PREPOSITION 



4808 



PREPOSITION 



lation existing between its object and its ante- 

 cedent. ''A word that looks backward as well 

 as forward," is the way in which one gram- 

 marian speaks of the preposition, because the 

 antecedent is no le uy than the object 



for the complete expression of the thought. 



Among the long list of simple prepositions 

 in common use may be mentioned at, by, 

 against, above, on, upon, from, without, under, 

 over, through and during; and among the 

 phrase prepositions, such expressions as accord- 

 ing to, on account of, corresponding to, by 

 mi ans of, by way of, for the sake of, instead of, 

 and the like. 



The Object cf a Preposition. The noun or 

 pronoun which forms the object of a preposi- 

 tion is always in the objective case, except in 

 the id'om known as the "double possessive," 

 whe^e the possessive form follows the preposi- 

 tion of; as, "Our Art Institute boasts several 

 paintings of Millet's;" "I have a strong admira- 

 tion for that cousin of yours." 



The word governed by the preposition, how- 

 ever, is not necessarily a noun or a pronoun, 

 and for this reason many grammarians prefer 

 to refer to it as a consequent rather than an 

 object. Sometimes it is an adjective or an 

 adverb, as in the phrases on high and from 

 afar; sometimes an infinitive or a participle, as 

 in except to say and satisfied with toiling; 

 sometimes a phrase, as in the expression from 

 of old; sometimes a clause, as in the sentence, 

 He turned to where they stood waiting. 



Importance and Variety. The preposition 

 was not always so important a member of the 

 word family as it is to-day. In the earlier his- 

 tory of the English language the "possessive in 

 s" was employed by good writers in construc- 

 tions where modern usage insists upon indicat- 

 ing the relation by means of the preposition of. 

 For instance, it was not considered incorrect 

 to speak of "the house's roof," though now we 

 say "the roof of the house," reserving the in- 

 flected form as a general thing for cases of ac- 

 tual possession; as the child's toys. 



The importance of prepositions has been in- 

 creased by the extraordinary variety and flexi- 

 bility of meaning they have come to acquire 

 as the language has developed. The ordinary 

 relations denoted are those of time, direction, 

 position, cause, agency, purpose, manner, ex- 

 clusion, separation and so on; but a single 

 preposition may denote a number of these dif- 

 ferent relations, depending upon the way in 

 which it is used. For example: With her 

 work finished (expressing the relation of time) 



a girl may stop to chat with a friend (accom- 

 paniment) ; she may converse with animation 

 (manner) ; she may quarrel with a schoolmate 

 (opposition), or paddle with an oar (agency); 

 with her (estimation) canoeing may be a favor- 

 ite pastime, and yet with (despite) all her op- 

 portunities for outdoor recreation, she may be- 

 come dissatisfied with (cause) her mode of life. 

 The common prepositions for and of have at 

 least ten distinct meanings, and others have 

 almost as varied an application. It is this 

 subtle power of the preposition to express dif- 

 ferent shades of meaning that makes its mas- 

 tery so difficult a matter for the foreigner. 



The Appropriate Preposition. Just as the 

 same preposition assumes a different signifi- 

 cance according to the antecedent with which 

 it is associated, so the same antecedent ex- 

 presses various meanings as it is combined with 

 different prepositions. 



For instance, an expert judge of silks com- 

 pares one piece of satin with another as to 

 texture, sheen or wearing qualities, and then 

 admiringly compares one or both of them to 

 the lustrous, pearly lining of a seashell. A child 

 is introduced to her teacher and into a new 

 environment when she is sent to school ; a Con- 

 gressman introduces an antismoke bill in the 

 legislature into conveying the idea of entrance 

 or motion to a more marked degree than in. 

 A man may be impatient with his servant; he 

 grows impatient at a delay in trains, and be- 

 comes increasingly impatient under the disap- 

 pointment because he is impatient for the ar- 

 rival of a friend. 



The Question of Order. Not so many years 

 ago, every student of English grammar was 

 solemnly warned never to let a preposition con- 

 stitute the last word of the sentence. It was ar- 

 gued that for two reasons "a preposition is a 

 bad thing to end a sentence with" to quote 

 the schoolboy's version of the rule: first, be- 

 cause it ought logically to precede its object; 

 and, second, because it is too insignificant a 

 word to occupy the prominent position at the 

 end. However, if this rule is consistently ap- 

 plied, regardless of ease, directness and idiom, 

 it frequently creates constructions that not only 

 sound stilted, but are lacking in force; as when 

 we turn the vigorous, everyday idiom, "What 

 did you come for?" into "For what did you 

 come?" The same is true in the case of such 

 expressions as, "The plan was enthusiastically 

 agreed to," "I have no materials to work with," 

 "This is a charming setting for our play to be 

 given in" and the like. 



