A composite preposition is indivisible both syntactically and semantically, that is, no element of it can be varied, abbreviated, or extended according to the normal rules of syntax. Thus in the composite preposition for the sake of neither the definite article nor the preposition can be replaced by words of similar meaning.
§ 247. Semantically prepositions form a varied group of words. Most of them are polysemantic (in, to, for, at, from), their original meaning having become vague, others have retained their full meaning and are accordingly monosemantic (down, over, across, off, till, until, save, near, along, among, despite, during, etc.). This also applies to prepositions borrowed from Latin: versus, via, plus, minus.
Relations expressed by prepositions may be of various types:
1) agentive - the letter was sent by a friend of mine;
2) attributive - a drawing in crayon, the people in question (люди, о которых идет речь);
3) possessive and partial relations - one of my friends, the roof of the house, a glass of brandy, a decline in
waste, a rise in production;
4) relation indicating origin, material, or source - a girl from Brighton, made of gold:
5) objective relation – don’t be angry with me, I'II look into the matter, to work at a book, to speak on the
matter (about the matter, of the matter);
6) relation indicating to whom the action is directed - to show it to him, to give lessons to the children;
7) instrumental relation - to write with a pencil, to cut with a knife;
8) relation of subordination - to be secretary to a Minister;
9) relation defining the sphere or field of activity - the country depends on exports for its food; Tom is good
at football;
10) relation of involvement or association - to cooperate with somebody; coffee with cream, to compare this
with that, to get involved in a discussion;
11) respective relation - he is big for a youngster, I did not know I had a blackguard for a son;
12) relation of resemblance - he is like his father;
13) relation of dissociation and differentiation - to disburden oneself of one’s past; to be devoid of
something, to disentangle oneself from something; to know something from something, to deduce from
something;
14) various adverbial relations:
a) of manner, means, style and language - with diligence, by telegram, in slang, in bad print, in a neat
hand.
in good style, in brief;
b) of purpose or aim - to send for the doctor, he did it for fun, the police were after the criminal;
c) temporal relations. These may be subdivided into those denoting precedence, sequence, duration, etc. -
in good time, at 5 o’clock, before the dawn;
d) of cause or reason - I did it out of fear, through his negligence, I despise you for this;
e) spacial relation, including directional relation - past the gate, by the window, across the river, at the
gate;
f) concessive relation - in spite of the bad weather, despite our protests, for all his attempts, with all her
diligence.
The relations enumerated above to a great degree depend on the meaning of the words connected by prepositions. Sometimes the relation indicated by a preposition is too abstract to be defined in words, as its use is often figurative or metaphorical, as in:
He broke away from them on some vague pretext.
The role of the preposition is difficult to define when it introduces predicatives, when its meaning is
‘in the capasity of’, ‘in the role of’, ‘having the quality of’.
As a friend he was admirable, but one cannot praise him as a husband.
His career as a lawyer was short.
We regard him as a fool.
She went to the ball with her aunt as chaperone.
When a preposition is used figuratively, the concept expressed by the preposition may be so blurred or weak that one preposition may be replaced by another without any essential alteration to the relation between the words. Thus the following words may be used with different prepositions without change of meaning:
aversion from, to
disgust against, at, towards
repugnance against, for, to
along, down, over the centuries
Words of the same root can be used with different prepositions:
to pride oneself on, to be proud of, pride in;
to confide in, confidence in, to be confident of.
§ 248. As a rule a preposition governs a noun. However it may also be followed by a pronoun, a gerundial phrase or a clause with nominal function, as in:
for advantage, at five o’clock, at taking measures, he was surprised at what he saw.
As prepositions indicate only the relationship between two words their position is clearly defined.
Many prepositions tend to form a phrase called a prepositional phrase, often combining either with the preceding verb or adjective, or with the following noun. Such prepositions cannot be replaced by others.
Phrases comprising verbs with prepositions to laugh at, to call for, to refer to, to look for (at, after) very often function as idioms, making one whole, so that the verb retains the preposition even if its complement is transferred, as in the passive construction:
quick action was called for, the book is often referred to.
With some polysemantic verbs the preposition often indicates its meaning, as in:
| to look for to look at to look after to look through | - искать - смотреть (на) - присматривать (за) - просматривать |
Some verbs are used with or without a preposition, with but slight difference as to content. Thus no preposition is used in the boy climbed the tree, but it is found in he climbed up the tree.
Similarly a preposition is often so closely connected with the adjective or stative it follows, that it has practically no separate meaning, and may be said to be nothing but a formal means of connecting the word with its complement:
She was afraid of the dog; The country is rich in minerals.
Prepositions with nouns or clauses may modify a preceding noun, as in:
men at work, method of teaching, the novel about which we've been speaking.
§ 249. Normally a preposition stands between two words to express the relation between them. However, there are cases when one of the two words with which the preposition combines either takes the initial position or is not used at all. In these cases the preposition is attached to the remaining word. It occurs in:
1) special questions, both direct and indirect:
What are you driving at?
Who shall I send it to?
What train shall I go by?
I asked him who the flowers were for.
However, the preposition may precede the interrogative or relative words. In this case the sentence sounds more formal.
To whom shall I send this?
By what train shall I go?
He did not know to whom he should turn for help.
The preposition precedes the interrogative when the preposition forms a stock phrase with a noun.
In what respect was he suspicious?
To what extent is this true?
In abbreviated sentences and clauses consisting only of a preposition and an interrogative word the preposition normally precedes it.
- But to whom?
In colloquial style the preposition is at the end.
- Who by?
- “Apologize?” she said. “What about?”
2) some clauses beginning with conjunctive and relative pronouns and in subordinate contact clauses:
What I am thinking of is how he got there.
The man I told you about is my relative.
The girl he is in love with studies at the University.
It is his talents he relies on.
In formal style however, the preposition precedes the connective:
The man about whom I told you is a relative of mine.
3) exclamatory sentences:
What a nice place to live in!
4) passive constructions:
The doctor was immediately sent for.
How strange it is to be talked to in this way.
5) some syntactical patterns with the infinitive or gerund:
He is difficult to deal with.
It is not worth worrying abont.
This is not a suitable house to live in.
Note:
If two or more prepositions refer to one word, the second (third) preposition may be used absolutely:
Holly thought of the lashes above and below Val’s eyes, especially below.
His wife was attached to, and dependent on, him.
A conjunction is a function word indicating the connection between two notional words, phrases, clauses, or sentences.
§ 250. According to their morphological structure conjunctions fall into the following types:
1. Simple conjunctions:
and, or, but, till, after, that, so, where, when.
2. Derived conjunctions;
until, unless, seeing, supposing, provided.
3. Compound conjunctions:
whereas, wherever.
4. Composite conjunctions:
as well as, in case, for fear, on condition that, on the ground that, as long as, etc.
Several conjunctions form correlative pairs, though strictly speaking the first element is not a conjunction:
both ... and, either ... or, neither ... nor, not only ... but (also), whether ...or.
§ 251. Unlike prepositions, most conjunctions usually retain their specific meaning,
No one was pleased when he came.
No one would be pleased if he came.
No one was pleased because he came.
No one was pleased though he came.
Exceptions are those conjunctions which may be used in more than one function (that, if, whether, as). Of these the conjunction that possesses the most vague semantic content.
According to their meaning (or rather the semantic relation they express) all conjunctions fall into two types: coordinating conjunctions and subordinating conjunctions.
Coordinating conjunctions express copulative, disjunctive, adversative and causative-consecutive connections. These four main types of coordinative connection allow of different shades of meaning,* depending on the context. Thus copulative conjunctions (and, nor, as well as, both ... and) denote not only simple addition, but sometimes express opposition, explanation, consequence. Nor expresses copulative connection and negative meaning at the same time, it very often correlates with negation in the preceding clause.
* See also the paragraph on conjuncts which are more specialized connectors, expressing a more specific connection.
He didn't doubt it for a moment, nor had he any fears about the possible turn of the events.
Note 1:
The coordinating conjunction and may be used in a somewhat different function if it joins the same nouns;
the effect may be to suggest that different types of persons or objects should be distinguished:
There are teachers and teachers. (There are good and bad teachers.)
If the noun is repeated more than once, the effect is to suggest a large number:
There were faces and faces and faces all around him.
The repetition of verbs produces an effect of continuous action or of increase in degree:
He talked and talked and talked.
Note 2:
If the pronouns you and I, or their case forms are joined by the conjunction and, conventions of politeness require that you should always come first:
you and I; you or me; you and they; you and them.
The disjunctive conjunctions or, otherwise denote a choice between two alternatives.
I’ll call on you on Saturday or on Sunday.
Did it matter where he went, what he did, or when he did it?
The adversative conjunctions but, not that denote contrast or contradiction.
He was tall but did not look it because of his broad shoulders.
They were silent, but there was no resentment on their faces.
There is only one causal conjunction for, which denotes reason or cause, and one resultative conjunction so.
He was never in the know of things, for nobody told him anything.
It was Saturday, so they were back from school early.
Combinability of conjunctions and their functions
§ 252. Coordinating conjunctions connect homogeneous parts of a simple sentence (words, phrases), clauses of equal rank in a composite sentence or independent sentences. Some of them can only join coordinated clauses (so, for), others only homogeneous parts of simple sentences (both ... and), others are used to join both clauses and homogeneous parts of the sentence (and, but, or, either ... or, nor, not only ... but also, etc.).
Coordinating conjunctions always stand between the elements they join. The most common coordinating conjunction is and:
Slowly and painfully he worked through the first volume.
He spoke for the first motion and against the second motion.
She moved quickly and with grace.
I approached the girl who stood in the corner and who looked so shy.
Subordinating conjunctions join subordinate clauses to main clauses, although some of them may join a word or a phrase within a simple sentence. They are positionally less fixed than coordinating conjunctions and need not necessarily be between the elements they join, but may precede both the subordinate and the main clauses.
Conjunctions which usually join subject, predicative, object attributive and appositive clauses (that, whether, if) are very vague in their meaning and may therefore be used to join clauses of different syntactic value. Other conjunctions retain their lexical meaning.
That the man didn’t call the police surprised nobody.
Somehow I felt that his feelings had changed.
Conjunctions introducing adverbial clauses are conjunctions of place:
where, wherever, whence, wherein.
Wherever he turned, he saw flowers.
time:
as, as soon as, as long as, when, whenever, while, now that, since, till, until, after, before, while, the