Skip to Content

  • Home
  • Study
  • Student life
  • Research
  • About
  • Contact us
Go to the Massey University home page

Massey University

Library | Alumni Portal | Staffroom | MyMassey
Massey University > OWLL > Academic writing > Editing and proofreading > Prepositions

OWLL

  • About OWLL
    • FAQ
    • Search OWLL
    • Contact us
    • Handouts (Printable)
    • Pre-reading Service
    • Workshops
      • StudyUp
      • StudyUp Recordings
      • StudyUp Postgraduate
    • Videos
    • Site map
  • Academic writing
    • Intro to academic writing
      • What is academic writing?
      • Writing objectively
      • Writing concisely
      • 1st vs. 3rd person
      • Inclusive language
      • Te Reo Māori
    • Assignment planning
      • Assignment planning calculator
      • Interpreting the assignment question
      • Command words
      • Organising points
    • Researching
      • Identifying academic sources
      • Evaluating source quality
    • Editing & proofreading
      • Apostrophes
      • Commas
      • Other punctuation
      • Active voice
      • American vs. British spelling
      • Articles
      • Conditionals
      • Prepositions
      • Pronoun Reference
      • Sentence fragments
      • Sentence Structure
      • Subject-verb agreement
      • Verb tense
      • Formatting and layout
      • Word limits and assignment length
      • Commonly confused words
    • How assignments are marked
      • Marking guides
      • Getting an A
      • Levels of assessment
      • Using feedback
    • Professional emails
    • Forum posts
      • Forum netiquette guidelines
      • Sharing personal information
      • Writing about personal experiences
  • Assignment types
    • Essay
      • What is an essay?
      • Essay planning and structure
      • Introduction
      • Thesis statement
      • Body paragraphs
      • Essay flow
      • Conclusion
      • Essay revision
      • Essay writing resources
    • Report
      • What is a report?
      • Report structure
      • Analysing issues for a report
    • Business report
      • What is a business report?
      • Business report structure
      • Inductive vs. deductive reports
      • Other kinds of business communication
      • Business report writing resources
      • Business report format and layout
    • Lab report
      • What is a lab report?
      • Lab report structure
      • Science lab report writing resources
      • Psychology lab report writing resources
      • Lab report body paragraphs
    • Literature review
      • What is a literature review?
      • Writing a literature review
      • Literature review structure
      • Literature review writing resources
    • Research proposal
      • Writing a research proposal
      • Research proposal structure
    • Other types
      • Article critique
      • Book review
      • Annotated bibliography
      • Reflective writing
      • Oral presentation
      • Abstract
      • Thesis / dissertation
      • Article / conference paper
      • Shorter responses
      • Group work
  • Computer skills
    • Microsoft Word
      • Basic formatting
      • Images, tables, & figures
      • Long documents
    • Microsoft Excel
      • Basic spreadsheets
      • Navigating & printing spreadsheets
      • Charts / graphs & formulas
    • Microsoft PowerPoint
      • Basic skills
      • Advanced skills
    • Stream
  • Distance study
    • Getting started
    • How to study
    • Online study techniques
    • Distance support
  • ESOL study
    • Reading & writing
      • Reading strategies
      • Writing strategies
      • Grammar resources
    • Listening & speaking
      • Listening strategies
      • Speaking strategies
  • Maths & statistics
    • Arithmetic
    • Algebra
    • Calculus
    • Trigonometry
    • Statistics
    • Finance formulas
  • Postgraduate study
    • Intro to postgrad study
      • Planning postgrad study
      • Postgrad resources
    • Postgrad assignment types
  • Referencing
    • Intro to referencing
      • What is referencing?
      • Why reference?
      • Plagiarism
      • Turnitin
      • Common knowledge
      • Referencing styles
      • What type of source is this?
      • Reference list vs. bibliography
      • Referencing software
    • Quoting & paraphrasing
      • Quoting
      • Paraphrasing & summarising
      • Paraphrasing techniques
    • APA style
      • APA Interactive
      • In-text citation
      • Reference list
      • Books
      • Journals
      • Online material
      • Other material
      • Headings in APA
      • Tables and Figures
      • Referencing elements
      • 5th vs. 6th edition
      • 6th vs. 7th edition
    • Chicago style
      • Chicago Interactive
      • About notes system
      • Books
      • Journals
      • Online material
      • Other material
      • Notes referencing elements
      • Quoting and paraphrasing
      • Author-date system
    • MLA style
      • MLA Interactive
      • Abbreviations
      • In-text citation
      • List of works cited
      • Books
      • Journals
      • Online material
      • Other material
      • Referencing elements
      • Captions for images
      • 8th vs 9th edition
    • Footnotes
      • Oxford style
      • Chicago style
    • Other styles
      • Harvard style
      • Vancouver style
      • Legal citations
      • Visual material
      • NZVJ style
  • Sample assignments
    • Sample essay 1
    • Sample essay 2
    • Sample annotated bibliography
    • Sample book review
  • Study skills
    • Time management
      • Intro to time management
      • Procrastination & perfectionism
      • Goals & motivation
      • Time management for internal students
      • Time management for distance students
    • Memory skills
      • Principles of good memory
      • Memory strategies
    • Note-taking
      • Note-taking methods
      • Mind maps
      • Note-taking in lectures
      • Note-taking while reading
      • Digital note-taking
    • Reading
      • Reading styles
      • Skimming
      • Scanning
      • In-depth reading
      • Reading comprehension
      • Reading academic material
      • Reading a journal article
      • Reading an academic book
    • Critical thinking
      • What is critical thinking?
      • Constructing an argument
      • Critical reading
      • Logical fallacies
  • Tests & exams
    • Exam & test study
      • Planning exam study
      • Gathering & sorting information
      • Reviewing past exams
      • Phases of revision
      • Last-minute study strategies
    • Question types
      • Essay
      • Short answer
      • Multi-choice
      • Problem / computational
      • Case-study / scenario
      • Oral
      • Open book exam
      • Open web exam or test
      • Take home test
    • In the exam
      • Online exam
      • Physical exam

Prepositions

In English, there are around 150 prepositions. Prepositions are typically used before a noun, pronoun or noun phrase to indicate a relationship in space or time. They are also used to signal a relationship between people or objects. For more information on prepositions of direction, time and place see:

https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/writingcenter/grammar/prepositions

Prepositions can also combine with a noun, verb or adjective to form a prepositional phrase. Prepositional phrases in English fall into two categories:

1. Adverbial phrases

Adverbial phrases are prepositional phrases that modify the meaning of a verb. For example: ‘On behalf of Massey University, I would like to thank you for visiting this page’.

2. Adjectival phrases.

Adjectival phrases are prepositional phrases that modify the meaning of a noun. For example: ‘In answer to your question, the aspect of English grammar that learners often find most difficult is preposition usage’.

It is generally not necessary to know whether a prepositional phrase is functioning in an adverbial or an adjectival way. To gain familiarity with how prepositional phrases are used within sentences, it is important to read and listen to a wide variety of materials in English. Prepositional phrases are often highly idiomatic. For this reason, there are few clear rules and it is best to learn these phrases as ‘word packages’ (i.e. the key word together with its accompanying preposition/s).

A sentence may sound ‘wordy’ if it contains too many prepositional phrases. For example: ‘In my opinion, in addition to communicating an idea clearly, a sentence should, in theory, aim at using as few words as possible, because wordiness can result in the reader experiencing confusion about the writer’s argument, as a result of which the plausibility of that argument may be reduced.’

This could be rewritten as follows: ‘A sentence should communicate an idea in as few words as possible, because wordiness may confuse the reader and reduce the plausibility of the writer’s argument’.

 

The four tables below include some of the more common prepositional phrases used in academic writing. These phrases have been categorized according to whether their key word is a noun, verb or adjective.

NOUNS + PREPOSITIONS
access to insight into
in accordance with for instance
on account of intention of
addiction to interaction between
in addition to of interest to
advantage/disadvantage of justification for
in agreement with knowledge of
alternative to lack of
in answer to lecture on
argument about (a topic) for/against (a viewpoint) at length
aspect of limitation of
attack on method of
attitude to in my opinion
on behalf of opinion of (a person)/about (something)
belief in in order to
cause of participation in
comparison between partnership between
in comparison with perspective on
in conclusion in practice
in connection with preference for
connection between prelude to
on condition (that) proof of
confusion about purpose of (something)/in (doing something)
in contrast to reaction to
criteria for reason for
decrease in recovery from
delay in reduction in
demand for as regards
dependence on in regard to
deviation from with regard to
difference between (two objects) of (opinion) report on
distinction between with respect to
in doubt responsibility for
effect of (climate change) rise in
effect on (the environment) scope for
example of solution to
for example strategy for
experience of (doing something)/in (the area of…) success in
implication of in theory
importance of theory of
increase/decrease in thesis on/about
information about understanding of

 

VERBS + PREPOSITIONS
(including common phrasal verbs used in academic writing)*
to add to to differ from
to adhere to to impact on
to agree with (an idea) to (do something) to interfere with (something)/in (a matter)
to aim at (finishing a project)/for (a target) to object to
to allow for to prepare for (an exam) to (do something)
to apply for (a job)/to (all first-year students) to present (somebody) with (something)
to approve of to prevent (somebody) from (doing something)
to argue with (someone)/about (a topic) for (an idea) against (an idea) to protest about
to choose between to provide (somebody) with (something)
to comment on to react to
to compare with to refer to
to concentrate on to relate to
to conform to to result in
to consent to to stand for
to consist of to succeed in
to decide on (a plan) to (do something) to think of/about
to depend on  

*For the differences between prepositional verbs and phrasal verbs, see: https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2020/01/29/let-down-and-look-after-the-difference-between-phrasal-verbs-and-prepositional-verbs/

 

VERBS + NO PREPOSITION
to affect to hinder
to approach to influence
to assess to inhabit
to avoid to investigate
to comprise to lack
to consider to oppose
to discuss to request
to effect to resemble
to emphasize to seek
to equal to source

 

ADJECTIVES + PREPOSITIONS
absent from essential to
according to excluded by (an object /person) /from (a group)
accustomed/unaccustomed to familiar with
advantageous/disadvantageous for harmful to
associated with interested in
aware/unaware of involved in
based on opposed to
beneficial to popular with/among (a group of people)
in brief prior to
capable/incapable of responsible for
characteristic/uncharacteristic of satisfied/dissatisfied with
composed of sensitive to/towards
concerned with (a matter)/concerned about (a person) serious about
consistent with similar to
detrimental for suitable for
devoid of sympathetic towards
different from typical of

 

References and further reading

Swan, M. (2009). Practical English Usage (3rd ed.). Oxford University Press

Traffis, C. (2020). What is a prepositional phrase? Grammarly blog. https://www.grammarly.com/blog/prepositional-phrase/

Page authorised by Director - Centre for Learner Success
Last updated on 17 April, 2020

Academic Q+A

Have a study or assignment writing question? Ask an expert at Academic Q+A

Live online workshops

  • StudyUp (undergraduate)
  • StudyUp Postgraduate
  • Library

Campus workshops

  • Campus workshops
  • 0800 MASSEY | (+64 6 350 5701)
  • TXT 5222
  • contact@massey.ac.nz
  • Web chat
  • Online form
Massey University
Private Bag 11 222
Palmerston North
4442
New Zealand
Site map | A-Z index | Disclaimer | Privacy
Copyright © 1998 - 2010 Massey University. All rights reserved.