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English, like Russian, has two groups of parts of speech: independent and auxiliary. The service ones include , particles, modal words, exclamations and ( prepositions). Prepositions are the focus of this article. You will find out what are the prepositions in English language and how to apply them correctly. After all, the literacy of your speech depends on the use of prepositions in English.

The suggestion is service unit speech, which expresses the syntactic relationship between, and words belonging to other parts of speech. In their structure, prepositions are simple ( on, near, for), complex ( outside, into), composite ( because of,in front of, in accordance with). There is also a classification of prepositions depending on the relations they express (temporal, spatial prepositions, directions, causal, etc.).

English prepositions and Russian cases

The choice of a preposition in English may also depend on the Russian case in question. There are six cases in Russian. Here are the suggestions that match them:

1. Nominative case (who? what?)
   

   young woman - This girl wants to buy a bouquet of flowers. (no preposition)

2. Genitive case (of whom? of what?)
   

   girls – The bouquet of this girl is lying on the table. (preposition of)

3. Dative case (to whom? to what?)
   

   girl – I am giving this bouquet to the girl. (preposition to)

4. Accusative case (of whom? what?)
   

   girl - My mother likes this girl. (no preposition)

5. Instrumental case (by whom? by what?)
   

   girl – This bouquet of flowers is bought by the girl. (prepositions by / with)

6. Prepositional case (about whom? about what?)
   

   about a girl I am talking about this girl. (prepositions about / of)

Moreover, many verbs, nouns, adjectives in English are used strictly with certain prepositions. Therefore, these parts of speech should be taught along with prepositions. For example: verb to wait(wait) necessarily requires a preposition after itself for. or verb to listen(listen) used only with a preposition to. Adjective proud(proud) requires an excuse of, and the use of an adjective satisfied(satisfied) possible only with a pretext with. The same goes for nouns. Behind the words advantage / disadvantaged(advantage, disadvantage of something) follows only a preposition of, and after the noun damage(damage, harm to someone or something) it is worth putting the pretext to.

The most common prepositions in English

The use of prepositions in English implies the obligatory knowledge of their meanings, translation options and areas of application. We will not list all the prepositions of the English language, but only a few of the most famous ones. The meaning of the rest and their connection with certain parts of speech should be clarified further.

1. Direction prepositions:
   • to the left- to the left
   • to the right- right
   • up- up
   • down- down
   • off- With
   • onto- on
   • towards- towards
   • away, from- from
   • through- through, through
   • out of- from
   • into- V
   • along- along
   • past- past
   • across- through
2. Prepositions of location:
   • above- above
   • over- above
   • between- between
   • near, at, by, beside- near, near, at
   • behind- behind, behind
   • under- under
   • below- under
   • outside- from
   • in front of- before
3. Time prepositions:
   • at- in hours
   • in- in months, years
   • on- in days
   • from- c, from
   • to- up to a point
   • since- from some point
   • till- before
   • before- before, before
   • after- after
   • about- about, about
   • for- over a period of time
   • during– during + noun
   • by- at some point
4. Causal Suggestions:
   • because of- because
   • in accordance with- according to, according to
   • on account of- due to, due to
   • thanks to- thanks to

The use of prepositions in English can be called a kind

Prepositions

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Preposition (position)- an independent part of speech. Usually prepositions indicate a place, direction or time. Prepositions are usually placed before the noun. The same preposition can be translated in different ways, depending on the context. For example, at window= at the window; at 2 o'clock= at 2 o'clock. Be careful when translating prepositions into Russian (maybe a large number of options).

Prepositions of time in English.

Pretext	Usage	Example
On	Days of the week	Sunday
In	Months, seasons, time of day, year, after a certain period of time	In May/in summer, intheevening, in 2016 in anhour.
At	Night Weekend	Atnight Atthe weekend At 8 p.m.
Since	From a certain point in time to the present	since 2006
For	For some time, including the present	For 3 months
Ago	A certain period of time ago	5 years ago
Before	Before any point in time	Before 2014
To/Till/Until	Start and end of time period	From Tuesdayto/till Friday
By	By a certain point in time	By11 o'clock, Iwill haveread five pages.

Prepositions of place in English.

Pretext	Usage	Example
In	Room, building, street, city, country, book, car, picture, world	in the kitchen, London in the book in the car, in a taxi in the picture, in the world
At	At the table, at some event, a place of study, work, etc.	at the door, at the station at the table at a concert, at the party at the cinema, at school, at work
On	something attached Place associated with the river, on the surface, left / right, on the floor in the house, on public transport, TV, radio	the picture on the wall London lies on the Thames. on the table on the left on the first floor on the bus, on a plane on TV, on the radio
Under	Under or below something else	the bag is under the table
Over	Meaning more than	put a jacket over your shirt over 16 years of age walk over the bridge climb over the wall

Other important prepositions in English.

Pretext	Usage	Example
From	From whom	a present from Jane
Of	Part of something, genitive	a page of the book the picture of a palace

Prepositions since and for have multiple meanings. The main thing is an indication of the period of validity. Often they appear in similar contexts: for example, in the Past Perfect. But they cannot replace each other: you need to remember the rules for using them.

Among the prepositions of time in English, these two words occupy a special position: they do not denote the time of the action itself, but refer to the period. And they do it differently. For reflects the period itself, and since reflects its starting point. Also, the indication of time is not the only meaning of for and since, they occur in other contexts as well. To understand these two words, let's look at the meanings of each of the prepositions with examples.

Preposition for

The first of the suggestions for and since denotes the period during which the event lasted and has the meaning "for a certain time":

When he came to the office, I had already worked for two hours - When he came to the office, I had already worked for two hours.

This apartment has been empty for years - This apartment has been empty for years.

We go to the seaside for two weeks every year - Every year we go to the seaside for two weeks.

My brother will be in Spain for the next week - My brother will be in Spain within the next week.

These examples show that the preposition for can be used with different tenses: past, present and future. The most common tense with for as the period of action is the Perfect form, although its use is not required. For example, the period may refer to the future tense (He's going to Brazil for the winter - He is leaving for Brazil for the winter).

At the same time, the indication of the validity period does not interfere with the use of other time markers, for example, the frequency of the action, as in the example We go to the seaside for two weeks every year (“Every year we go to the seaside for two weeks”).

When we talk about how long the action has been going on so far, the preposition for is used with the Present Perfect tense. In such examples, one must carefully distinguish since or for should be used.

Mr Taylor has known me for three years - Mr Taylor has known me for three years.

In colloquial style, the preposition for may be omitted. Often it is omitted with the question how long (how much, for how long) and is not used before the word all:

We've lived in this house (for) six weeks - We have been living in this house for six weeks.

How long have you been waiting (for)? - How long have you been waiting?

I've had a headache all day - I have a headache all day.

Preposition since

The preposition since indicates the period of the event in a different way: it conveys when the action began, serves as its starting point:

We've been waiting since six o'clock - We've been waiting since six o'clock.

We’ve known your brother since January - We have known your brother since January.

Here the question may arise,what time since is used. If for is used with various verb forms, then since is a clear marker of Perfect tenses:

I've been working since six o'clock and I'm getting tired - I've been working since six o'clock and starting to get tired.

Typical use of the preposition since in negative sentences to highlight when the situation last happened:

We haven't seen Jimmy since Christmas - We haven't seen Jimmy since Christmas.

The preposition since can be replaced by the preposition from with the perfect tenses, when it is necessary to emphasize the meaning "from now on":

She’s been like that from (since) her childhood - She’s been like that since childhood.

Although the more typical use of from is with non-perfect tenses. The preposition since cannot be used in such cases.

This vase dates from the 17th century - This vase dates from the 17th century.

since/for rulein perfect times

So, both variants of prepositions are used with Perfect at times. They both indicate how long the action lasts, but designate the period in different ways. The for preposition is used to convey the duration itself, while since indicates only the starting point.

Compare offers:

I've known her for six months - I have known her for six months.

I've known her since last summer - I've known her since last summer.

She’s been working here for a long time - She has been working here for a long time (for a long time).

She’s been working here since July - She has been working here since July.

since or for rule is determined not by the verb in the sentence, but by indicating the tense that follows the preposition. If it represents a point on the time scale (last winter, July), then since is used. If the preposition is followed by a description of a length of time (six months, a long time), for is used.

Other uses

The word since in English can act both as a preposition and as a union. That is, it can be followed not only by a noun denoting the beginning of an action, but also subordinate clause. The meaning of the beginning of the event is preserved: the union since is translated "since".

I've known her since we were at college - I've known her since we were in college.

You've drunk four cups of coffee since you came home - You drank four cups of coffee (since) you came home.

Although since can have other meanings. For example, the union since can indicate a reason:

Since he had not paid the bill, the electricity was cut off - Since he did not pay the bill, the electricity was cut off.

When we talk about unions, it appears fundamental difference between since and for : union for cannot denote a period of time. The meaning of the union for is an indication of the reason:

There won't be any delay, for all the differences are resolved - There will be no delay, since all the differences are resolved.

The words for and since there are other meanings. For example, the preposition for can indicate purpose and purpose (to stop for a photo - stop to take a photo) or reason (for many reasons - for many reasons). But the main difficulty in using for / since arises with Perfect tense. In order not to confuse them, you need to remember well since or for rule.

Watch this video to get a basic understanding of articles in English before reading this article.

Why are articles needed in English?

Did you know that the article is a part of speech that does not exist in Russian?

We change the stress and word order to give the phrase a shade, and in English it is strictly fixed.

See how the meaning of the phrase changes:

• I like the car.
• I like the car.

Do you feel a trick? In the first case, it is not clear what kind of car it is, and in the second it is about a specific car.

In English, you cannot interchange words, so articles are used to give the desired shade to the phrase. A, An And The.

Article rules

The concept of the article in English grammar is associated with the category of definiteness. Simplified, the rule of articles is:

Remember!

If we are talking about an unknown subject, then the indefinite article A / An. If we are talking about something specific, then the article is placed before it. The.

Task: What articles should be used in the following examples?

We bought a car.

We bought the car we saw yesterday.

Click on the arrows for the answer.

Clue.

Article The descended from This(this) - you can point with your finger.
A / An descended from One(one).

That's why the article A/An used only in singular!

In a simplified form, the grammatical rules of articles can be represented as follows:

Plural noun?
Noun countable?
Have you heard of him before? (indefinite or definite article)
Is it about something in common?

What is the difference between the articles A and An?

Let's repeat!
Indefinite article A/An(which is derived from one) put only before in the singular!

So what is the difference between A And An?

Article A placed before words that begin with consonants (a c at, a h ouse, a y ard), and An- before words that begin with vowels (an a pple, an h our).

Let this picture pop up before your eyes when you choose a meju a And an.

When do we use the indefinite article?

1. When we classify an object, we attribute it to a certain group of objects.

• A cow is an animal. - A cow is an animal.
• An apple is a fruit. - An apple is a fruit.

2. When we characterize the subject.

• My mother is a nurse. - My mother is a nurse.
• He is an idiot! - He is idiot!

Download a set of practical exercises for the course (.doc format)

1. Preposition of most often conveys the meaning of gender. case and therefore either is not translated, or the Russian sentence uses the preposition from. Sometimes of also indicates the prepositional case, in which case it can be translated by the preposition about, for example:
of trends - (of what?) directions
of nets - (many) from (what?) networks
of facts - about (what?) facts

Preposition to conveys a value dative case and usually not translated. But since this preposition indicates the direction to something, sometimes it should be translated by the preposition to, for example:
to things - (what?) things
to desks - to (what?) Desks

Preposition for conveys the meaning of the genitive or accusative case, sometimes not translated, but usually its Russian equivalents are prepositions for, for, for example:
for tents - for (what?) tents
for nets - for (what?) networks
for steps - for (what?) actions, steps

2. It should be remembered that in the role of a definition, a noun with a preposition always comes after the word being defined, for example:
discussions of this type - discussions (what?) of this type
the problem of importance - the problem (what?) that matters
the book of interest - book (what?) of interest
the work of help - work (what?) that provides assistance.

In the last three examples, the preposition of, introducing a noun as a definition, as if translated by words having, representing, providing.

Difficulties in translation are caused by a definition expressed by a noun without a preposition. In this case, the defining noun comes before the word being defined (but after the article or other determiner) and is usually in the singular form. The translation of such a phrase should begin with the defined, i.e., the last word, mentally asking the question "what?", For example:
a choice theory - the theory (what?) of choice
a search method - search method (what?)
a service station - service station (what?)

As we have already said, a noun in the role of a definition usually has the singular form, but this does not mean that its Russian equivalent must also always have a singular. number, for example: a game theory - the theory (what?) of games (and not: the theory of (one) game).
When translating nouns as definitions, you can sometimes use prepositions, for example: a book case - a cabinet (what?) for books.

In this example, noun-definition book can also be translated as an adjective: bookshelf. In some cases (quite obvious!) Such a possibility is allowed, but most often, in order to avoid distortion of the meaning, the meaning of the noun should be preserved, for example:
a gold ring - gold ring, gold ring
But: particle velocity - particle velocity (not: partial velocity).

3. It would seem that such an unprepositional combination of two nouns (definition and defined) should not cause any particular difficulties. But, as practice has shown, the translation of just such a series of two words often contains errors, since the noun, which plays the role of a definition, is either translated by an adjective (as indicated above), which is far from always acceptable, or the translation begins with the first word, which is also leads to distortion of meaning, for example:
speed regulation - speed regulation
But: speed of regulation - speed of regulation
search methods - search methods (what?)
But: search for methods - search for methods.

So, remember that if two nouns are not connected by a preposition, the translation should begin with the second word.

4. If the first word in a row is an adjective, then it usually (but not always!) Refers to the last (defined) word, for example:
elementary game theory - elementary game theory
a new crystal growth method - a new method of growing crystals
a different product distribution - a different product distribution
high regulation speed - high regulation speed
the main search method - the main search method
the important net parameters - important network parameters.

However, one should not forget that the adjective standing first in the row can determine the noun following it, and not the last one in the row, for example:
straight-line motion - movement in a straight line
digital computer design - design of digital computers.

Note! There can be several nouns in the role of definition. Therefore, when reading the text, remember "row rule", which can be formulated as follows:
If after the article (or other determinant) there is a whole series of words, most often nouns, in the singular and without prepositions (prepositions always interrupt the series!), then only the last of them will be the word to which the article refers and from which the translation must begin this series, mentally putting the question "which one?" after it. All other words are (directly or indirectly) its definitions.

When translating a series, the connection between words is determined from their lexical meaning, while you can enter the plural, use different cases and even prepositions, but in all cases the last word will be defined, for example:
control system design - design of control systems
the system reaction identification - determination of the reaction of the system
a parameter identification method - parameter identification method
and problem determination task - the task of determining (setting) problems
a crystal growth method - a method of growing crystals
a cell growth increase - (some) increase (rate) of cell growth.