What is a preposition?

A preposition is a grammatical term for a word that shows a relationship between items in a sentence, usually indicating direction, time, place, position, or exclusion.

Commonly used prepositions are "in," "on," "of," "to," "from," "at," and "with," though there are multiple other prepositions in the English language.

Prepositions connect words together into what is called a prepositional phrase. A prepositional phrase always has a noun (person, place, thing, or idea) after the preposition. Here are a few examples of prepositional phrases italicized below:

Example: The researcher went into the school to perform the research.

Example: He always sits at the corner booth.

Example: She is from Norway, and came with her family to the United States.

This last example has three prepositional phrases in one sentence.

Additional Resources:

• Take a look at other Writing Center webpage on prepositions for other examples.
• Test your grammar knowledge with various online grammar quizzes or explore a self-paced grammar module.
• Review the Writing Center’s other grammar resources.

Further Questions?

Would you like a current or future assignment to be reviewed by the Writing Center? If so please visit the Writing Center's Paper Reviews webpage and make an appointment with us!

Do you have other general writing questions? Ask OASIS.

Other questions about your doctoral capstone or the form and style review? Email the form and style editors at [email protected].

Want to peruse other writing resources? Go to the Writing Center’s home page.