March 25, 2010

4 Preposition Tips

Some tips with regard to prepositions.

1) A preposition is a word that shows how a noun or a pronoun relates to another part of a sentence.

2) Prepositions make a big difference to the meaning expressed in a sentence.
Examples:
Dino is walking toward the house.
Dino is walking away from the house.
Dino is walking inside the house.

3) If your sentence still sounds weird despite your attempts to avoid ending your sentence with a preposition, then you may end your sentence with one.
Examples:
A parish priest is someone to whom many people upwardly look. (SOUNDS WEIRD)
A parish priest is someone most people look up to. (SOUNDS BETTER)

4) Finally, in order to avoid having a wordy sentence, never use lots of prepositional phrases.

Attribution to Rebecca Elliot and her book Painless Grammar (c) 2006, 1997

Interjection pointers are next.