English

Practical English Grammar

compound prepositions and the preposition adverb question

A compound preposition has the same function as the regular, one-word
preposition. It connects a noun (or pronoun) to another word in the sentence.
The sole difference with the compound preposition is that it contains
more than one word!

according to	ahead of	apart from	as of
aside from	because of	by means of	in addition to
in back of	in front of	in place of	in spite of
instead of	in view of	next to	on account of
out of	prior to

According to the author, this event happened in 1334.
We sat next to him.
In addition to the shed, we will also have to paint the basement floor.
We had a great time in spite of the nasty weather.

The Preposition-Adverb Question
The same word can be an adverb in one sentence and a preposition in
another sentence. How do you tell the difference? Simple! Both an adverb
and a preposition answer the same questions—When?Where? How? To what
extent?—but only the adverb does it in a single word. The preposition needs
other words to answer the same questions.

I walked around. (adverb) (Where did I walk? around)
I walked around the block (preposition). (Where did I walk? around the block)
The terrified dog scampered past (adverb). (Where did the dog scamper?
past)
The terrified dog scampered past us (preposition). (Where did the dog scamper?
past us)
Kenny, look beyond (adverb). (Where should Kenny look? beyond)
Kenny, look beyond your present troubles (preposition). (Where should Kenny
look? beyond his present troubles)

Notes

Practical English Grammar - Notes

1. Italics Hyphens and Brackets