preposition

¹ American  

[prep-uh-zish-uhn] / ˌprɛp əˈzɪʃ ən /

noun

Grammar.

prepositions plural

1. any member of a class of words found in many languages that are used before nouns, pronouns, or other substantives to form phrases functioning as modifiers of verbs, nouns, or adjectives, and that typically express a spatial, temporal, or other relationship, as in, on, by, to, since.

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preposition ² American  

[pree-puh-zish-uhn] / ˌpri pəˈzɪʃ ən /

Or pre-position

verb (used with object)

1. to position in advance or beforehand.

   to preposition troops in anticipated trouble spots.

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preposition British  

/ ˌprɛpəˈzɪʃən /

noun

1.  prep.  a word or group of words used before a noun or pronoun to relate it grammatically or semantically to some other constituent of a sentence

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preposition Cultural  

1. A part of speech that indicates the relationship, often spatial, of one word to another. For example, “She paused at the gate”; “This tomato is ripe for picking”; and “They talked the matter over head to head.” Some common prepositions are at, by, for, from, in, into, on, to, and with.

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Grammar

The often heard but misleading “rule” that a sentence should not end with a preposition is transferred from Latin, where it is an accurate description of practice. But English grammar is different from Latin grammar, and the rule does not fit English. In speech, the final preposition is normal and idiomatic, especially in questions: What are we waiting for? Where did he come from? You didn't tell me which floor you worked on. In writing, the problem of placing the preposition arises most when a sentence ends with a relative clause in which the relative pronoun ( that; whom; which; whomever; whichever; whomsoever ) is the object of a preposition. In edited writing, especially more formal writing, when a pronoun other than that introduces a final relative clause, the preposition usually precedes its object: He abandoned the project to which he had devoted his whole life. I finally telephoned the representative with whom I had been corresponding. If the pronoun is that, which cannot be preceded by a preposition, or if the pronoun is omitted, then the preposition must occur at the end: The librarian found the books that the child had scribbled in. There is the woman he spoke of.

Usage

What is a preposition? Prepositions are a category of words that are placed before nouns and pronouns to create phrases that modify nouns, verbs, or adjectives. A preposition is the first part of a prepositional phrase. The preposition is followed by an object, such as a noun or pronoun, as in outside the house. Prepositional phrases indicate a relationship between words in a sentence. For example, in I exercised after dinner, after is the preposition in the prepositional phrase after dinner. Together, after and dinner tell you more about (modify) the verb exercised. They tell you when I exercised. Prepositions and prepositional phrases are used to begin phrases that modify nouns, verbs, and adjectives. While they often follow the words they modify, but they have to, Before supper, I washed my hands. Before is modifying washed, describing when I washed my hands.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonprepositional
  adjective
• prepositional
  adjective
• quasi-prepositional
  adjective
• nonprepositionally
  adverb
• prepositionally
  adverb
• quasi-prepositionally
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• prepositions
  plural

Etymology

Origin of preposition¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English preposicioun, from Latin praepositiōn-, stem of praepositiō “a putting before, a prefix, preposition”; see pre-, position

Origin of preposition²

First recorded in 1960–65; pre- + position

Explanation

A preposition is the part of speech that shows a relationship between words. Think of “anywhere a cat can go.” A cat can go “under” the table, “on” the bed, or “out” the door. Looking for a cat? Use a preposition. In the sentence "The car went careening into the ditch," the preposition is into: it's the word that points to the noun. "We love to chase kids around the carnival in our scary clown costumes" has two prepositions, around and in. They tell you where things are happening. The most common prepositions are of, to, in, for, on, with, as, by, at, and from.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

preposition prepositions

Sometimes they arrive disguised as an argument over a single preposition.

From Slate ● Jun. 26, 2026

We realized pretty quickly, though, that we had a preposition problem.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 8, 2026

AI systems are increasingly used to predict order density by neighborhood and time of day, allowing companies to preposition inventory closer to consumers and reduce redundant trips.

From Barron's ● Feb. 1, 2026

The city’s fire department said it is planning to preposition resources throughout the city and has added a new crew of 26 full-time firefighters focused on wildfires.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2025

“I think it’s zde. If you use that, you won’t need a preposition, except the epi if they’re going to war. It implies ‘Carthage-ward,’ so you won’t have to worry about a case, either.”

From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt

In a decade of crossing and re-crossing, Papi treated the border and the fences that demarcated it like an exercise in prepositions: He went around it, through it, above it, below it, past it.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2024

These are the small, common words such as prepositions, pronouns and conjunctions that have little content in themselves but hold a sentence together.

From Washington Post ● Apr. 7, 2022

Pronouns are one of the eight main parts of speech, the others being nouns, verbs, adverbs, adjectives, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections.

From Textbooks ● Dec. 21, 2021

More startling still, Alter has taken advantage of another ambiguity in the Hebrew’s prepositions and has Sarah directly say that her society is not laughing with but at her.

From New York Times ● Dec. 20, 2018

As we saw in chapter 4, many prepositions, such as after and before, take either one, so the question of whether like is a conjunction is a red herring.

From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker