What do you say when someone asks you about prepositions you mostly know about simple prepositions like on, at, in etc. but there are two more types compound and complex.
What are Compound Prepositions?
Compound Prepositions are phrases made up of a combination of two or three words which acts as prepositions. These are different from simple prepositions as they are made up of a combination of two or three words.
Though, their function is the same. Just as simple prepositions act as one-word connectives, compound prepositions act as two-word or three-word connectives.
Compound Prepositions are also known as complex prepositions or phrasal prepositions.
How to Form Compound Prepositions
Let us understand the structure of two-word compound prepositions. The first word is usually an adjective, adverb, or conjunction. The second word is a simple preposition.
The three-word compound prepositions have a different structure. The first and the last words here are simple prepositions, and the central one is either a noun or an article.
Examples of Compound Prepositions
Following is a list of two-word compound prepositions:
| according to | due to |
| along with | except for |
| apart from | instead of |
| because of | prior to |
| contrary to | regardless of |
Here are some frequently used sentences with two-word compound prepositions.
- According to his mother, he always gets up late in the morning.
- As of next week, we are visiting the library.
- The officials in the meeting wasted a lot of time arguing instead of agreeing.
- My house is next to the old lady’s house.
- My father likes to cut pictures out of my magazines.
Following are some examples of three-letter compound prepositions:
| in aid of | in line with |
| on behalf of | in relation to |
| in front of | with reference to |
| in accordance with | with respect to |
| in line with | by means of |
Let us look at some sentences used in daily life with three-word compound prepositions in them.
- He ran away from the dog as far as he could.
- Her aunt attended the ceremony on behalf of her mother.
- There is an ice cream shop in front of the park.
- I have a Yoga class in addition to my therapy session today.
- They carried their bags on top of their heads.
Conclusion:
There are different types of prepositions based on their job in a sentence. Keep exploring EnglishBix to learn all and explore preposition worksheets for your kids to help them learn faster.
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