Miscellaneous Prepositions

Prepositions indicating Agency, instrumentality

These are some of the most important prepositions of agency, instrumentality:

at; by; through; with

By

Concept 1

‘by’ is used in passive voice

Pattern: Noun + $V_3$ + by + Passive Subject

A letter was written by me. (passive voice; me – passive subject)

Concept 2

by + $V_{ing}$ - means by the medium of

By painting an awesome picture he proved that he was pretty creative.

Prepositions with forms of transport

We use prepositions with modes of transportation when they come with ‘go’/‘come’/‘travel’/‘arrive’ etc.

Concept 1

To talk about means of transport, we use ‘by’.

Pattern: by + noun (means of transport)

E.g. by bicycle, by car/taxi/bus/train, by boat/ ship/plane, by air/sea.

We do not use ‘the’ or ‘a/an’ before the noun in such cases.

We travelled by a/the train. (incorrect)
We travelled by train. (correct)

Concept 2

We do not use ‘by’ when the reference is to a specific bicycle, car, train, etc. Rather:
We use ‘on’ to mean a specific bicycle, bike, bus, train, ship or plane, and
We use ‘in’ to mean a specific car, taxi, van, lorry or ambulance.

Pattern: on + determiner + Bus / Train / Ship / Plane / Bicycle / Scooter / Bike /……
Pattern: in + determiner + Car / Taxi /……..

Jennifer went to the hills by my bike. (incorrect)
Jennifer went to the hills on my bike. (correct)

I will go by the 9.30 bus. (incorrect)
I will go on the 9.30 bus. (correct)

We travelled by Mr. Sharma’s car. (incorrect)
We travelled in Mr. Sharma’s car. (correct)

We came by a taxi. (incorrect)
We came in a taxi. (correct)

Concept 3

We use ‘by’ in certain common phrases:
I turned the heater off by mistake.

Other phrases like this include:
by accident; by phone; by bus/car, etc.; by air/road/rail/land/sea; by cheque/credit card; by degrees/stages; by heart; by force; by hand; by post/fax/e-mail (or E-mail).

With

With as a preposition

It means with the help of something.

With (as a preposition) is always followed by an object.

Pattern: with + object

He will go with me. (me - object)
We should shoot with a camera and not with a gun.

With as a coordinating conjunction

When we use ‘with’ as a conjunction, it comes in the middle of two nouns. Here first noun/pronoun will act as a subject and verb will agree with this first noun/pronoun.

Pattern: Noun/Pronoun + with + Noun/Pronoun (in objective case)

She with her friends is going to see a movie.

This structure will be followed only if it’s logical. That is, we generally use noun + verb + with + noun. But if the use of ‘with’ after verb makes the sense ambiguous, we should keep ‘with + object’ before the verb.

Many books were bought with leather bindings. (incorrect - mild error, as it’s a little ambiguous)
Many books with leather binding were bought. (correct)

He ate chips with his friends. (incorrect - mild error, as it’s a little ambiguous)
He with his friends ate chips. (correct)

By Vs. With

We use both ‘by’ and ‘with’ to talk about how something is done, but there are some minor differences.

• ‘with’ (followed by a noun) is often used to denote an instrument, i.e. to talk about what we use to do something.

• ‘by’ (followed by a noun or gerund) is often used to denote the agent or the action, i.e. to talk about who did it or what action we took to do something.

He was stabbed by a lunatic with a dagger. (lunatic – agent; dagger - instrument)

He avoided the accident by braking hard with his foot. (braking – action; foot - instrument)

Preposition of Exceptions or Additions

Except

Except as a preposition

Except / Except for – they mean ‘with the exception of’ or ‘excluding something’

To introduce the thing(s) or person(s) that the main part of the sentence does not include → We use ‘except or except for’

I do not attend any class, except the Economy class of Hawking sir. (correct)
I do not attend any class, except for the Economy class of Hawking sir. (correct)

I had no money to give to the beggar except a couple of coins. (correct)
I had no money to give to the beggar except for a couple of coins. (correct)

Everyone is invited except you. (correct)
Everyone is invited except for you. (correct)

Except as a conjunction

Except that + Subject + Verb

I didn’t tell her anything except that I was in CIA.

Except Vs. Except for

Concept 1

To show that a general statement made in the main part of the sentence is not completely true → We use except for (rather than except)

The bike was undamaged in the accident, except for the side mirrors.

Except for the low marks in Maths, the result couldn’t have been better.

Concept 2

Before prepositions, to-infinitives, bare infinitives, and that clauses → We use except (not except for)

You can buy liquor anywhere in India except in Gujrat. (in - preposition)

I rarely need to go to the mall except to do some grocery shopping. (to do – to-infinitive)

There is not much you can do except keep an eye on his health parameters. (keep – bare infinitive)

These aliens look just like humans, except (that) they are shorter in height. (that clause; the word ‘that’ may be left out)

but Vs. except (for)

We can use ‘but’ with a similar meaning to ‘except (for)’, particularly after negative words such as no, nobody, and nothing.

Soon after regaining consciousness, I could remember nothing but / except (for) / apart from my name.

There is no way to success but / except / apart from consistent hard work.

But for

But – it means except
But for – it means without. It is a phrasal form.

Everybody was invited to the party but me.

But for hard work, we can’t succeed.

but for Vs. except for

The meanings of ‘but for’ and ‘except for’ are different.

We use ‘but for’ to introduce a negative idea. Using it we say what might have happened if other things had not happened. So, use:

• ‘but for’ to introduce a negative idea and
• ‘except for’ to introduce an exception.

The GDP would have grown by 8% this year but for the COVID epidemic last year. (i.e. if it hadn’t been for the epidemic…)

But for his broken arm, Hardik Pandya would probably have been picked for the cricket team for Australian tour. (i.e. if it hadn’t been for his broken arm…)

Sans

Sans - it means without (It is a French word.)

For example, Sans your cooperation – that is, without your cooperation.

What would I do sans books.

Besides

‘besides’ – it means ‘as well as’ or ‘in addition to’ (and not ‘with the exception of’)

Compare the following two sentences:

I don’t like reading any novels except (for) science fiction. (I like only science fiction novels)
Besides science fiction, I like reading crime mysteries and thrillers. (I enjoy three categories)

Beside Vs. Besides

Beside – it means at (or by) the side of / adjacent to / next to
besides – it means in addition to

Nicole came and kept a flute besides her. (incorrect)
Nicole came and kept a flute beside her. (correct)

Beside a beautiful wife, he also has an awesome job. (incorrect)
Besides a beautiful wife, he also has an awesome job. (correct)

Apart from

We can use ‘apart from’ instead of except (for) and besides. So, ‘apart from’ can have multiple meanings. It may mean:

• with the exception of
  I don’t enjoy reading any novel apart from Dan Brown’s. (i.e. except for)

• in addition to / as well as
  Apart from novels, I enjoy reading short stories. (i.e. besides)

With

With – it indicates combination, accompaniment or addition.

I will be with you no matter what.

Despite vs. In spite of

Despite – it means in spite of / regardless of / notwithstanding / nevertheless

Despite working hard, she failed. (correct)
In spite of working hard, she failed. (correct)

Prepositions to mean ‘concerning’

About

‘about’ may have many meanings:

• concerning something/on the subject of/something special in one’s character
  
  It’s about Pearl Harbor. It has been attacked this morning. (it’s concerned with Pearl Harbor)
  There’s something odd about him. (something special in one’s character)

• Approximately
  
  Agra is about 200 kilometres away from Delhi.

• around something
  
  When I entered the room, I found the household articles spread all about the floor.

• We use about + infinitive to indicate ‘intention to do action’
  
  We are about to start a new company.

about Vs. on

Apart from ‘about’, we can also use ‘on’ to mean ‘concerning something’

Today’s class is on the topic of Quantum Entanglement.
Today’s class is about Quantum Entanglement.

However, there are many verbs after which we prefer one or the other. Let’s see some of such verbs.

Concept 1

We can use either ‘about’ or ‘on’ after some verbs and nouns (use of ‘about’ is considered more informal, while use of ‘on’ is considered formal):

• the verbs such as - advise, agree, decide, disagree, lecture, speak, speculate, talk, write
• the nouns such as - advice, agreement, book/article/paper, consultation, decision, idea, information, lecture, opinion, question

We were starting to speculate about/on the intentions of Iran in nuclear field.

Stephan Hawking spoke on the recent advances in string theory. (this suggests a formal speech such as a lecture)

Sheldon was pretty impressed when Priya spoke about the ideal roommate agreement. (this suggests an informal conversation)

Concept 2

We use ‘about’ (rather than ‘on’) after:

• the following verbs - argue, complain, find out, joke, know, protest, quarrel, read, teach (someone), tell (someone), worry; ask, enquire/inquire, learn, think; agree, hear, laugh; care, wonder
  
  We didn’t find out about Natasha’s condition until she got an MRI.

• the following nouns - argument, chat, fuss, joke, letter, misunderstanding, quarrel
  
  Misunderstanding about spooky effect at a distance in quantum physics is pretty common.

Prepositions of Manner

For example: saved by inches; fought with courage; worked with zeal, won with ease.

Prepositions of Cause, Reason, Purpose

For example: worked for the cause of poverty; died of covid; suffers from malaria; lost his helmet through negligence; shivers with fever; because of your failure.

Because

Concept 1: Because as preposition

Pattern: because of + object

I could not attend the class because my illness. (incorrect)
I could not attend the class because of my illness. (correct)

The thief ran away because the arrival of the police squad. (incorrect)
The thief ran away because of the arrival of the police squad. (correct)

Concept 2: Because as conjunction

Pattern: because + Subject + verb

I could not attend the class because of I was ill. (incorrect)
I could not attend the class because I was ill. (correct)

Prepositions of Possession

For example: the temples of Varanasi; the girl with tattoo; I have no money on me.

Of

‘of‘ as preposition can be used to:

• indicate possession (for non-living things).
  table’s leg (incorrect)
  leg of table (correct)

• indicate origin
  She comes of an elite family.

• indicate characteristics
  The problems of this country are unique.

Prepositions of measure, standard, rate, value

Prepositions of measure, standard, rate, value:

This bank charges interest at 8%.
Cloth is sold by the meter.
It is two o’clock by the grandfather clock.
She is taller than you by three centimeters.

Prepositions of contrast, concession

For example:

For one flaw he has a hundred virtues.
For (in spite of) all her power she is not content.
After (in spite of, notwithstanding) every effort, we lost him.
With (in spite of) all her faults I admire her.

Against

Against as preposition can be used to mean:

• In opposition to / contrary to.
  He was writing against corrupt political leaders.
  It is almost impossible to sail against a strong current.

• Hostility to
  I am against ultra-feminism.

• in contact with/leaning on something
  Do not stand against the wall. It has recently been painted.

Prepositions of Inference, motive, source, or origin

For example:

Here’s a quotation from one of your students.
From what I know of him, I hesitate to trust him.
She did it from a sense of gratitude.
Golden light rays emanate from the sun.

Other Miscellaneous Prepositions

Like

Like as a preposition may mean:

• resemblance
  Andy is swimming like a fish. (like - preposition)  
• for example
  I don’t like (verb) people like (preposition) Churchill, Gandhi, etc.

‘as’ Vs. ‘like’

As – it means ‘in the form of’

I am your friend and like a friend I advise you not to flirt with danger. (incorrect)
I am your friend and as a friend I advise you not to flirt with danger. (correct)

We use ‘as’ (rather than ‘like’) with some verbs:

Pattern: describe / define / portray / depict / regard / respect / treat + noun/pronoun (meaning somebody/something) + as/like

I respect you like my father. (incorrect)
I respect you as my father. (correct)

Extra Books and Tools

If you prefer to learn via books, or want some good English Grammar books for reference purposes, you may read this article which enlists some of the books recommended by us.