10

Prepositions

The same teachers who misled you about adverbs probably shortchanged you on your prepositions lesson, too. Schoolkids are told that prepositions show where one thing is located relative to another: above, over, between, on, in, and under are examples trotted out. Conveniently left out of the discussion are the prepositions about, of, to, with, and others that have nothing to do with physical location.

Those teachers can be forgiven for shielding young minds from harsh reality: there is no clear, simple, and satisfying definition of prepositions.

The most complete definition of prepositions amounts to circular logic: prepositions are the headwords in prepositional phrases. In most cases, those phrases also include an object—a noun phrase partnered with the preposition. Examples will help:

The icing is on the cake.

They gave the promotion to Claire.

He served with honor.

They are from South Carolina.

You’re in trouble.

It’s somewhere over the rainbow.

Glenn is on the phone.

They were talking about me.

This is just between us.

In each of the examples above, the preposition has a noun phrase as its object. These are in the objective case. That means that when they’re pronouns, they take object forms like him, us, me, and her instead of nominative forms like he, we, I, and she.

This means that, technically, between you and me is correct and between you and I is a grammatical error. Though it’s important to note that between you and I is idiomatic.

Similarly, a common error is to use a subject pronoun like I in coordinate noun phrases that call for an object pronoun like me. Talk to John or I, for example, would be better as Talk to John or me. For a look at case in coordinate noun phrases, see chapter 16, this page.

Another important thing to note about prepositions can be seen in the following examples:

He was bored by the lesson. = He was bored with the lesson. = He was bored of the lesson.

Rob has an affinity for Jess. = Rob has an affinity with Jess.

Jones differs from Wilson on this matter. = Jones differs with Wilson on this matter.

Its architecture is dissimilar from the surrounding structures. = Its architecture is dissimilar with the surrounding structures.

I’m embarrassed by my uncle. = I’m embarrassed of my uncle.

If it’s not clear which of the prepositions above are right, that’s because there’s often no right answer. Terms that pair a noun, adjective, or verb with a preposition to achieve a special meaning don’t follow any rule more specific than the one that sounds best probably is best. These expressions are all idiomatic. So their correctness—or their subtle shades of meaning or appropriateness from context to context—is based on little more than popularity.