Key to English prepositions doc

The function of prepositions in English is to connect nouns and noun-like constructions to other parts of the sentence, They do, of course, have some inherent meaning on the table is q

the key

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the key to english

PREPOSITIONS 1

A Division of The Macmillan Company

Collier-Macmillan Limited, London

© Copyright THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 1964

All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced or

utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical

including photocopying, recording or by any information storage

and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the Publisher

Philippines Copyright 1964

by THE MACMILLAN COMPANY

Fourth Printing 1968

The Macmillan Company, New York

Collier-Macmillan Canada, Ltd., Toronto, Ontario

Printed in the United States of America

PREFACE

This manual is intended for use by students working alone or as supplementary drill material in a class The

level of difficulty is intermediate It is assumed that the

student has control of the basic grammatical structures of

the language but has not attained great fluency This book

and its companion volume (The Key to English Preposi- sions 2) are designed to acquaint the learner of English

with as many as possible of the most useful grammatical

patterns and idioms involving prepositions in everyday

English Usages that are restricted to formal or oratorical style have been omitted except where they have been included to point out a contrast

What Is A Preposition?

In English, prepositions are an important class of func-

tion words By “function word” we mean one that has little meaning in the dictionary sense, but whose main pur- pose in the language is to relate other words to each other

and to form grammatical structures The function of

prepositions in English is to connect nouns (and noun-like

constructions) to other parts of the sentence, They do, of

course, have some inherent meaning (on the table is quite

different from under the table; on usually means “resting

on the upper surface of” and under usually means “lower

than”), but we shall see that we can not always depend

on logic or meaning to tell us which preposition must be

used in which expression For instance, we live at an

address, in a house, on a street, and in a city There is

quite a difference between throwing something at someone

and throwing it to someone; and to get along with someone

and to get along without someone are not opposites but

entirely different ideas It is impossible to speak or under-

stand English well without a good knowledge of the use

Vv

and meaning of prepositions, and this knowledge cannot

be acquired from the dictionary; it must be gained in practice and experience

A prepositional phrase consists of the preposition and its following noun (or noun-like construction) If a form that looks like a preposition does not have a noun after it,

it is not a preposition in that sentence For instance, by

can be used in phrases like by John, by the man, by study- ing French, by him, by now In each case it is a preposi-

tion However, in the sentence “He went by,” there is no

noun following, and by is an adverb

Prepositions Are Small But Important Words

Most prepositions are short words, and they are almost always spoken with weak stress in the sentence The

listener has to be alert for them Nevertheless, these little words carry important elements of meaning, as we have

seen They express such ideas as location, destination,

direction of motion, time, manner, agent, and many others

There are about fifty words in English that function as

prepositions Some of the most common are of, in, on, by,

to, at, from, and with There are also many two- and

three-word prepositions, such as out of, because of, accord- |

ing to, in front of, and the like Words like but, except,

and concerning, which often function as other classes of

words, can also be prepositions

When the learner is practicing the sentences in this

book, he must be careful not to stress the prepositions,

but must always say them with their normal weak stress

How This Book Is Organized

The material in this book is organized into six units of unequal length, each consisting of one or more lessons The units are arranged according to the ideas expressed

by the prepositions in various contexts The same

prepo-sition often occurs in more than one unit For example,

at is in Units 1, 2, and 3; by is in all of the first four;

and so on

Each unit is designed as an independent entity Neither

the content nor the difficulty of the units in sequence is

cumulative The vocabulary has not been rigorously con-

trolled, and for that reason the student may need a bilin-

gual dictionary along with this book, but in general the

vocabulary is on the intermediate level

The book presents the most basic and frequently en-

countered meanings of the common prepositions, though

it does not claim to be exhaustive For further informa-

tion on prepositions, the learner is referred to The Key to

English Prepositions 2, which presents several hundred

idiomatic uses of prepositions, organized according to the

choice of preposition following certain constructions (sus- picious of, delighted at, aware of) or preceding certain

nouns (on a hopeful note)

The lessons include short expository statements and lists

of idioms, but the bulk of the material is designed to teach

the prepositions in context Sometimes the context con-

sists of a single sentence, but there are also consecutive

exercises of various kinds and several tests that can be used as check-ups

This book is one of THE Key To ENGLISH SERIES pre- pared for the Collier-Macmillan English Program by the

Materials Development Staff of English Language Serv-

ices, Inc., under the co-direction of Edwin T Cornelius,

Jr., and Willard D Sheeler The Key to English Prepositions

1 was written by Sara Withers and Earle W Brockman

CONTENTS

Unit 1: PLACE AND POSITION

1 at, in, on, off, across, about, around, between, among,

2

3

4

au

oD

ON

11

12

throughout 2.6 ccc ccc nce eee eee V2 1

over, above, below, under, beneath, underneath,

inside, outSide 0 cc ee cee neces ó

by, beside, near, against, behind, (in) back of, in front

Oƒ, qhead oƒ, beyond, aÌong 11

next to, close to, far from, after, before 17

Unit 2: DIRECTION AND MOTION in, into, to, toward, out of, from, by, by way of, via 21

about, around, through, across, over, off, up, down, OHÍO, QỈ QC Q Q HQ HQ HH HN Ho HH H km V1 k KÝ và 28 Test on Unifs I and 3 34

Unit 3: TIME at, in, on, by, beƒfore, d[feF 37

for, during, since, until, till, through, throughout, around, about, from to (till, until) 46

Time Idioms 52

Tĩme ldioms 56

Test on Unit 3 6]

Unit 4: MANNER, AGENT, OR INSTRUMENT

Idioms involving Öy ó3

by, with, in, lK€ c ee eee eens ó7

Unit 5: MEASUREMENT, NUMBER,

OR AMOUNT

13 Idioms .- 72

Unit 6: MISCELLANEOUS PREPOSITIONS

14 as, like, to, between, of, in, for, with, along with,

together with, without, because of, on account of, due to, instead of, according to, besides, about,

concerning, in spite oƒ, despile 78

Test on Units 4, ð, qnd 8 87

ANSWERS TO EXERCISES .0.0 0c cc eeee cence 89

Unit 1: PLACE AND POSITION

The lid is on The lid is off

The children gathered around

about

cy

The books are between There is one apple among

the book ends the bananas

the teacher

2 PLACE AND POSITION

on the first (second, etc.) floor

in a/the car, truck, taxi

on the bus

on a/the boat, ship, train, plane

at: presence or contact

They are at the grocery store

When will you be at the swimming pool?

in: enclosure, being surrounded by something

Mary is in the swimming pool now

They are in the United States

Mr Brown is in the house now

You'll find those papers in the desk drawer

Note: In is used with cities, countries and large divisions

of countries; at is used in reference to smaller places (See

also Lesson 5.)

They are taking a vacation in Italy now

They are at the airport in Washington

John is in Wisconsin studying at the university

Mr Glenn is staying at a big hotel in California

on: in contact with the top surface of another object

The book is on the desk

The paper is on the table

The dog was lying on the ground

PLACE AND POSITION 3

Contrast: in vs on We sit in a chair but on a couch or

sofa In the U.S., people say that a house is on a Street,

avenue, road, etc (In England, people say in a street.)

In the U.S., in the street means “in the roadway, where

cars go.” We ride on a bus or plane, but in a taxi When

we say someone is on the road we mean he is traveling

They were on the road for two days during their trip

off: opposite of on; away from another object, or sepa-

rated from it

The book fell off the table

The shade is off the lamp

Their house is off the main road

across: opposite from

Mr and Mrs Lewis live across the street from us

I used to have an apartment across the hall from

hers

around: near or on all sides of

She has a scarf around her neck

about: on all sides of

He gathered his family about him

between: in the space separating two things

Katherine is sitting between Dick and Tom

The bank is between the hotel and the hospital

among: with or surrounded by

Mary was standing among the other girls

Among the books on the table was a small one

bound in beautiful red leather

throughout: in all parts of

There was a drought throughout the southwest

Just now there is cold weather throughout the country

4 PLACE AND POSITION

Reading

George and Margaret Glenn and their children live on

Davis Street, across the street from a small park They live at 140 Davis Street Their house is in a convenient

location, just off the main road George usually goes to

work on the bus, but sometimes he goes in his car The

children usually go to school on the bus

The Glenns’ house is almost hidden among the trees

It has small bushes planted around it There is a fence

between it and the house next door It is a two-story

house, with the living room, dining room and kitchen on

the first floor, and the bedrooms and bathroom on the

second floor

The Glenns spend a lot of time at home .Right now they are at dinner Conversation at the Glenns’ house is usually lively at mealtime The children are discussing trips

they would like to take Susan, who has never been on a plane, says, “I'd like to take a plane to California.” Henry,

who is older, thinks it would be fun to be on a ship, head-

ing for adventure in Africa Teddy, the youngest child,

says, “I want to go around the world on a train.” His

older brother and sister are still trying to explain to him why this is not possible when their mother says, “Children,

you’ve spent too much time at the table Henry and Susan,

go and do your homework Teddy, it’s time you were in

bed.”

Soon there is silence throughout the house Teddy is

in bed, Susan and Henry are in their rooms studying, and

Mr and Mrs Glenn are in their living room, where George is sitting in his favorite chair reading the paper

and Margaret is sitting on the sofa, doing some sewing

Answer the questions about the reading in complete sen-

tences, using one of the prepositions or phrases from the

lesson

1 Where do the Glenns live?

2 Is their house on the main road?

Ge

PLACE AND POSITION

How does George Glenn usually go to work?

How do the children go to school?

Describe the Glenns’ house

Do the Glenns spend much time at home?

Has Susan even been on a plane?

How does Henry want to go to Africa?

How does Teddy want to go around the world?

Where do Henry and Susan do their homework?

Sentences for Practice

The Browns are at home now

Jim is at school today

The Harmons live at 135 Nelson Drive

They are at breakfast now

How long will Mr Bond be in town?

They have always lived in the city

She prefers to live in the country

The children were playing in the house

He’s always in bed early

I saw him in a new car

Mrs Brown is working in the kitchen

Joan was sitting in a chair

Jack was sitting on the sofa

Mary was sitting on the floor

The books were on the table

Our classroom is on the second floor

How long were you on the plane?

I like to travel on a train

I go to work on the bus

Their house is just off Main Street

Please take the newspaper off the floor

Park the car off the road

Mother took the dishes off the table

They are usually at church on Sunday morning

Don’t walk in the street Walk on the sidewalk

John was sitting on the sofa in the living room

5

6 PLACE AND POSITION

Written Exercise

Fill in the blanks with the correct prepositions

Benning Road In fact, their house is the

corner of Laurel Lane and Benning Road Mr Long goes

to his office the bus, and leaves the car for his wife She goes to the grocery store and does other errands

the car Mr and Mrs Long are usually

home in the evening Just now they are the living

newspaper the floor Mrs Long, who is a very

neat person, looks a little upset She can’t decide whether

she should say to Mr Long, “George, please pick the

pick it up herself In a few minutes she says, “Is there anything interesting the newspaper, dear?” “Not

very much,” answers Mr Long, but he takes his wife’s

hint, picks up the newspaper and puts it the table

under, underneath, beneath,

below at the bottom of

PLACE AND POSITION 7

over under inside

above beneath outside

below underneath

Idioms: on/at (the) top of

on/at the bottom of

Over, above: higher than, up in a perpendicular direction

from

The sky above our heads was a deep blue

The sky over our heads was a deep blue

Note: Over and above are often interchangeable

All over means in all parts of, throughout

There are farms all over the valley

Under, underneath, and beneath: lower than, down in a

perpendicular direction from

under

The ball of string was underneath the table

beneath

Below: at a point lower than

Some of the land in Holland is actually below sea

level

Reading

John Taylor is sixteen years old He is a nice boy, but neatness is not one of his qualities His room is always in

a mess, and there are often times when he can’t find some-

thing that he needs in a hurry One morning last week

before he left for school, he couldn’t find his fountain pen

He looked all over the room for it He looked on top of

8 PLACE AND POSITION

his desk, under the chair, inside the pockets of his clothes,

and at the bottom of his drawers under the books and

papers He even looked under the covers on his bed, and

under the rug He finally found it inside one of his tennis

shoes, on the floor

Sentences for Practice

A 1 Hang the picture above the fireplace

2

lu

4

Hang the picture over the fireplace

Look at the clouds above your head

Look at the clouds over your head

Look at the flag above the building

Look at the flag over the building

Turn on the light above the table

Turn on the light over the table

B These sentences are opposite in meaning

1

2

3

Put the soap in the cabinet over the sink

Put the soap in the cabinet under the sink

There’s a crack in the wall over the window

There’s a crack in the wall under the window

The temperature is above freezing today

The temperature is below freezing today

This land is just above sea level

This land is just below sea level

Put the magazines on the shelf above the books

Put the magazines on the shelf below the books

The children were playing inside the house

The children were playing outside the house

The bird was inside its cage

The bird was outside its cage

Put the milk bottle inside the door

Put the milk bottle outside the door.

PLACE AND POSITION 9

9 Put the suitcase at the bottom of the stairs

Put the suitcase at the top of the stairs

10 Write your name at the bottom of the page

Write your name at the top of the page

Exercises

A Read the following sentences aloud, filling in the blanks

with a preposition from the list Sometimes more than one preposition can be used

under on/at the bottom of

5 Read the paragraph the page

7 Put it the chair

8 The children were playing the tree

9 Their house is _ the hill

10 The temperature is just _ freezing

(say “‘No”’), using a preposition that has a meaning opposite

from or different from the one used in the question

1 Is your classroom directly above ours?

2 Is a chimney always at the bottom of a house?

10 PLACE AND POSITION

3 Did you tell him to leave the newspaper inside the

door?

4 Did the boy go under the fence?

5 Did you hang the new mirror under the picture?

C Make up sentences to explain or describe each of the

pictures below

LESSON THREE

near in front of along

against

Idioms: in the middle (of)

in the center (of)

in the rain ©

in the snow

in the sun(shine)

in the dark

By and beside are interchangeable and mean at the side of

Against means touching

Ahead of is normally used when thing are moving or are

arranged in a time sequence In front of is used whether

there is movement or not, but it does not refer to time

Beyond means farther away or on the other side of

Along means parallel to or following part of the length of

11

12 PLACE AND POSITION

Mary is standing beside The house is near the road

Jack The bicycle is in back of the

Mary is standing by Jack car

The bicycle is behind the

Flowers are growing along The bookcases are against

Their house is beyond that The table and the rug are

The table and rug are in the

middle of the room.

PLACE AND POSITION 13

Conversation

A Do you like to walk in the rain?

B No, I don’t like to walk in the rain very much, but I

like to walk in the snow Snow is pretty

A Snow is too cold I like warm weather I like to lie

in the sun in the summer

B Id rather stay in the shade when it’s hot

Reading

Here is a description of my living room Along one wall there are bookcases filled with books The sofa is

against the opposite wall Behind the sofa is a large win-

dow, and in front of the sofa is a low table A record player and record cabinet are against another wall Near them is a green armchair with a small table beside it and

a floor lamp behind it There is nothing in the middle of

the room One can see the hallway and the front door beyond the living room

Sentences for Practice

A 1 Jane is standing by the door

Harry is standing by the window

Who is that over there by the building?

What kind of a car is that parked by mine?

The post office is by the bank

„a

be

Jane is standing beside the door

Harry is standing beside the window

Who is that over there beside the building?

What kind of a car is that parked beside mine?

The post office is beside the bank

it

Ge

PLACE AND POSITION

Our house is near the school

George lives near his friend Jim

It’s convenient to live near one’s work

Chicago is not near New York

There is a public library near our house

We were sitting behind you at the movies last night

We were sitting in front of you at the movies last

night

You'll find the newspaper behind the door

You'll find the newspaper in front of the door

The children are playing behind the house

The children are playing in front of the house

They planted flowers along the path

We looked for shells along the shore

We walked along the road

People stood along the streets to see the Queen

We watched for road signs along the highway

He was standing ahead of me in the line at the bank

He was standing behind me in the line at the bank

The man ahead of us was walking very slowly

The man behind us was walking very slowly

Men used to wonder what lay beyond the horizon

Beyond the town, there are open fields

Their new house is beyond the bridge

Beyond the foothills are the mountains

We walked several miles beyond your house

The bookcase is against the wall

The bicycle is leaning against the garage

The paint is wet! Don’t lean against the fence!

They put a chair against the door to keep it open

My hometown is in the center of the state

They put the table in the center of the room.

PLACE AND POSITION 15

3 Some people drive in the middle of the road

4 The boy stood quietly in the middle of the room

5 There’s an island right in the middle of the lake

J 1 Ilike to walk in the rain

2 I don’t like to walk in the sun

3 Do you like to walk in the shade?

4 Henry doesn’t like to walk in the dark

Exercises

A Use each of the prepositions in the pattern sentences

given below Are you sure you understand the meaning in each case?

beside by near in back of in front of

1 Mary is sitting Jack

4 The child was standing the table

5 We saw the cows the barn

6 The express train was the local train

7 He was standing me in the cafeteria line

8 Jack’s car was ours

9 Was the D-2 bus the D-4?

10 What is that on the hill us?

B Change the meaning of the sentences below by changing

the italicized prepositions or phrases

1 He was standing beside me in the line at the ticket

window

2 Jack was admiring the beautiful new sports car ahead

of him.

1ó

PLACE AND POSITION

Mr Gray drove all the way home in the rain

They live quite far from the city

The dog stood in front of the house, barking at all

the people who passed

C Fill in the blanks in the sentences below, using a prepo- sition or a phrase from the list !f possible, use more than

One, noticing the difference in meaning

in the middle/center of

in the rain (snow, sunshine, dark, etc.)

the fence! It has just

been painted

Jack leaves his things his room

We lay at the beach all afternoon

He was sitting me

Please put those newspapers the door

I was sitting the fire reading when you called

Who is that girl walking the library?

Mr Taylor would like to live in the country, but his

wife prefers to live town

Put the vase of flowers the table

I noticed a pretty girl standing the sofa

I noticed the plants that were growing

stream

The horses were standing the wall

His house is out in the country, several miles

the city limits

People were standing

LESSON FOUR

far from

in the distance in the city

on board, aboard in the air

on land

Next to and close to are similar in meaning, except that next to means beside and close to simply means near

The bank is next to the post office

The bank is close to the grocery store

Alongside also means beside

Far from occurs most often in questions or negative state-

ments; if it occurs in statements (in everyday speech), it

usually has a word like very, quite, or too in front of it

Is the bank far from the grocery store?

No, the bank isn’t far from the grocery store

Before and after are very important as prepositions of

time, meaning earlier than and later than (See Lesson

7.) They are not often used in informal speech to refer

to place or position Before is used in literary English,

however, to refer to the place or position of people, but

in front of would be more commonly used in conversation

He bowed before the Queen

He stood in front of the door

17

18 PLACE AND POSITION

After is sometimes used in everyday speech to refer to the

place or position of people, but usually when the idea of

time is implied

He walked down the stairs after his wife

Aboard and on board mean on a ship (or other vehicle, such as a train or an airplane)

A note on the use of articles: There are many English

phrases consisting of preposition + noun where no article

is used Among these are: at home, at or in church, at or

in class, at or in school, at or in college, to college, to

class, to school, to church, at sea, in town, in bed, at

dinner, etc (But: In the country, in the suburbs, in the

city.) When a specific home, church, class, etc., is being

referred to, or when the noun is modified, then the article

is used in the normal way Study the examples below:

They are at home

They are at the home of friends

They are at church

They are at the church which Washington attended

He is in college

He is in the college that his father went to

They are living in town

They are living in the town where they grew up

Reading

Last winter Mr and Mrs Johnson decided to take a

cruise to some tropical islands They got on board a lux- urious ship, and in a little while they were at sea and head-

ing for the warm south On their third day at sea, as they were strolling up and down the deck, one of the ship’s

officers called their attention to a tiny speck in the dis- tance This was the first island they were to visit Of

course, they were too far from the island at first to see

PLACE AND POSITION 19

anything except a blurred outline, but as the ship came close to it, they could see white sand and gaily colored houses Eager to see all the sights, they left the ship with the other passengers, and went ashore in one of the little boats which came alongside their ship On the streets were

crowds of islanders, selling straw baskets, hats and other

souvenirs There were no automobiles on the island, and

there were palm trees and other tropical plants growing all around Mr Johnson stood next to a bright red tropi-

cal flower and his wife took a picture of him The John-

sons were glad to be on land again after their trip at sea

Answer these questions on the reading, using a preposition

or a phrase from this lesson

1 When Mr and Mrs Johnson were at sea, in which

direction were they traveling?

Why couldn’t they see the island very well at first?

What did the Johnsons see on the streets of the island?

Were there any automobiles on the island?

-

Sentences for Practice

A 1 The grocery store is next to the bank

The high school is next to the elementary school

Put the first volume next to the second volume

Is your car parked next to the curb?

Come and sit next to me

Does he live close to his office?

The chair is too close to the door

Don’t plant the flowers close to that tree

His hometown is close to mine

He pulled his chair close to the table

Is Chicago far from New York?

Is your house far from the city?

The child didn’t want to be far from its mother

20 PLACE AND POSITION

4, The place where I found the money is not far from

B In the sentences below, fill in the blanks with a preposi-

tion or phrase from the list given In some of the sentences,

more than one is possible

1

in town, in the city, in the air

The ship was for so long that it was believed

to be lost, but finally all the crew was found alive

It’s very convenient to live

Put the little table

The dormitory is not very

they are each other

Unit 2: DIRECTION AND MOTION

Idioms: arrive in/at

come, go, return to from north (south, east, west) of

to the north (south, east, west) (of)

in the north (south, east, west)

on the right (left) (of)

Into expresses the idea of entering In everyday speech,

in is often used in place of into

He went into the house

He went in the house

Jim dived into the swimming pool

Jim dived in the swimming pool

21

22 DIRECTION AND MOTION

From expresses separation

Washington is two hundred and fifty miles from

New York

Out of and from are both used in describing physical

action or movement Sometimes they are interchangeable

At other times, out of means from the inside to the outside

of something, while from simply tells the place where the

movement started

He came out of the house

He came straight home from school

Notice the difference in meaning in the following sentences:

He jumped away from the falling wall (in the op-

posite direction)

He jumped from the falling wall (off of)

He jumped away from the tree (in the opposite

direction)

He jumped tu the tree

To be from is used to state the place of origin of a person

or thing

Where is he from?

He’s from Oklahoma

Is that coffee from Central America or Brazil?

It’s from Brazil

By means past or beyond It suggests movement without stopping, or stopping only for a short time before continu-

ing

He passed by me without speaking to me

Would you mind stopping by the bakery for some

bread on your way home?

DIRECTION AND MOTION 23

By, by way of, and via mean through or passing through

door, please.”

We went to New York by way of Baltimore

This plane goes to Miami via Jacksonville and

Where are you from?

I’m from California

Are you? I’ve always wanted to go to California

You ought to do that some time California is an in- teresting state

San Francisco is north of Los Angeles, isn’t it?

Yes, it is, and my hometown is just a little to the

south of San Francisco>

How long does it take you to go into San Francisco

from your home town?

Oh, it takes about an hour We go by way of the new

inter-city highway That’s the quickest way

Can you tell me how to get to the Continental Hotel

That’s going toward town When you’ve gotten zo the

corner of Fifth and Main, you’re only a couple of

blocks from the Continental Walk down Main and

you'll see it on your left

Thank you very much.

24 DIRECTION AND MOTION

Sentences for Practice

1 Where did you go to college?

I went to college in Maine

2 Where did he go to college?

He went to the same college his father did

3 Where did Jim go to college?

Jim went to Yale

4 What time do you go to bed?

I go to bed about eleven

5 Does he go to bed early?

He usually goes to bed early

Did you go to bed late last night?

Yes, I went to bed late last night

My hometown is north of Chicago

His hometown is south of Chicago

They decided to move to the north

Their friends decided to move to the south

11 They’re living in the north now

12 We’re living in the south now

13 Where’s the bank?

It’s on the left side of the street

14 Where’s the library?

It’s three blocks north of here

15 Where’s the school?

Look to your right You'll see it just left

of the church

— ©w@oœx

Exercises

A Practice the sentence patterns below, using each of the

following prepositions in turn:

1 John walked the building

2 Did the child run the house?

I watched him go the library

He came the office

Please throw the trash the wastebasket

They will arrive the station New York

at 5 o’clock

Is he Spanish? No, he’s

I want to go to California see the Grand Canyon

Do you know where he went college?

I am in New York What is the quickest way to go

Mr Ross, and Mrs Clayton sat

The weather is warm the south, even in the

winter If you like warm weather, you’d better go

the south

The Mona Lisa, probably the most famous painting

in the world, came Washington and New

York Paris in January, 1963

his right

DIRECTION AND MOTION

Later in the year, the Mona Lisa was sent back

Paris New York

the drugstore, but he

the restaurant

Henry was walking

changed his mind and went

People who say, “It’s as easy as taking candy

a baby” have probably never tried it

The bus driver asked the people to leave the bus

the rear door, but most of them left

the front door

I don’t know much about Chicago Is Lake Michigan

the east or the west of the city?

C Read the following sentences aloud, and then change

the italicized preposition or phrase so that the sentence has

the opposite meaning

Johnny ran into the house as fast as he could

They decided to spend their vacation in the west this

summer

I believe he came to California from New York

During most of the evening, he was sitting on my left

He walked slowly toward the river

Do you think it is possible that some living thing will

soon go to Mars from the Earth?

DIRECTION AND MOTION 27

The mother warned her children not to go into the

back yard

I was startled when the car drove rapidly away from

me

With the help of his friends, the gangster slipped

quietly out of town

I’ve heard that Joe’s family owns a lot of land in the north,

He asked me how to go from the boarding house to the college campus

This is a letter from Mrs Cole to her friend Mrs

Lane

You can drive to New England from New York in a few hours

The little lake is to the east of the big lake

They went into town earlier than usual today

John suddenly turned toward the library

The children ran from the house to the barn

She has always wanted to move into the city

They watched the bright star shining in the east

When the pilot found out about the bad weather to the north of us, he decided it wouldn’t be safe to fly

D Compose an original sentence using each of the phrases below

on the left of away from the crowded streets

arrive in the city toward the radio repair shop

toward the house by way of Chicago

away from the campus _in the west

Around means in a circular motion Besides this meaning,

it also conveys the idea of indefinite motion, or motion in

various directions About is also used in this way

We walked ahoué the town looking at all the sights

Around can also be used in the sense of avoiding some- thing

Drive around that big rock Don’t drive over it

Across means from one side to the other

Don’t go across the street in the middle of the block

He drove across town in about ten minutes

Over indicates motion up and then down again, to pass an

obstacle

The boy jumped over the wall

28

DIRECTION AND MOTION 29

Over also indicates motion above something, from one side

to the other

The airplane flew over the city

Up and down refer to vertical direction

It is harder to run up the stairs than to run down

them

These words are also used in connection with horizontal direction

I was walking down the street

I was walking up the street

If the street is on a hill, then down is used for the descend-

ing direction and up for the ascending direction If the

street is level, little more than local custom or individual preference decides which preposition to use Often up is used to mean “north” ‘and down to mean “south” (we say

“down south” and “up north”), probably because of the way maps are drawn, with north at the top of the page

If streets are numbered, as in New York, up means

“toward the higher number.”

Onto has the same relationship with on that into does with

in It indicates motion to the surface of something, or to

a position on the surface of something On is often used instead of onto, though careful speakers differentiate the

two

The cat jumped onto the table

The actor walked onto the stage

At with verbs of motion or direction conveys the idea

of to or toward

Enter at the north gate

Aim at the center of the target

The dog jumped at the man’s throat

The boy threw a rock at the bird.