Grammar:

Prepositions and Conjuctions

In this lesson, you will learn about words that help us show relationships between ideas.

Prepositions and conjunctions are words that help us express how ideas in a sentence are related.

Prepositions

Prepositions describe the position or relationship between words and ideas in a sentence. Review the following list of common prepositions and notice how most indicate position in time or space.

Examples of prepositions: among, after, inside, on, into, since, toward, under, during, from, within

Prepositions are always followed by nouns. This is called a prepositional phrase. See below:

• Among the trees
• Into the car
• During my lunch break
• From my grandmother

Conjunctions

Conjunctions join (or conjoin) words or parts of a sentence. Two important types of conjunctions are coordinating conjunctions and subordinating conjunctions.

Examples of coordinating conjunctions: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so

Note: The word “fanboys” can help you remember these conjunctions.

Examples of subordinating conjunctions: after, even though, unless, although, as long as, because, once, since, than, that, until, when, while (this is not a complete list of all conjunctions)

In the example sentences below, notice how the prepositions join two parts of a sentence:

I cannot go swimming because I just ate a big meal.

People had to find information at the library before the internet was developed.

When a sentence begins with a subordinating conjunction, a comma is placed after the first clause. See the examples below:

Because I just ate a big meal, I cannot go swimming.

Before the internet was developed, people had to find information at the library.