CHAPTER II THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
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A. Prepositions
1. Definition of Prepositions
It is not sufficient for the students who learn English to know prepositions only without understanding the meaning. Prepositions, in fact,
are given a great deal of attention throughout the teaching process. They occur in all textbooks for beginners, in the very first lessons. This is
understandable, since they are indispensable for presenting even the simplest situation.
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Therefore, in this case, the writer would like to quote some definition of prepositions defined as follows :
According to the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, “Preposition is a word or group of words, such as in, from, to, out of, and on
behalf of, used before a noun or pronoun to show place, position, time or method.”
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It will be recalled that preposition is traditionally defined as a word that indicates a relation between the noun or pronoun it governs and
another word, which may be a verb, an adjective or another noun or pronoun.
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Greenbaum defined that prepositions are closed class of items connecting two units in a sentence and specifying a relationship between
them.
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Since most forms used as prepositions may also occur as other parts of speech, the preposition must be defined syntactically. A preposition is a
word which relates a substantive, its object, to some other word in the
5
Ana heckova, Teaching Prepositions and Adverbial Particles, in English Teaching Forum,No.4 Vol XIX, October 1981,p.42
6
A S Hornby. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English. P. 996.
7
Rodney Huddleston, Introduction to the Grammar of English, Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1984, p.336.
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Sidney Greenbaum. A Student’s
Grammar of
the English
Language. London:Longman,1990,p.188.
sentence; the preposition and its object constitute a prepositional phrase, which modifies the word to which the object is related.
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A prepositions signals that a noun or noun structure follows it: the preposition- noun combination constitutes a prepositional phrase.
Prepositions as well as conjunctions differ from other parts of speech in that 1 each is composed of a small class of words that have no formal
characteristic endings; 2 each signals syntactic structures that function as one of the other parts of speech. For these reasons modern linguists prefer to
classify prepositions as structure words rather than as a part of speech.
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From those definitions above, it can be said that a preposition is a word placed before noun or pronoun to show its relationship. For example, I
put my pencil in the box . This sentence is complete, but if the word “in” is
omitted, there is no sense of the sentences. The pencil might be placed under the box, on the box, or behind the box, etc. Until some prepositions have
been inserted, the relations between the pencil and the box are unknown. For the student the learning of these meanings is largely a matter of
practicing the association between each word and an observable situation. In other uses, however, the choice of preposition is determined by a
preceding verb to look at the evidence, to listen to it, to believe in it, or noun the investigation of a problem, the remedy for it, the solution to it or
adjective different from the others, similar to them, identical with them.
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According to the example, prepositions have very important functions. And for some students, it is difficult to learn to use prepositions of
place because most of them have several different function, and different prepositions can have similar use. So, the students are easily to make
mistakes in the placement of prepositions.
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Paul Roberts. Understanding Grammar. New york: Harper Row Publisher,1953, p.222.
10
Marcella Frank, Modern English: A Practical Reference Guide, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall,Inc., 1972 p. 163.
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Charles W.Kreidler. English Prepositions, ELT Forum Oxford University press, January,1966 p.119.
2.Function of Prepositions
As explained before, the prepositions has function of connecting a noun or a pronoun to another word, usually a noun, verb or adjective.
Sentence : The girl with the red hair is beautiful.
With connects hair with the noun girl. Sentence : They arrived in the morning.
In connects morning with the verb arrived. Sentence : She is fond of roses.
Of connects roses with the adjective fond.
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3.Types of Prepositions
There are many kinds of prepositions. Some of them are the simplest in form. Many of them are monosyllabic such as in, on, at, by, up,
from, with, down, into, before, after, behind, above, across,etc. According to Frank, the types of prepositions can be divided into :
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Marcella Frank, Modern English: A Practical Reference Guide, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall,Inc., 1972 p. 171-172.
1. Prepositions showing time
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