List of English prepositions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is a list of English prepositions. In English, some prepositions are short, typically containing five letters or fewer. There are, however, a significant number of multi-word prepositions. Throughout the history of the English language, new prepositions have come into use, old ones fallen out of use, and the meaning of existing prepositions changed. Nonetheless, the prepositions are by and large a closed class.

Contents

[edit] Single words

[edit] Multi words

[edit] Two words

[edit] Three words

[edit] Archaic or infrequently used

[edit] Not fully grammaticalized

[edit] Preposition-like modifiers of quantified noun phrases

[edit] Postpositions

  • ago as in "five years ago", sometimes considered an adverb rather than a postposition
  • apart as in "this apart", also used prepositionally ("apart from this")
  • aside as in "such examples aside", also used prepositionally ("aside from such examples")
  • away as in "five light years away", sometimes considered an adverb or an adjective rather than a postposition
  • hence as in "five years hence", sometimes considered an adverb rather than a postposition
  • notwithstanding also used prepositionally
  • on as in "five years on", also used prepositionally
  • through as in "the whole night through", also used prepositionally
  • withal archaic as a postposition meaning with
Languages