Prepositions

Identify prepositions.
Objectives
Recognize prepositional phrases, objects of
prepositions, and compound prepositions.
Differentiate between infinitive phrases and
prepositional phrases.

continued
Business English at Work PP 14-1a
 Prepositions

continued
Recognize the functions of prepositional
Objectives
phrases as adjectives and adverbs.
Determine inclusion, exclusion, and
placement of prepositions.

continued
Business English at Work PP 14-1b
 Prepositions

continued
Differentiate between commonly confused
prepositions. Objectives
Use the correct idiomatic prepositional
combinations.

Business English at Work PP 14-1c

 Prepositions

Use of Prepositions
Use a preposition to connect the object of the
preposition (noun or pronoun) to another word or
set of words in a sentence.
Our manager recognizes our strengths and compensates for
our weaknesses.
Top executives spend approximately 90 percent of their time
with others.
The need for constant approval at work can be
counterproductive.

Business English at Work PP 14-2

 Prepositions

Common Prepositions
about behind during on throughout

above below except onto to

across beneath for opposite toward

after beside from out under

against besides in outside underneath

Business English at Work PP 14-3

 Prepositions

Compound Prepositions
A compound preposition consists of a combination of
words that is often considered as one preposition and
connects the object of a preposition to another word or
set of words.
Examples
according to in place of ahead of
in regard to along with in spite of
apart from instead of because of
by means of in front of out of
Business English at Work PP 14-4a
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continued
Compound Prepositions
Examples
I gave the company tour on behalf of my manager.
In addition to Sara, we have five vice presidents in our
company.
Because of my positive attitude, Mary chose me as
group leader.

Business English at Work PP 14-4b

 Prepositions

Infinitive Phrases/
Prepositional Phrases
An infinitive phrase consists of the word to followed
by a verb.
A leader has to dramatize a vision for his or her
organization.
Employers need to build the trust of their employees.
No verb appears in a prepositional phrase.
Leaders set high goals and objectives for themselves.

Business English at Work PP 14-5

 Prepositions

Prepositions and Adverbs

The words by, through, and in can be used as
adverbs without objects. When these same words
take objects, they are prepositions.
Casual Fridays are in. (In is an adverb that answers the
question Where? No object follows the word in.)

Causal Friday dress is described in the company

handbook. (In is a preposition. In this sentence, it takes
the object handbook.)

Business English at Work PP 14-6

 Prepositions

Objects of Prepositions and Pronouns

Use the objective case of a pronoun as the object
of a preposition.
Objective Case
her him you me us them it whom

We awarded the Web design project to them.

Between you and me, I prefer working in the
accounting department.

Business English at Work PP 14-7

 Prepositions

Adverb Functions
Use a prepositional phrase as an adverb to
modify a verb, an adjective, or another adverb.
A leader assists in problem solving.
A motivated employee completes all
assignments with enthusiasm.

Business English at Work PP 14-9

 Prepositions

General Placement
Avoid ending a sentence with a preposition.
Place a preposition before its object in the
majority of sentences.
Avoid
We did not know the appointments he was scheduled for.
Revised
We did not know the appointments for which he was
scheduled.
Business English at Work PP 14-10a
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continued
General Placement
Examples
Avoid
Some of the technology jargon is difficult to relate to.
Revised
I find it difficult to relate to some of the technology jargon.

Business English at Work PP 14-10b

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Inclusion of Necessary Prepositions

Do not omit a preposition when it is needed.
The cancelled flight prevented Lynn from going to
the leadership seminar.
Use separate prepositions when words cannot
be related to one object by the same
preposition.
Doug has knowledge of and experience with
various management techniques.
Business English at Work PP 14-11
 Prepositions

Omission of Unnecessary
Prepositions
Omit prepositions that do not add clarity to the meaning of
a sentence.
Our international headquarters are near the San Francisco airport.
(Do not use near to the San Francisco airport.)
Do not repeat a preposition in a sentence if phrases make
sense by using the same preposition.
Our president speaks at national and international leadership
seminars. (The preposition at does not need to be repeated before
national and international since the same preposition applies to both
phrases.)
Business English at Work PP 14-12
 Prepositions

Beside/Besides
Use beside as a preposition to mean “by the
side of” or “not connected with something.”
Marry usually sits beside me during management
staff meetings.
Use besides as a preposition to mean “in
addition to” or “other than.”
Besides Marry, the manager promoted Joyce and
Bob.
Business English at Work PP 14-13
 Prepositions

Among/Between
Use between to refer to two persons, places,
activities, ideas, things, or qualities.
Our manager distributed the work between the
two programmers.
Use among to refer to more than two persons,
places, activities, ideas, things, or qualities.
I was among those who voted for Ali as the team
leader.
Business English at Work PP 14-14
 Prepositions

Different From
Use the word different followed by the
preposition from when from connects an
object to another word or set of words in a
sentence.
The latest sales figures are different from what I
expected.
Marion’s leadership style is quite different from
mine.
Business English at Work PP 14-15
 Prepositions

Like/As
Use like to mean “similarly to” or “resembling.”
Do not use a verb after the preposition like.
Do not use like to join clauses.
Stacy handles her responsibilities like a true leader.
We are looking for a manager with leadership
characteristics like Gordon’s.
Use the conjunction as or as if to join clauses.
Stacy acts as if she wants to be a leader.
This schedule looks as if it were hastily developed.
Business English at Work PP 14-16
 Prepositions

Off/From
Do not use off of in prepositional phrases.
Roger was positive that Edward took the production
results off his desk. (Do not use off of his desk.)
Do not substitute off for from in certain
phrases.
Lorraine borrowed paper from Erica during the meeting.
(Do not use off Erica as the prepositional phrase.)

Business English at Work PP 14-17

 Prepositions

In/Into
Use in to indicate a “location or position within
a place.”
Please place your self-evaluation form in my mailbox.
Use into to indicate “movement or direction
from outside to inside” or a “change of
condition or form.”
Please step into my office to discuss your concerns.
We divided the report into three sections.

Business English at Work PP 14-18

 Prepositions

To/Too/Two
Use the preposition to to indicate “toward.”
Please e-mail this message to all the other managers.
Use to as an infinitive or as a part of an
infinitive phrase.
She plans to promote Gale next month.
Use too as an adverb to indicate an
“excessive amount” or “also.”
The president made the hiring decision too quickly.
Our company is moving to Peshawar too.
Business English at Work PP 14-19a
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continued
To/Too/Two
Use two to indicate the number.
We have two outstanding candidates for the R.B.
Rutledge Leadership Award this year.
The selection committee chose two candidates for
the president to interview.

Business English at Work PP 14-19b

 Prepositions

Identification of
Idiomatic Expressions
An idiom refers to an expression that has
evolved from general usage through the years
but which has no established rule for this
usage.
Many idioms involve a verb and preposition
combination.

Business English at Work PP 14-20

 Prepositions

Accompanied by/
Accompanied by or with
accompanied by (a person)
accompanied by or (an item)
with
Wesley is accompanied by an interpreter on his trips to
Japan.
Jan’s leadership award was accompanied with a check
for $500.
Business English at Work PP 14-20
 Prepositions

Adapted from/Adapted to
adapted from (taken from another
source)
adapted to (adjusted to)

Our performance evaluation is adapted from a

computer software program that Leon purchased.
The new manager soon adapted to our
company’s culture.
Business English at Work PP 14-22
 Prepositions

Agree in/Agree on/

Agree with
agree in (principle)
agree on (plan)
agree with (a person)
Oscar agreed in principle with the plan for the new building.
The staff agreed on the need to lengthen our customer service hours.
The managers agreed with the employees about replacing the copy
machine.

Business English at Work PP 14-23

 Prepositions

Angry at/Angry about/Angry with

angry at, angry about (a situation)

angry with (person)

Bill is angry about our outdated e-mail system.

My manager was angry with Lucy for not
regulating Internet usage in her department.

Business English at Work PP 14-24

 Prepositions

Argue about/Argue for/Argue with

argue about (situation)
argue for (something)
argue with (person)
Several employees argued about the evaluation system.
Our manager argued for decision-making software.
Sometimes I argue with Richard.

Business English at Work PP 14-25

 Prepositions

Arrive at/Arrive by/Arrive in

arrive at (time, specific location,
conclusion)
arrive by (type of transport)
arrive in (general location)
She will arrive at 6 p.m.
They plan to arrive by train.
Peggy plans to arrive in St. Louis by Monday.

Business English at Work PP 14-26

 Prepositions

Enter in or on/Enter into

enter in or on (record)

enter into (agreement)

Our receptionist enters every visitor’s name and address

in a log book.
The union and the managers entered into a binding
arbitration agreement.

Business English at Work PP 14-29

 Prepositions

Live at/Live in/Live on

live at (address, place)
live in (area)
live on (street, amount)
We decided that those lawyers must live at their offices.
Most federal workers live in the Washington, D.C. area.
I could not live on the salary that they offered me during
the interview.

Business English at Work PP 14-30

 Prepositions

Talk about/Talk for

talk about (something)
talk for (time period)

Lorraine did not want to talk about her salary.

The manager talked for an hour about the reorganization
plans.

Business English at Work PP 14-32

 Prepositions

Talk to/Talk with

talk to (tell something to someone or to
an audience)
talk with (converse with an individual or
small group)
Have you talked to your coworkers about your concerns?
Loretta and I talked with our manager about job sharing.

Business English at Work PP 14-33

 Prepositions

Wait at/Wait for/Wait on

wait at (location)
wait for (person, thing)
wait on (customer)
Please wait at the front door for a security clearance.
We waited for our manager’s response to the scheduling
problem.
Waiting on a customer is always a first priority for us.

Business English at Work PP 14-34