Prepositional phrases

Let's start this lesson small.

Prepositions are small words that do a very important job.

There are over 100 prepositions in English. They include words like:

• In
• On
• Under
• By
• To
• After
• Before
• Since
• Of
• For

Here's a quick example:

Prepositions usually appear as single words, but sometimes we combine them with other words to create groups that can function as a single preposition. Here are a few examples:

• Ahead of
• On top of
• In front of
• Instead of
• Near to
• In time for
• As well as

For simplicity's sake, we're not going to distinguish between one-word and multi-word prepositions—we'll label them all prepositions.

Here's another example:

Can you guess what we use prepositions for?

We use them to communicate all sorts of important information:

• Where things are
• Where and when things happen
• As well as how, why, and in what way things happen

So the point is: prepositions are small, but super useful.

You probably use prepositions all the time without even thinking about it. Have a go now! Write any sentence you want using the preposition 'in front of'.