Prepositions may be the most under-appreciated part of speech, yet one of the most important. They appear almost everywhere, yet so few people notice them. And every preposition has an object, more than you can say for many things or people.
To see what I mean, just pick a sentence from whatever book you’re reading and look for the prepositions. My current read is How to Eat a Small Country: A Family’s Pursuit of Happiness, One Meal at a Time, by Amy Finley. I picked a sentence at random:
One of the happiest events I can remember of my own childhood was the discovery of a black berry bush one summer, growing thick and wild off in a field behind our house.
Look at all the little prepositions. They’re everywhere. They’re not inconsequential, either, because if you change one or more of them, what you’re saying changes, too. For instance, if you say, “growing thick and wild off in a field in front of our house,” unless someone hunts around, they won’t find the blackberry bush. “One of the happiest events I can remember after my own childhood,” also changes the meaning.
Today in church during one of the readings, the reader inadvertently left out a small, two-letter word that changed the meaning dramatically. The reading from Isaiah, chapter 25, included this sentence:
And He will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all the nations.
The reading, with omission, came out as:
And he will swallow up this mountain…
Not including “on” makes sound as though the Lord will swallow the mountain which, even for those of us who believe He could, isn’t what is intended.
One more sentence from my book, again at random:
Already very well tipped, the waiter approaches our table with a leather folder and lays it deferentially next to Greg’s empty wineglass.
Compare that to:
Already very well tipped, the waiter approaches our table under a leather folder and lays it deferentially on top of Greg’s empty wineglass. Or…
Already very well tipped, the waiter approaches our table on a leather folder and lays it deferentially inside Greg’s empty wineglass. Or something simple…
I went to the store. I went into the store. I went through the store. I went under the store. I went above the store. I went beneath the store. I went across the store. I went beside the store. I went near the store. I went past the store. I went opposite the store.
You get the idea.
It’s fun. You can do it for yourself (or by yourself or despite yourself or inside yourself) and have fun any time anywhere. Pick a sentence, any sentence, and substitute some new prepositions for the old ones. You can find a list here: http://www.englishclub.com/grammar/prepositions-list.htm. You can even download a free e-book, English Prepositions List, http://www.englishclub.com/downloads/english-prepositions-list.htm, if you want to get into this more deeply. At any rate, consider my preposition proposition and if you decide to participate, enjoy!
This, that and the other thing 