Prepositions - English Grammar

In English Grammar, a preposition links nouns, pronouns and phrases to other words in a sentence. The word or phrase that the preposition introduces is called the object of the preposition. Thus, a preposition describes a relationship between other words in a sentence. In itself, a word like "in" or "after" is rather meaningless and hard to define in mere words. Often prepositions change the meaning of a sentence or structure, or even make a statement clear.

Tom and I will meet at/beside/in/next to... this afternoon.
The bakery behind/in front of/next to/... the main church.

There can’t be made general rules for the formation and use of prepositions in distinctive sentence structures. Many prepositions can have different meanings in different contexts. Therefore, one has to have a look at the combination of verbs and other words (prepositional phrase).
A preposition usually indicates the temporal or logical relationship of its object to the rest of the sentence as in the following examples:

• The pen is on the table.
• The pen is beneath the table.
• The book is leaning against the table.
• The book is beside the table.
• She held the book over the table.
• She read the book during class.

In each of the sentences above, a preposition locates the noun in space or in time. A prepositional phrase is made up of the preposition, its object and any associated adjectives or adverbs. A prepositional phrase can function as a noun, an adjective, or an adverb. The most common prepositions are "about," "above," "across," "after," "against," "along," "among," "around," "at," "before," "behind," "below," "beneath," "beside," "between," "beyond," "but," "by," "despite," "down," "during," "except," "for," "from," "in," "inside," "into," "like," "near," "of," "off," "on," "onto," "out," "outside," "over," "past," "since," "through," "throughout," "till," "to," "toward," "under," "underneath," "until," "up," "upon," "with," "within," and "without."

Here are several examples of prepositional phrases:
to look after (his little sister)
to insist on (his salary increase)
(I will meet you) at the corner
(Can you see Susan) in the picture
(The weather report predicts temperatures) below zero