How can we define the rules for placing a preposition in a sentence? Before a noun? After a verb? One of the additions to the second edition of Word Order in English Sentences is a guide to prepositions. Though they are often connected to other parts of a sentence, such as noun phrases, and often have specific or flexible rules, like adverbs, prepositions have some general rules that can help with understanding how they fit into a sentence, explained in detail below.
Where a prepositions placed in a sentence?
Usually, prepositions connect things to other sentence components – objects, ideas, anything typically created by a noun phrase. As such, they usually come before a noun.
- There was a spider on her back.
- It was cold at the top of the hill.
- They met in the old barn.
As a general rule, the preposition should come directly before its complement. This means the preposition is essentially part of its noun phrase, and can be moved as part of a noun phrase.
- We had coffee on the beach. OR On the beach, we had coffee.
- There was mud in my eyes. In my eyes!
- The young squirrel buried her nuts under a pile of leaves last autumn. I looked under the pile of leaves. Under the pile of leaves there were nuts.
Note that because the preposition shows a connection, if you replace the rest of a noun phrase with a pronoun you still need the preposition:
- Under the pile of leaves. becomes Under it.
Prepositions do not always move with their complement, however, and can be found at the end of a clause. This is more typical in informal language.
- This is the book I was looking for.
- Who would you like to talk to?
- I don’t know what that film was about.
There are four main situations where this happens, question words, passive structures, relative clauses, and infinitives, which are covered below.
Prepositions in Questions
Questions formed with question words, where the question word replaces the object of the preposition, often have the preposition at the end of the clause.
- Where did they go to?
- Who are you talking about?
- When are you staying until?
- How much did you buy that for?
This also happens with indirect questions.
- I don’t know where we are going to.
- It was unclear who they were talking about.
Questions can also be formed with only a question word and preposition, when the verb is understood. In this case, the preposition normally comes after the question word, but can often be reversed:
- Where to? / To where?
- What with? / With what?
- How much for? / For how much?
In formal language, prepositions are often placed further forwards in questions, coming before the question word.
- For whom was this dinner made?
- About which opera are you talking?
This is less common and can sound quite unnatural, and with some question forms (such as what…for and where…to) it is especially uncommon.
Prepositions in Passive Structures
In passive structures, the preposition stays with the verb.
- He stayed in the hotel. The hotel was stayed in.
- They fell on the mat. The mat was fallen on.
If you create a passive structure from an active structure and keep the original subject (as an object), it will follow the preposition.
- My father walked on the hill. The hill was walked on by my father.
Even in formal language, in passive structures prepositions stay with verbs.
- The lady was spoken about in hushed tones. (NOT The lady about which was spoken…)
Prepositions in Relative Clauses
Prepositions normally go at the end of a relative clause.
- That’s the girl I danced with.
- I found the book I was looking for.
This may be considered informal. In formal use, the preposition can come earlier, before a relative pronoun.
- That’s the girl with whom I danced.
- I found the book for which I was looking.
As with formal questions, this use is less common.
Prepositions in Infinitive Structures
When infinitives are used as complements, for example following stative verbs (to be), they can be followed by a preposition.
- She was not prepared to swim on.
- The king is a delightful man to talk with.
Placing the preposition before an infinitive structure is very formal.
- The king is a delightful man with whom to talk.
This guide has been taken from my grammar book, Word Order in English Sentences – if you’d like to learn more about the components of English sentences and how they fit together structurally, check out the rest of the book!
Hi phil .
The sentence “ the daughter of the lady with whom she had an argument with “ is that the same as saying “ the daughter of the lady who she went to school with “ .
Hi Mary, grammatically yes but you’ve got different details. “the daughter of the lady with whom she went to school” = “the daughter of the lady who she went to school with”
Hi !
Is it correct to say : Next to the mirror I have two washing machines.
Hi Monica,
Yes you can say that, though typically with a comma if we write it “Next to the mirror, I have two washing machines.” The usual way to say it would be “I have two washing machines next to the mirror.”, though.
Hello! Is there a precise rule for word order in relative clauses with prepositions where there are also object, place and time phrases?
Examples: The girl (who) I lent some money to at the restaurant last week is my cousin. Here the order is object + preposition +place + time. But in “The girl I went to the restaurant with last week is my cousin”, the order is place + preposition + time.
Thank you in advance!
Is there a precise word order in relative clauses with prepositions where there are also object, place and time phrases?
Examples: The girl I lent some money to at the restaurant last week is my cousin. object + preposition + place + time
The girl I went to the cinema with last week is my cousin. Place + preposition + time. Does the word order depend on the type of verb?
Hi Miranda,
With relative clauses I’d say the clearest way to look at it is to put the most important information closest to the thing it defines; the prepositions create relationships between the sentence components here, so their position will depend on the context of the sentence. With “The girl who I lent some money to”, “to lend + to” answers “Who did you lend money to?”, whereas with “The girl I went to the cinema with”, “went + to” answers “Where did you go?” So in these two examples we’re not so much looking at the prepositional phrase and place changing position, as looking at which prepositional phrase fits the verb. I hope this makes sense?
He is sitting with his friend on the mat in the terrace in the corner of the railing of the old house. Or
He is sitting on the mat with his friend in the terrace in the corner of the railing of the old house.
Is there any format of word order of preposition as the word order of adjectives like: quantity, opinion, size, age, color, shape, origin, material and purpose.
Hi Bijay,
Unfortunately, I think this is an area that will really depend on the context of a sentence, as exactly how the different nouns in a sentence relate to each other will dictate how we will most clearly understand their relationships. In your example, that order doesn’t really make any difference, but it will matter more in sentences where the different order of relationships can change understanding; it won’t necessarily be correct or incorrect, merely lead to a different understanding of the situation.
Phil
Hi Phil,
Some queries on prepositions:
(a) Do the prepositions always team up with objects to form prepositional phrases that act as adjectives or adverbs in sentences?
(b) I’ve also heard it explained that prepositions help link nouns/pronouns which are the objects of the prepositions, to other words in a sentences. Just to confirm that this definition gels with that of (a) in that prepositions link their objects to other words in a sentence by functioning collectively with their objects to act as a phrase (i.e. prepositional phrase) which acts as an adjective or adverb to modify other parts of a sentence?
(c) Is it possible for prepositions to work as prepositions in sentences, without taking any objects?
(d) Do the objects of prepositions always come after the prepositions? possible for the objects to come before the prepositions?
(e) is it right to call a prepositional phrase an adjective phrase or adverbial phrase simply because they serve as adjectives or adverbs in a sentence? My point being that shouldn’t we instead reserve the term adjective phrase only for phrases that comprise an adjective with its modifiers rather than a prepositional phrase that serves as an adjective? Same question applies to adverbial phrase.
(f) also, objects of prepositions that happen to be pronouns must be in the objective case right? So in this case, is it right to say “Should people speak to she and I? Should they speak to me and her? Or should they speak to she and me?” – which is right?
Thanks much!
Regards,
Shizuka
Hi Shizuka,
Sorry I’ve been slow on replying to this one – these are probably questions that would be worthy a more extensive prepositions post in themselves. But in short, I don’t think I would say prepositional phrases act as adjectives/adverbs as their purpose and placement is different. Prepositional phrases typically describe relationships between nouns, for instance describing purpose or position, rather than as describing words (making your explanation for b more accurate).
For c, I think you’ll typically have an object to connect a preposition with; even when we have an unknown, it will have a question word or an indicator of an unknown (like “something”, “somewhere”) to connect to. I can’t think of an example where that wouldn’t be true, but then there are always exceptions…
For d), well in English anything is possible, regional uses may mix things up, and it’s quite common now in everyday use (though it used to be very frowned upon) to end a sentence with a preposition, where the object comes earlier. This usually happens in questions or relative clauses, for example, “the people I was working with” or “What are you writing on?”
e) again as I’ve said above, I’m not sure why you’d want to compare prepositional phrases with adjectives and adverbials, as their purposes are rather different
f) Yes, the object case should be used, so your correct option is ‘speak to me and her’.
Hope this helps!
Phil
Hi Phil! Are both of the following sentences correct? “I always play witn my friends in the park” and ” I always play in the park with my friends”. I think they are correct because both prepositional phrases are modifying the verb “play”, but I am not sure…
thank you in advance
Hi Ana,
They are both correct, with prepositional phrases like this there’s no real order to stick to, but it can depend on what we want to emphasise. To be honest, I started to write an explanation that would show why we might lead with one and not the other, but I think it would be more confusing than helpful, because in reality unless we wish to frame things in a specific way (e.g. we are particularly responding to “Who do you play in the park with?” – “I play in the park with my friends”; even here the order isn’t necessary) then really it is not important which way round they go.
There are some areas with prepositional phrases where this will matter more than others, but not in this instance!
Best,
Phil
Thank you very much!
Please sir answer me
What’s the difference between these two sentences:
1) I played football with my friends in the playground.
2) I lived at home with my parents to save money.
Why in the first sentence we put( with my friends) first
And in the second sentence we put (with my parents) right after the PP( at home) ?
What’s the order we should follow to organize multiple PPs in a sentence
Am confused