Prepositions

We’ve talked about prepositions in the past: in, on, at, for, to…..

ESL students know how frustrating it can be to figure out which preposition to use in different situations:

I’ll meet you at 5 o’clock in the afternoon, on Monday the 27^th of March, in the café next to the bank.

You might remember that a preposition can change the meaning of a phrase. Think about the difference between the following phrases:

Look at me, I’m flying!
I’m looking for my keys. I lost them yesterday.
My accountant told me about a new investment scheme that I should look into.
I have to go to the bank. Can you look after my kids till I get back?
I look up to my brother. I want to be just like him when I grow up.

If you’re a Hebrew speaker then you’ll notice that each phrase has a completely different Hebrew translation, even though they are all variations of the word “look”.

Another confusing thing about prepositions is what happens when we add an object to a verb. In some cases a preposition will come between the verb and the object and in other cases, the object will come directly after the verb:

Eat something! (No preposition)
We are going to the park. (Preposition between verb and object)

Let’s look at some examples in which adding a preposition changes the meaning of a phrase in comparison to the same word being used without a preposition:

I believe you. (no preposition)
I believe in you (preposition changes the meaning of the phrase)
I stopped smoking (no preposition)
I stopped to smoke (preposition changes meaning of the phrase)
He got the money (no preposition)
He got in the door (preposition changes meaning of the phrase)
He broke his own record. (no preposition)
She broke into the house during the night to steal the jewels. (preposition changes meaning of the phrase)

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