ We met even before lunch.
He’ve been living on the seaside since he broke up with it.
He finished at five o’clock/ He finished at five o’clock.
We must be there after ten thirty/ We must be there after 10:30.
We’ll find out in the next three days/ We’ll find out in the next three days.

Use of prepositions in English with dates: With various religious festivals ‘at’ is used, over the years ‘in’ is used, with days of the week, special events and common dates ‘on’ is used.

at Christmas / at Christmas; at Easter/ on Easter;
in the year 2015/ in the year 2015; in 2015/ in 2015; in the twenty first sentury / in the twenty-first century;
on Saturday/ on Saturday; on her wedding anniversary/ on her wedding anniversary; on the twenty fourth of October/ on the twenty-fourth of October.

Using prepositions in English with months and seasons: ‘in’, however with dates where the month is indicated first, ‘on’ is used, as with regular dates, for example, ‘on October 24th’.
In October; in November/ in October; in November; in autumn/ in autumn.

As a subject

A prepositional phrase can serve as a subject: Out of memory was the safest place of all to keep this information/ Out of memory was the safest place to store this information.

As an addition to a nominal predicate

In a compound nominal predicate, where the nominal part is expressed by a sign or state, some adjectives coming after the linking verb can be used with or without a preposition, and some are not used independently.

He was afraid / He was afraid.
He was afraid of his enemies/ He was afraid of his enemies.

1. At the same time, they may require a specific preposition, such as: /aware of, accustomed to, used to/.

Jeremy used to live in the merchant's house / Jeremy lived in the merchant's house.
He is unaccustomed to the heat/ He is not adapted to the heat.

2. Some adjectives can be alone or accompanied by different prepositions depending on the type of information they reveal. For example, with /cruel, friendly, unkind/, ‘of’ is used to link the impersonal subject and the logical subject:

It was rude of him to leave so suddenly/ It was rude of him to leave so suddenly.

To connect a personal subject and object, use 'to':

She was rude to him for no reason/ She was rude to him for no reason.

Also used alone or with the preposition ‘about’ to characterize a thing, or ‘with’ to characterize a character, the following are used: /angry, furious, happy/.

She was still angry about the result/ She was still angry because of the result.
Are you happy with that stinky guy? / Are you really happy with this ugly guy?

3. Other adjectives can be used alone or with specific prepositions.

For example, with 'of' to:

1) characterize the reason for the feeling expressed by the adjectives /convinced, suspicious, terrified/;

Isn't it a bit suspicious of him? / Isn't that a little suspicious?
- It was terrified of her/ It terrified her.

2) name a character who has a quality (such as /clever, polite, stupid/).

That was clever of you!/ Clever of you!
- I turned the job down, which was stupid of me/ I turned down the job, which was stupid of me.

With ‘to’ to talk about the degree of similarity (close, related, similar), marriage (married, engaged), loyalty (dedicated, devoted, loyal), rank (junior, senior) in relation to something:

My problems are very similar to yours/ My problems are very similar to yours.
- He was dedicated to his job/ He was devoted to his work.

With the preposition ‘with’ such adjectives as /bored, pleased, satisfied/, as well as to talk about the reason for the expressed feeling:

Gave to him a glorious glance she was satisfied with the effect/ Throwing a victorious glance at him, she was satisfied with the effect.
- He was pleased with her/ He was pleased with her.

With ‘at’, talking about a strong reaction to something (amazed, astonished, surprised) or potential (bad, good, useless):

He had been astonished at this point/ He was stupefied by this circumstance.
- He was not bad at dancing/ He was not at all bad at dancing.

With the preposition ‘for’ in order to talk about the character or thing to which the given characteristic applies (common, easy, unusual):

It's common for them/ This is a common occurrence for them.
- Oh, nothing is easier for me / Oh, nothing is easier for me.

A small proportion of adjectives ending in 'ed', which are used exclusively after linking verbs such as 'be', 'become' or 'feel', have in common with transitive verbs, and are often followed by a prepositional phrase:

The Brazilians are pleased with the result / Brazilians are pleased with the results.

As an addition to a simple or verb predicate

1. The use of prepositions in English is natural for many verbs that are used without To say:

about the subject of what is happening, ‘about’ is suitable,
about the direction of action - ‘at’,
root cause or purpose - ‘for’,
involvement - ‘into’,
facts and information - ‘of’,
about something you can rely on - ‘on’,
about the information receiver -‘to’,
about who agrees/disagrees - ‘with’.

I’ve heard about the intrusion plans/ I heard about the plans to seize.
- Look at me / Look at me.
- They asked for hep / They asked for help.
- A sheap run into the doorway / The sheep ran into the doorway.
- To think of it... / If you think...
- It depends on him/ It depends on him.
- Explain to me / Explain to me.
- I argue with nobody/ I don’t argue with anyone.

It should be taken into account that with some verbs prepositions appear in a standard tandem, and with some they can replace each other depending on the meaning and situation.

As a noun complement

The use of prepositions in English makes it possible to compose phrases with nouns that reveal their meaning in more detail. Some words are undemanding to the preposition that follows them, and some always attach a specific one. In general, a prepositional phrase comes after a noun.

Two girls on weekends were having fun in a pool/ Two girls who had the weekend were having fun in the pool.
- A wisper behind her made her turn/ A whisper behind her made her turn around.

‘of’ is often used to convey various types of information after a noun, in particular to say:

what something is made of or consists of;

- ...a wall of stone/ wall made of stone.
- A heeling of panic was rising in him/ The feeling of panic grew in him.

about what is the subject of conversation, text, or image;

There was an image of a lion in the magazine/ There was an image of a lion in the magazine.

about the affiliation of a character or object or its connection;

He was the son of a good man/ He was the son of a good man.
- Girls sat on the back seat of the car / The girls sat in the back seat of the car.

about the qualities inherent in a character or object.

She was a woman of enegry and ambition/ She was an energetic and ambitious woman.
- They faced problems of great compexity/ They came face to face with problems of extreme complexity.

After action nouns, ‘of’ is used to indicate the subject or object of the action.

- ...the arrival of the police/ arrival of the police.
- ...the destruction of their city/ destruction of their city.

Following nouns that describe people performing a specific action, a prepositional phrase beginning with ‘of’ communicates what the action involves or its purpose.

Supporters of the hunger strike/ supporters of the hunger strike.
- ...a student of English/ student of English.

At the same time, a phrase with two nouns sounds more natural than with a noun and a prepositional phrase, for example, ‘bank robbers/bank robbers’ instead of ‘robbers of the bank/bank robbers’.

- …temperature in the pot of 108 degrees/ temperature in the pot at 108 degrees.
- ...a part of 30 percent/ part of 30%.

'of' can also be used after a noun to tell someone's age:

The most dangerous it is in the edge of eight/ The most dangerous is at the age of eight.

The preposition ‘with’ is used to express some distinctive feature, detail, accessory inherent in an object or character:

-…a girl with red hair/ girl with red hair.
- ...the man with the gun/ man with a gun.

The preposition ‘in’ after the noun allows us to talk about who is wearing what:

- ...a pale child in a raincoat/ gray-haired man in a raincoat.
- ...the man in dark suit/ man in a dark suit.

Some nouns are always accompanied by specific prepositions. For example,

‘to’ follows the words: answer, introduction, reaction, return:

It happened on the return to Poland/ It happened on the way back to Poland.

‘for’ follows: reason, respect, taste:

His need for food was permanently growing up/ His need for food was constantly growing.

‘on’ for: agreement, comment, effect:

She fad a dreadful effect on me/ She had a disgusting effect on me.

‘with’ or ‘between’ for: connection, contact, link:

The link between them was so hard to see/ The connection between them was so difficult to see.

‘in’ follows the words: difficulty, fall, increase:

They had not been prepared to difficulties on that side/ They were not prepared for difficulties on this side.

As a complement of a verb

The use of prepositions in English as part of prepositional phrases is permissible, in addition, in the nominal predicate as a nominal part:

It’s in her bag/ It’s in her bag.
- He was in danger/ He was in danger.
- It was against his will/ It was against his will.

As a particle of a phrasal verb

Prepositions can be represented as inseparable particles of a verb phrase in four combinations:

verb particle,
verb-particle-object,
verb-object-particle,
verb-particle-preposition-object,
verb-object-particle-prepositional phrase.

Storm broke up at midnight/ The storm broke at midnight.
- His faith grows on wrong beliefs/ His faith grows on false beliefs.
- ‘Call me back’ said Lucy / “Call me back,” said Lucy.
- They ran away with all our food/ They ran away with all our food.
- Don’t try to talk them out of it.

As a complement of an adjective

Although the attribute usually comes before the noun, in some cases the use of prepositions in English allows the adjective to be placed after it, and it is usually accompanied by an adverbial clause, a 'to'-infinitive clause or a -prepositional phrase.

This is a warning to people eager for a quick profit.

After superlative adjectives, a prepositional phrase can be used to indicate the group from which the subject is distinguished:

Henry was the biggest of them/ Henry was the biggest of them.
- Cakes are probably the best in the world/ Pies must be the best in the world.
- He was the most dangerous man in the country/ He was the most dangerous man in the country.

As a conjunction in a complex sentence

Some prepositions have the same form as conjunctions used to join secondary clauses, for example, /’since’, ‘till’, ‘until’, ‘after’, ‘before’/.

I’ve been looking for the new opportunity since I knew that/ I’ve been looking for new prospects since I found out about it.

Watch this video to get a basic understanding of articles in English before reading the article.

Why are articles needed in English?

Did you know that the article is a part of speech that does not exist in Russian?

We change stress and word order to give a phrase a flavor that is strictly fixed in English.

See how the meaning of the phrase changes:

I like the car.
I like the car.

Do you sense a catch? In the first case, it is not clear what kind of machine we are talking about, but in the second we are talking about a specific machine.

In English, words cannot be interchanged, so articles are used to give the desired connotation to a phrase A, An And The.

Article rules

The concept of the article in English grammar is associated with the category of definiteness. Simplified, the article rule sounds like this:

Remember!
If we are talking about an unknown object, then the indefinite article A / An. If we are talking about something specific, then an article is placed before it The.

Assignment: What articles should be used in the following examples?

We bought a car.

We bought the car we saw yesterday.

Click on the arrows to get the answer.

Clue.
Article The descended from This(this) - you can point with your finger.
A / An descended from One(one).

That's why the article A/An used only in the singular!

In a simplified form, the grammatical rules of articles can be represented as follows:

Plural noun?
Countable noun?
Have you heard of him before? (indefinite or definite article)
Are we talking about something in common?

What is the difference between the articles A and An?

Let's repeat!
Indefinite article A/An(which comes from one) We put only before in the singular!

So what's the difference between A And An?

Article A is placed before words that begin with consonants (a c at, a h ouse, a y ard), and An- before words that begin with vowels (an a pple, an h our).

Let this picture pop up before your eyes when you choose your food a And an.

When do we use the indefinite article?

1. When we classify an object, we attribute it to a certain group of objects.

A cow is an animal. - A cow is an animal.
An apple is a fruit. - An apple is a fruit.

2. When we characterize an object.

My mother is a nurse. - My mother is a nurse.
He is an idiot! - He's an idiot!

One of the most important and at the same time difficult topics in the English language is the study of prepositions. It is not surprising that in foreign schools for studying English, the topic - prepositions in English - ranks first in the number of hours allocated for its study.

Even without general knowledge topics of prepositions, it will be difficult for you to speak on the simplest everyday topic with native speakers. In order not to get confused in terms, remember that the concept - preposition in English means - preposition. We will study this topic now.

So let's begin!

Prepositions call function words that show the connection (relationship) of nouns or pronouns with other words:

I need answer her at 10 o"clock - I need to answer her V 10 o'clock.

He began by beheading the king – He started With beheading of the king

They came from Dol Guldur – They came from Dol Guldur.

Prepositions being a service part of speech, do not have any independent function And are not members of the proposal. In the Russian language, in addition to prepositions, they use case endings, but as we know, the English language has practically no case endings.

In fact, the use of prepositions in English is the most main way expressing the relationship of a noun to other words in a sentence.

Prepositions express:

1) Relationships in space:

On the wall – on wall

In the garden – V garden

2) Space time:

In June – V July

At 10 o'clock – V 10 o'clock

3) Various abstract meanings: reasons, goals, etc.:

They prayed fo r her life - They prayed for her life.

Types of prepositions

Prepositions can be classified:

1) according to the form of education:

a) Simple

Simple prepositions in English consist of only one root:

at, in, for, on, with

b) Derivatives

Prepositions that contain suffixes and prefixes

across, below, behind, along

c) Complex

These are prepositions that contain several roots

Inside, without, outside, within

d) Composite

Such prepositions consist of several words

Because of, in accordance with, in front of

2) depending on their meaning for prepositions:

· Places ( Place) – in, on, below, under, near, in front of

· Directions(Direction) – to, from, out of, into, in

· Time(time) – after, before, at

· Distracted relationships(abstract relations) – by, with, because of, with a view to

In English there is a category of prepositions that perform only a grammatical function, i.e. in combination with a noun or pronoun they convey a relationship (It is new roof of our house is a new roof ( what?) our house). In Russian, this attitude is conveyed by indirect cases without prepositions.

Remember!! the use of prepositions in English in this sense means that they lose their lexical meaning and accordingly are not translated into Russian in separate words.

These are the prepositions:

Genitive case (whom? what?) - of

1) The preposition of, showing that an object or person belongs to something. Conveys a relationship between two nouns. In this meaning, the combination of the preposition of with a noun or pronoun is equivalent to the genitive case in Russian:

The door of the car was broken – Door ( what?) the car was broken

Our name will be written at the first pages of the books – Our names will be written on the first pages ( what?) books

Dative case (to whom? what?) - to

2) The preposition to, standing before a noun and conveying a relationship in which the object (person) to which the action is addressed is designated. In Russian, this relationship is expressed in the dative case (to whom? to what?)

She explained our plan to the manager – She explained our plan ( to whom?) to the manager

He showed the note to Jane - He showed a note ( to whom?) Jane.

Instrumental case - by whom? how? - with

3) The preposition by, if it is located after the verb in the form of the passive voice before the noun, which denotes a person and an object. The preposition by in this case is equivalent to relation, which in Russian is denoted by the instrumental case

The room was cleaned by maid - The room was cleaned ( by whom?) maid

Instrumental case (by whom? with what?) - with

4) The preposition with, being in front of a noun that denotes an object or instrument of action with the help of which the action is performed. In this meaning, the preposition with is equivalent to a Russian noun or pronoun in the instrumental case:

His wound was treated with hydrogen peroxide – The wound was treated ( how?) hydrogen peroxide.

Most prepositions can have more than one, and several meanings(the meanings of each preposition will be discussed in more detail in the relevant sections). For example, the preposition at – can mean:

1) place with value y, about

I saw your bag at window - I saw your bag at windows

2) time with meaning V, when specifying a point in time

The meeting will be at 9 o'clock - The meeting will take place at 9 o'clock

In English, in many cases the choice of preposition depends only on the word(verb, noun, adjective) which preceded the preposition.

For example, the verb to laugh (to laugh). After it you need the preposition at:

Our enemies will be laugh at us - Our enemies will laugh at us

In some cases, one specific verb can have different meanings if different prepositions are used:

Sara is looking at her cat – Sarah looks at your cat

Sara is looking for her cat – Sarah looking for your cat

Saar is looking after her cat – Sarah takes care of your cat

Prepositions are also used in stable combinations : after all - in the end, at all - in general, to the end - until the end

There is no 100% correspondence between Russian and English prepositions. This means that one English preposition can be translated into Russian by various Russian prepositions:

She will be here in two minutes – she will be here through two minutes

We have been living in USA since 2013 – we live V USA since 2013

Our company will make new branches in 1 year – our company will build new branches for 1 year

I got a lot of tips for growing my business in one month – i learned a lot of tips to grow my business in one month

On the other hand, one Russian preposition can correspond to various prepositions in English:

I could not pick up the box because something heavy was on it – I couldn't lift the box because on there was something heavy about her

Hey! Why are looking at me? – Hey! Why are you look at me

I really want to go to a trip - I really want to go V journey

The great battles were in the south – On there were great battles in the south

There are cases when English verb is used exclusively with a preposition, although the same verb in Russian does not require a preposition after itself:

Can you wait for me 5 minutes – can you wait for me 5 minutes?

Listen to us - listen to us

In the English language there are verbs after which a preposition is not required, while in the Russian language after the corresponding verb a preposition is required:

We entered the White House – we entered V White House

James followed us – James followed for us

He did not answer all questions – he didn't answer either on one question

These rules of prepositions in the English language are the most general and studying them will allow you to speak confidently with foreigners.

Place of preposition in a sentence

1) A preposition always comes before a noun or pronoun (there are exceptions, which we will consider later). Accordingly, if a noun has an addition, then a preposition is placed before this addition:

I am looking at my cat I'm watching on my cat

I am looking at my fat cat I'm watching on my fat cat

But here is the exception mentioned above: the preposition is placed at the end of the sentence - after the verb, or if there is an object - after the object in the following cases:

1) In the so-called indirect and direct questions. In such questions, the preposition refers to the pronouns which, who, what, whom or the adverb where. But also a preposition can come before a question word:

What did you look for when choosing a girlfriend? – What do you look for (what do you pay attention to) when choosing a girlfriend?

Who did Monica speak to? - Who was Monica talking to?

2) In subordinate clauses. In such sentences, the preposition refers to the relative pronoun. However, a preposition can also be placed before a relative pronoun:

The flat which she lives in is very small (The flat in which she lives is very small) – Apartment, V where she lives, very small

3) In passive phrases (passive). In such phrases, the subject corresponds to the prepositional indirect object of the parallel active phrase:

The police was sent for - For the police sent

4) In infinitive phrases:

I don't have a photo camera to photograph with - I don't have a camera with which I could take photographs.

So, the theory ends there. How could you see correct application Prepositions in English require knowledge of not only the rules, but also replenishment of vocabulary. After all, prepositions are used in set phrases that just need to be learned. This may take a long time, but using prepositions in English is... the most important topic which will help you achieve results.