Cambridge Grammar of English Hardback with cd-rom a comprehensive Guide

PREPOSITIONS

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Prepositions are a closed word class. New prepositions cannot easily be formed. 

Prepositions express a relation in time between two events or a relation in

space between two (or more) things or people. They can also express a variety of

other, abstract relations:

They left 

after six o’clock.

During the film she fell asleep.

They decided to meet 

in a park.

He dealt 

with the problem.

The most common prepositions are: about, after, as, at, by, during, for, from, in, of,

off

, on, to and with. Most prepositions consist of a single word but some

prepositions may be considered as consisting of more than a single word (e.g. in

front of

, outside of, out of, next to).

Some of these words may also be used as adverbs (e.g. about, round/around,

by

, off, out, over):

We were just touring 

around, stopping off here and there.

She’s not here. She’s 

out.