This archive report was first published on 1 July 2019.
Prepositions: The Building Blocks of Meaning ¶
Prepositions are words that come before nouns, pronouns, or expressions and show the relation between one word and another. They are a crucial part of the English language, and understanding their usage can help improve communication.
Published on July 1, 2019, a column in The Standard highlighted the importance of prepositions in conveying meaning. The article discussed how prepositions can be used in various categories, including place, time, direction, and agent.
Prepositions can be a single word, two, or three words, known as phrasal prepositions. Examples of phrasal prepositions include 'instead of,' 'on behalf of,' and 'in spite of.' There are approximately 100 prepositions in the English language, but only a few are commonly used, such as 'at,' 'in,' 'on,' 'for,' 'with,' 'to,' 'into,' 'by,' 'through,' 'towards,' 'under,' 'above,' 'upon,' 'beside,' 'outside,' 'below,' 'over,' 'around,' 'after,' and 'about.'
Prepositions of time include 'at,' 'on,' 'in,' 'from,' 'since,' 'ago,' 'before,' and 'until.' For instance, 'In August 2017, Kenyans voted for their president' uses the preposition 'in' to refer to the month of August. The preposition 'on' is used for days and dates, as seen in 'The accord between Kenyatta and Raila was reached on March 9, 2018.'
Prepositions can also be used to point out a specific physical location, surface, or particular place. For example, 'Opposing President Yoweri Museveni in (within) Uganda is dicey business' uses the preposition 'in' to refer to the country of Uganda. The preposition 'at' is used to refer to a specific time, as seen in 'The Judge walked into the packed courtroom at 0900 hrs on Monday.'
Prepositions that express the relationship between a person doing something and the action are called prepositions for agent. These include 'by' and 'with.' For example, 'The government was forced to release the detained rebel leader following destructive demonstrations by his supporters' uses the preposition 'by' to refer to the supporters.
When using prepositions, it's essential to avoid repetition. For instance, instead of writing 'You can wear the stockings in the bedroom and in the kitchen,' it's better to write 'You can wear the stockings in the bedroom and kitchen.'
