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Prepositions & Prepositional Phrases.
Preposition. Prepositions are adverbs which have become fused with nouns and noun phrases to form a single modifier, known as a prepositional phrase. They are so called because the preposition is placed (posit-) in front of (pre-) the noun phrase. Prepositions are usually spatial or temporal in their primary reference, e.g. “in the house”, “under the house”, “over the house”; “before the war”, “after the war”. By extension prepositional phrases also have reference to abstract relations: “about peace”, “because of the drought”, “(thinking) of escaping”, etc. Prepositions themselves can be compound phrases: “because of”, “outside of”, “out from”, “in front of”, etc.
Attributive and Adverbial Uses. In English grammar, a prepositional phrase may modify another noun attributively, i.e., as an adjective. This is referred to informally as the “man-in-the-moon construction”: “The boys in the front row kept shouting”. Here “in the front row” modifies “boys” adjectivally. This answers the question, “Which boys?” Placed after the verb, this same phrase becomes adverbial: “The boys were all sitting in the front row”. This answers the question, “Where where they sitting?” Latin does not use prepositional phrases attributively, i.e., one must say “The man who is on the moon …”, using a relative clause.
The Indirect Object. In English grammar, personal nouns and pronouns admit of a construction of the indirect object as an equivalent expression to a prepositional phrase in “to …” or “for …”, comparable to the Latin Dative Case. The indirect object (usually a person) denotes the person who is the recipient of, or who is directly affected by, some action or circumstance: “The boy gave the girl a rose” = “ … gave the rose to her”; “His behavior has done us great harm” = “ … has done great harm to us”, etc. Notice the rule of word order that applies: the indirect object comes after the verb and before the direct object.
The Possessive Case. In English grammar, personal nouns occur with an apostrophe and s (or s and apostrophe, if plural) to show the possessor. This is functionally equivalent to a prepositional phrase in “of”: “John’s friends” = “the friends of John” (notice that the preposition “of” in this construction is regularly anticipated by the definite article preceding the noun it modifies.) Note that the possessive is reserved for persons and animals: “my neighbor’s wife”, “the children’s nanny”, “the twins’ mother”, “the dog’s ears”, etc. It is preferable to say “the solution to the problem” rather than “the problem’s solution”, as the latter personalizes “problem” and it conflates “to the problem” and “of the problem”, which are not equivalent phrases. However, English idiom does admit use of the possessive in certain set phrases, mostly expressions of time, such as “today’s news”, “tomorrow’s paper”, “yesterday’s breakfast”, etc.
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Summary of Latin Prepositionsā, ab + ablative ‘away from’, ‘from’; (of personal agency) ‘by’: ā flūmine – ‘from the river’ ab hostibus captus – ‘captured by the enemy’ad + accusative ‘to’, ‘toward’, ‘at’; (of proximity) ‘near’: ad urbem – ‘to the city’ ad flūmen – ‘near the river’ ad vesperem – ‘toward evening’ ad nōnam horam – ‘to the ninth hour’ante + accusative ‘before’, ‘in front of’ ante portam – ‘in front of the gate’ ante bellum – ‘before the war’apud + accusative ‘at’, ‘among’, ‘by’, ‘chez’ apud Graecōs – ‘among the Greeks’ apud Nereum – ‘at the house of Nereus’circā + accusative ‘around’, ‘about’, ‘all around’, ‘round about’ circā urbem – ‘around the city’ circā nōnam horam – ‘about the ninth hour’circum + accusative ‘around’, ‘about’ circum collum – ‘around the neck’ circum omnēs urbēs – ‘round to all the cities’ quōs circum sē habēbat – ‘those he had around him’contrā + accusative ‘opposite’, ‘against’ contrā Italiam – ‘over against Italy’ contrā haec – ‘in reply to this’cum + ablative ‘with’, ‘together with’ vāde mēcum – ‘come with me’ cum omnī comitatū – ‘with her entire retinue’ prīmā cum lūce – ‘at first light’ magnō cum dolōre – ‘with great sorrow’ cum studiō – ‘eagerly’dē + ablative ‘down from’, ‘from’; ‘about’, ‘concerning’ dē caelō dēmissus – ‘sent down from heaven’ dē morte ēius cōgnōvit – ‘learned of his death’ quā dē causā – ‘for which reason’ ē, ex + ablative ‘out from’, ‘from out of’, ‘from’; ‘because of’ ex Alpibus – ‘from the Alps’ ex eō diē – ‘from that day’ ex aequō – ‘justly’ ex īrā – ‘out of anger’in + ablative ‘in’, ‘on’; ‘among’ in urbe erat – ‘he was in town’ in nāve – ‘on the ship’ mihi est in animō – ‘I have in mind’ in barbarīs – ‘among the barbarians’in + accusative ‘into’, ‘onto’; ‘against’ (of persons) in Italiam – ‘into Italy’ in lūcem – ‘till daylight’ in diēs – ‘from day to day’ in hostēs – ‘against the enemy’infrā + accusative ‘below’, ‘beneath’ infrā moenia – ‘beneath the walls’inter + accusative ‘between’, ‘among’; amidst inter tē et mē – ‘between you and me’ inter hostium tēla – ‘amidst the enemy’s missiles’ inter trēs sorōrēs – ‘among the three sisters’ob + accusative ‘towards’, ‘before’; ‘on account of’ ob Rōmam – ‘towards Rome’ ob oculōs – ‘before one’s eyes’ quam ob causam – ‘for which reason’per + accusative ‘through’, ‘throughout’; ‘along’, ‘over’; ‘by’ per urbem ambulāre – ‘to walk through the city’ per viam prōcēdere – ‘to proceed along the road’ per hiemem – ‘throughout the winter’ per ministrōs – ‘through his servants’post + accusative ‘after’, ‘behind’ post tergum – ‘behind the back’ post multōs annōs – ‘after many years’prae + ablative ‘in front of’, ‘before’ prae sē – ‘in front of oneself’ prae manū – ‘at hand’, ‘on hand’praeter + accusative ‘alongside’, ‘by’; ‘beyond’, ‘besides’, ‘except’ praeter castra – ‘alongside the camp’ praeter spem – ‘beyond hope’ praeter haec – ‘besides these things’prō + ablative ‘in front of’, ‘before’; ‘for’, ‘on behalf of’, ‘in return for’, ‘as’ prō iūdice – ‘before the judge’ prō mē – ‘on my behalf’ prō rēge – ‘on the king’s behalf’propter + accusative ‘nearby’; ‘on account of’, ‘because of’ propter tē sedet – ‘is sitting near you’ propter metum – ‘out of fear’secundum + accusative ‘following’, ‘after’; ‘according to’ īte secundum mē – ‘Go after me’ secundum nātūram – ‘according to its nature’sine + ablative ‘without’ sine poenā – ‘without penalty’sub + ablative ‘under’, ‘beneath’ sub arbore – ‘under a tree’ sub eōdem tempore – ‘about the same time’sub + accusative ‘under’, ‘up to’, ‘along under’, from under’ (motion implied) sub montem succēdere – ‘come close to the mountain’ sub lūcem – ‘near daylight’super + accusative ‘above’, ‘over’, ‘beyond’; ‘upon’ super montēs – ‘above the mountains’ super Indōs – ‘beyond the Indians’ super omnia – ‘above all things’suprā + accusative ‘over’ (the surface of), ‘above’ suprā terram – ‘over the surface of the earth’trāns + accusative ‘across’, ‘over’, ‘through’ trāns mare – ‘over the sea’ trāns aethera – ‘through the sky’ trāns Alpēs – ‘across the Alps’ultrā + accusative ‘beyond’ (to the far side of) ultrā montēs – ‘on the far side of the mountains’
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