PREPOSITIONS

Prepositions cannot be distinguished by any formal features. A list of prepositions will illustrate this point:  
 

across, after, at, before, by, during, from, in, into, of, on, to, under, with, without 

We can, say, however, that prepositions typically come before a noun:  
 
 

 The noun does not necessarily come immediately after the preposition, however, since determiners and adjectives can intervene:  
 

after the storm   on white horses   under the old regime 

Whether or not there are any intervening determiners or adjectives, prepositions are almost always followed by a noun. In fact, this is so typical of prepositions that if they are not followed by a noun, we call them "stranded" prepositions:  

Prepositions are invariable in their form, that is, they do not take any inflections.  
 

Complex Prepositions

The prepositions which we have looked at so far have all consisted of a single word, such as in, of, at, and to. We refer to these as SIMPLE PREPOSITIONS.  

COMPLEX PREPOSITIONS consist of two- or three-word combinations acting as a single unit. Here are some examples:      

Like simple prepositions, these two-word combinations come before a noun: 

according to Shakespeare  contrary to my advice  due to illness 

Three-word combinations often have the following pattern:  
 

Simple Preposition + Noun + Simple Preposition 

We can see this pattern in the following examples:      

Again, these combinations come before a noun:

in aid of charity  in front of the window  in line with inflation 

Marginal Prepositions

A number of prepositions have affinities with other word classes. In particular, some prepositions are verbal in form:  

Following his resignation, the minister moved to the country  I am writing to you regarding your overdraft  The whole team was there, including John 

We refer to these as MARGINAL PREPOSITIONS. Other marginal prepositions include:

concerning, considering, excluding, given, granted, pending 

Non-verbal marginal prepositions include worth (it's worth ten pounds) and minus (ten minus two is eight).