Grammar II

Prepositions, Conjunctions and

Discourse Markers

Stephan Hughes
Different prepositions, similar in meaning

• Think outside the box = think out of the box

• Teach at a public school = teach in a public school
• On/at the weekend
• Meet me at the bank = meet me in front
• Meet me in the bank = meet me inside
• Dancing in the street = dancing on the street. But: On
Sundays, traffic is blocked so people can walk in the
streets. (to show the difference between the sidewalk and
the place where vehicles pass)
Tradução de Inglês/Ensino de Língua
Inglesa e Novas Tecnologias -
Gramática II
 Prepositions

• Type - what they look like - short words, phrases,

participles, e.g. regarding, considering, given
• Position in the sentence, e.g. To whom do you want to
talk? Who you want to talk to?
• What they do Syntactic function: concrete meaning to
define place, position or movement and time, e.g.
Enclosed or surrounded - IN; Marginal position – AT;
Surface: On foot (not BY foot)

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 Prepositions

• Logical relationships: Cause and effect, e.g. because

of; Contrast, e.g. despite; Exemplification, e.g. like;
Exception, e.g. yet; Service, e.g. for
• Possible groupings: abstract nouns, likes and dislikes
e.g. possibility, hatred OF; communication or
relationships e.g. contact with
• Variation: CHOICE e.g. in/during the week, covered
with/in paint; STYLE: notwithstanding x despite,
GEOGRAPHICAL, SOCIAL AND INDIVIDUAL: on/at the
weekend; different to/than
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 Variant x Standard

• Different to • Different from

• Speak with • Speak to
• Similar with • Similar to
• Oblivious of • Oblivious to
• Intimidated with • Intimidated by

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 Differences in meaning

• Go to hospital = be admitted as a patient x go to the

hospital = visit or do something there
• Go to church = go to pray x go to the church = visit the
physical structure
• Made of (material is the same e.g. a table made of wood)
X made with (material changed because of a process
e.g. paper made with cellulose)

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 Container, Flat surface or Point?

• a room - C • a river – C/FS/P

• the beach – FS/P • a shelf- FS
• a plate - FS • a cabinet – FS/C
• a bowl - C • a bank – C/P
• a platter or a tray - FS • a company – C/P
• a roof - FS • a tree – C/P

Tradução de Inglês/Ensino de Língua Inglesa e

Novas Tecnologias - Gramática II
 Container, Flat Surface or Point?

• Christmas - P
• Weekend – FS/P
• Easter - P
• The winter, spring, summer, fall - C
• Sunday - FS
• Carnival - P
• A fortnight - C
• January - C
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Gramática II
Between X Among: two or more referents

• There is no difference between one and the

other
• It would seem we have a traitor among us.
• Mastering a language can be the difference
between landing a well-paid job, achieving job
stability, working in a dead-end job or furthering
a career.
Tradução de Inglês/Ensino de Língua Inglesa e
Novas Tecnologias - Gramática II
 Near X Nearby

• Near is only used as a preposition or adverb e.g.

Is there a post office near here?
• Nearby is an adverb, e.g. After the play, we can
do some shopping nearby.
• Nearby is also used adjectivally e.g. I'm trying to
find a nearby service station.
 To x For

• Important to me (emotional attachment) x important for

(purpose or benefit)
• All the best to you; Merry Xmas to you; Happy birthday to
you. To you too!
• Send something to you (I am the receiver) X Send
something to someone for you (someone else is going to
receive)
– Click here for more examples and further discussion.

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 To x For

– Could you send this invite out to everyone for me?

Thanks so much
– Could you send this invite out to everyone by the end
of the day?
– The notions of cartoon are important to Elena Sisto, in
that images from popular illustration and comics come
up in her paintings …
– Dr. Benton claims that breakfast is extremely important
for the elderly.
Tradução de Inglês/Ensino de Língua
Inglesa e Novas Tecnologias - Gramática II
 By X Until

By
• The last moment in which
something has to be
done.
• An ultimatum
• At or prior to a given time.
• The deadline itself.
Until
• The total amount of time
to accomplish something.
• A grace period
• Prior to a time that follows
• Lead-up to the deadline
 Complex prepositions

• Adverb/Preposition + Preposition: along with, as for,

away from, out of, up to
• Verb/Adjective/Conjunction + Preposition: owing to, due
to, because of
• Preposition + Noun + Preposition: by means of, in
comparison with, in front of

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 Why treat them as semantic units?

• Direct equivalence, e.g. • Incorporation of verb

I'm in! meaning e.g. Up from
• Transferred meanings e.g. down Under
Are we on for tonight? • Idiomatic nature e.g. I'm
• Possibility of into you, I'm on the case
compounding e.g. He was • Lexicalizing nature e.g.
up and about soon after The firefighters had
the surgery. some trouble outing the
fire.
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 Word class

• Prepositions and adverbs e.g. run along the stream x

pass along; run past the house x run past
• Prepositions and conjunctions e.g. after dinner x after
they got home
• Conjunction equivalents e.g. despite the rain x
although it was raining; because of the foul weather x
because the weather was foul

Tradução de Inglês/Ensino de Língua

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 Despite or In spite of?

• Despite the rain = In spite of the rain

• Despite it raining all day,… = In spite of it raining all
day,…
• Despite the fact that it was raining all day,… = In spite of
the fact that it was raining all day,…

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 Common difficulties for users

• Similar in meaning e.g. in, into, inside, within

• Words similar in meaning with different dependent
preposition e.g. arrive at/ get to; fond of/keen on
• Verbs with and without dependent preposition e.g.
talk about x discuss; arrive at x reach
• No preposition needed e.g. enter in
• Different part of speech, different preposition e.g.
synonymous with x synonym of; independent of x
independence from
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 Syntactic function

• Many prepositions function as other parts of speech in

English, in particular as adverbs.
• When a word is functioning as a preposition, it is followed
by a noun phrase.
• When used by itself, this word is able to inform us how,
where and when. In other words, it works as an adverb of
manner, place or time.

Tradução de Inglês/Ensino de Língua

Inglesa e Novas Tecnologias - Gramática II
 Adverb or preposition?

• Have you ever seen a live college basketball game

before? ADVERB
• A sign outside the arena said my two favorite teams were
playing inside. PREPOSITION, ADVERB
• Come along; let's get to our seats before the game.
ADVERB, PREPOSITION
• The teams came out to warm up before the game.
ADVERB, PREPOSITION

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 Adverb or preposition?

• At half time, one team was ahead by eight points.

PREPOSITION
• A player threw the ball in from the sideline. ADVERB,
PREPOSITION
• We talked around during halftime. ADVERB,
PREPOSITION
• After the game, the winners were given the championship
trophy inside the locker room. PREPOSITION,
PREPOSITION
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 Dependent prepositions

• Like in many languages, the use of a given

preposition is determined by other word classes,
namely verbs, adjectives and nouns
• The choice of a given preposition is generally
semantically driven, although the relationship
between the word and its corresponding
preposition may not be clear, e.g. worried about
Tradução de Inglês/Ensino de Língua
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 Adjective + preposition

• My granddad is very dependent ON my parents.

• The film is based ON a novel by Virginia Woolf.
• I know it's rusty and everything, but I'm so attached TO it.
• Bill is emotionally detached FROM his parents. He hardly
chats with them.
• MacDonald's has become synonymous WITH an
unhealthy diet.

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 Adjective + preposition

• The employees kept quiet ABOUT the case of creative

accounting that was unearthed last week.
• You can't say anything to her. She's impervious TO any
sort of criticism.
• The working hours are incompatible WITH family life.
• His unruly behavior at school is indicative OF a deeper
psychological problem.
• It is the teacher's duty to be concerned WITH/ABOUT the
weak students.
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 Forming three-word phrasals

• I think we've just run out OF coffee. We will have to get

some in the morning.
• Does anybody feel up TO Mick's party tonight?
• My boss asked me to stand in FOR him during his week
off from the office.
• Being a father has helped him learn to face up TO his
responsibilities.

Tradução de Inglês/Ensino de Língua

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 Forming three-word phrasals

• The Chief of Staff has been coming in FOR a shower of

criticism for the way he has tried to make little of the
accusations against him of fraud and embezzlement.
• I don't really go in FOR team sports; give me a tennis
racket or a pair of trainers any day!
• The troops plan to pull out OF the occupied territories for
economic reasons.

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 Prepositions in idioms

• As mentioned before, several idiomatic expressions are

catalogued based on the head preposition e.g. at, in , on
• It would be best to learn them as chunks, although the
semantic content may/may not be evident to or felt by the
user.
• Click here for more examples.

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 Coordinators and Subordinators

• For (Reason) • Because (Reason)

• And (Addition) • While
• Nor (Negative Addition) (Simultaneity/Contrast)
• But (Contrast, • If (Condition)
concession) • Although (Concession)
• Or (Choice) • Since (Explanation)
• Yet (Contrast with • Unless (Negative
unexpected result) Condition)
• Whereas (Contrast)
• So (Result or
• Whether (Condition)
consequence) Ensino de Língua Inglesa e Novas
Tecnologias - Gramática II
 And x But x Or?

• To join a final thing to the rest of a list.

– When I visited India, I went to Mumbai, Delhi AND
Bangalore.

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 And x But x Or?

• To join two ideas, opinions or facts which are

different in a sentence.
– I’ve been to Thailand, BUT I haven’t been to the
Philippines.

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 And x But x Or?

• To join two adjectives which seem to be opposite

in meaning.
– My hotel room was clean BUT uncomfortable.

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 And x But x Or?

• To connect different possibilities, or the last thing

in a list of possibilities
– I don’t know why Sayed hasn´t come to class; he may
be ill, OR he may be too busy.

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 And x But x Or?

• To mean one thing and also not the other in a

negative sentence
– I haven’t been to Korea OR Thailand.

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 Correlative conjunctions

• Hardly had the men started training than they were sent
out to fight.
• Hardly had she opened her mailbox when she got a
notification of the message.
• No sooner had I walked through the door had than the
phone rang.
• Not only can he make people laugh but can also do
very dramatic roles..

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Inglesa e Novas Tecnologias - Gramática II
 Correlative conjunctions

• Not only can he make people laugh but can also do

very dramatic roles.
• What with one thing and another, I didn’t go to bed till
after two in the morning.
• He was determined both to beat the record and to win
over the crowd.

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As head of the subordinate clause

• She used to call me "Tiny" although I was as tall

as she was.
• Three more nuclear stations were built
despite/in spite of widespread opposition
• Even though I have a degree in Business
Administration, I can't fill out a tax form.
• Doctors' salaries have risen considerably
whereas/while nurses' pay have dropped.

Ensino de Língua Inglesa e Novas

Tecnologias - Gramática II
 Dependent on punctuation

• Car crashes have become rare; even so, there

should be stricter safety regulations
• Prices have been rising. It is unlikely, however,
that this increase is going to continue for long.
• It is a grueling competition. Nevertheless,
thousands of runners take part every year.
• Urban expansion would be a good thing. On the
other hand, it would be sad to lose the
countryside atmosphere.
Ensino de Língua Inglesa e Novas
Tecnologias - Gramática II
 Joining sentences

• The last storm to come through the area ripped

galvanized sheets off of houses like someone tearing
pieces of paper, so residents visited hardware stores
and invested in storm-proofing materials.
• Enrollment in universities has been increasing steadily in
spite of the fact that facilities have been lacking proper
maintenance.

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Inglesa e Novas Tecnologias - Gramática II
 Joining sentences

• Plans for renovating downstairs into an upscale shopping

center were finalized; therefore/consequently
discussions began on budgeting city funds for the project.
• Although/Even though Vincent had prepared and
practiced for the presentation thoroughly, the projector
died and the presentation was a complete flop.
• I had to hand the project over to Max because you didn't
respond to any of my e-mails.

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 Using auxiliaries to avoid
repetition
• Short answers: Should I revise for the test? I think you
should
• Comments: "I thought the film was wonderful." "I didn't."
• Subsequent responses: "I wish you'd lock the door
when you come in." "But I did!"
• With more than one auxiliary: "He could have been
lying." "Yes, he could/he could have/he could have
been."

Ensino de Língua Inglesa e Novas

Tecnologias - Gramática II
 Reduced infinitives

• To give continuity to thoughts expressed, e.g.

"Haven't you done the washing-up?" "No, I'm just about
to."
• To respond politely, e.g. "Are you coming for a walk?"
“Sorry, but I won’t be able to."
• To comment: She's less moody than she used to be.

Ensino de Língua Inglesa e Novas

Tecnologias - Gramática II
 Discourse markers – things to consider

• Frequency of usage
• Register or context
• Size of connected element: blocks of text or short
phrases e.g. furthermore x as well
• Sentence position: before a clause e.g. so, thus; within
clauses e.g. also, therefore; at the end of sentences e.g.
too, though

Ensino de Língua Inglesa e Novas

Tecnologias - Gramática II
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 Useful links

• http://www.natcorp.ox.ac.uk/
• http://corpus.byu.edu/bnc/
• http://www.sk.com.br/sk-pdv.html
• http://www.englishpage.com/prepositions/verb_prepositio
n.html
• http://grammar.yourdictionary.com/parts-of-
speech/prepositions/idioms-that-begin-with-
prepositions.html
• www.sk.com.br/sk-conn.html

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