preposition
/ˌpɹɛpəˈzɪʃən/
preposition noun: any of a class of non-inflecting words and multiword terms typically employed to connect a following noun or a pronoun, in an adjectival or adverbial sense, with some other word: a particle used with a noun or pronoun (in English always in the objective case) to make a phrase limiting some other word. Also the alternative spelling of pre-position.
Noun
preposition (plural prepositions)
- Any of a class of non-inflecting words and multiword terms typically employed to connect a following noun or a pronoun, in an adjectival or adverbial sense, with some other word: a particle used with a noun or pronoun (in English always in the objective case) to make a phrase limiting some other word.
- 322. The parts of speech which are neither declined nor conjugated, are called by the general name of particles. 323. They are adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections.1844, E. A. Andrews, First Lessions in Latin; or Introduction to Andrews and Stoddard's Latin Grammar, 6th edition, Boston, page 91
- And in (121) below, we see that when a wh-NP is used as the Object of a Preposition, the whole Prepositional Phrase can undergo WH MOVEMENT:
(121) (a) [To whom] can I send this letter —?
(121) (b) [About what] are they quarrelling —?
(121) (c) [In which book] did you read about it —?1988, Andrew Radford, chapter 9, in Transformational grammar: a first course, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, page 495
- An adposition.
- A proposition; an exposition; a discourse.
- […] he made a longe preposicion & oracion cōcernynge yͤ allegiaūce which he exortyd his lordes to owe1811 [1516], Robert Fabyan, edited by Sir Henry Ellis, The New Chronicles of England and France, page 116
Also used as
preposition is also the alternative spelling of pre-position.
preposition meaning in Hindi, Urdu, Bengali and Malayalam
preposition in Hindi
- grammar: a type of word like "of, from, for, by"
- पूर्वसर्ग pūrvasarg
preposition in Urdu
- grammar: a type of word like "of, from, for, by"
- حَرْفِ جار harf-i jār, حَرْفِ جَر harf-i jar
preposition in Bengali
- grammar: a type of word like "of, from, for, by"
- পদান্বয়ী অব্যয় podannoẏi obboẏ
preposition in Malayalam
- grammar: a type of word like "of, from, for, by"
- ഗതി gati
More languagesFewer languages
- preposition in Tagalog
- pang-ukol
- preposition in Arabic
- جَارّ jārr, حَرْف جَرّ ḥarf jarr
- preposition in Malay
- kata depan, kata sendi nama
- preposition in Indonesian
- kata depan
- preposition in Thai
- บุพบท bùp-pá-bòt, บุรพบท bù-rá-pá-bòt
- preposition in Vietnamese
- giới từ
Examples of preposition in a sentence
- In dialectal or poetic English, the article the or preposition to can become the proclitic t'.
- In English, most phrasal prepositions consist of an adverbial followed by a one-word preposition.
- Cmavo are connective, syncategorematic words. They are roughly comparable to English conjunctions, prepositions, articles, numerals, and some adverbs.
Forms of preposition
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | prepositions |
| alternative form | præposition |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | prepositions |
| present participle | prepositioning |
| past participle | prepositioned |
| past | prepositioned |
| alternative form | pre-position |
Origin of preposition
From Middle English preposicioun, from Old French preposicion, from Latin praepositio, praepositionem, from praepono (“to place before”), equivalent to pre- + position. Compare French préposition. So called because it is placed before the word with which it is phrased, as in a bridge of iron, he comes from town, it is good for food, he escaped by running.
From pre- + position.
Words formed from preposition
Questions about preposition
- What does preposition mean?
- Preposition means any of a class of non-inflecting words and multiword terms typically employed to connect a following noun or a pronoun, in an adjectival or adverbial sense, with some other word: a particle used with a noun or pronoun (in English always in the objective case) to make a phrase limiting some other word.
- What is preposition in Hindi?
- Preposition in Hindi is पूर्वसर्ग (pūrvasarg). See Preposition meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is preposition?
- Preposition is a noun.
- How do you pronounce preposition?
- Preposition is pronounced /ˌpɹɛpəˈzɪʃən/.
- What is the plural of preposition?
- The plural of preposition is prepositions.
Words near preposition in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: preposition (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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