Lesson video

Hi, I'm Mr. Buckingham, and I'm really glad you've chosen to join me today to learn about prepositions.

I'm really hoping this lesson will be very helpful to you in improving the variety in your writing, and I'll be here to help you all the way through.

Let's get going.

Today's lesson is called "Prepositions," from our unit called "Review of Determiners, Prepositions, and Fronted Adverbials." By the end of today's lesson, we'll be able to write a range of sentence types with prepositions to indicate time, place, or cause.

Hopefully, in this lesson, you'll see that prepositions are a really useful type of word to use in your writing, giving you lots of flexibility and variety.

Let's make a start.

Here are today's keywords.

My turn, your turn.

Preposition, phrase, clause, and indicate.

Well done.

A preposition is a word, or words, that connect a sentence to a noun, or a noun phrase, to help show where, when, or why something is happening.

Now, that sounds really complicated right now, but don't worry, we'll break it down as the lesson goes on.

A phrase is a group of words with no verb, and a clause is a group of words that contains a verb.

If you indicate something, you show it, or you signal towards it.

Let's look at today's lesson outline.

We're going to start off by identifying prepositions, and then we'll move on to using prepositions in writing different sentence types.

Let's make a start.

A clause is a group of words that contains a verb, and a phrase is a group of words that contains no verb.

Here are some clauses.

"I often go there." "What a surprise this is." "Who has their grammar homework?" "Which was made of beautiful material." These are all clauses because they contain verbs, and you can see the verbs in purple, the being, doing, and having words, go, is, has, was made.

Here are some phrases.

"What a surprise." "The peculiar smell." "A long, interesting history." "His natural home." "My favourite place." These are all phrases, because they have no verb.

So we can see the difference between a clause and a phrase is that a clause contains a verb, and a phrase does not.

Which of the following are phrases? "Your brilliant question." "When do you arrive?" "Which is extremely difficult." "A strange experiment." Pause the video and identify the phrases, the groups of words with no verb.

Have a go.

Well done.

"Your brilliant question" is a phrase, there's no verb.

"When do you arrive" has two verbs, do and arrive, so no, that's not a phrase, it's a clause.

"Which is extremely difficult" contains a sneaky being verb, is, so again, not a phrase, it's a clause.

"A strange experiment" is a phrase, it doesn't contain a verb.

Well done.

Now, we know that a noun is a naming word for a person, a place, or a thing.

And a noun phrase is a group of words which links to the noun, and which does not contain a verb.

For instance, "the next two weeks," "a stern, iron-clad guard," "this vital medicine." You can see, in these noun phrases, we've got a group of words linked to a noun.

We've got, in the first one, the noun, "weeks," and then "the next two weeks" is the noun phrase.

In the second one, we have the noun, "guard," and then "a stern, iron-clad guard" is the noun phrase, the group of words linking to that noun which does not contain a verb.

These are all noun phrases.

But a noun phrase can be placed inside a sentence.

"I have packed." "I have a packed calendar for the next two weeks." "We stopped in front of a stern, iron-clad guard." "You are alive because of this vital medicine." Look how the noun phrase has been placed inside a sentence.

Can you identify the noun phrase in each of these sentences? Remember, we're looking for a group of words linked to a noun that does not contain a verb, because it's a phrase, a noun phrase.

Have a go.

Okay, let's take a look.

"We are stopping on account of the rain." "The rain" is our noun phrase there.

"Sam slept during a long, dull movie." "A long, dull movie" is the noun phrase.

"She's hiding under the wooden table." "The wooden table" is the noun phrase.

Notice how none of those noun phrases contains a verb.

They're just a group of words linking to that noun.

We've got the noun, "movie," and then the noun phrase, "a long, dull movie." Well done, if you spotted those.

Now, let's introduce our most important word for the day, a preposition.

A preposition is a word that connects the rest of the sentence to a noun, or a noun phrase.

Let me show you what I mean.

We've got this sentence again.

We've got that noun phrase, "the next two weeks." And in this one, the noun phrase at the end as well.

In these sentences, how is the noun phrase connected to the rest of the sentence? Well, it's done using a preposition.

We've got the preposition, "for," connecting that sentence to the noun phrase, "the next two weeks." I have a packed calendar for the next two weeks.

In the second sentence, we have the preposition, "in front of." "We stopped in front of a stern, iron-clad guard." And in the third one, we have the preposition, "because of." That preposition connects the rest of the sentence to the noun phrase, "this vital medicine." So, prepositions have a really tricky function.

What they do is they connect a sentence to a noun phrase, or to a noun.

So it can be one word, like for, or it can be several words, like in front of, and because of.

It always comes in front of a noun or a noun phrase.

Can you see how "for" comes in front of "the next two weeks," "in front of" comes in front of "a stern, iron-clad guard," and "because of" comes in front of "this vital medicine?" It always comes in front of a noun or a noun phrase, that's really important to remember.

So, I've highlighted the preposition in purple in each of these sentences.

Can you find the noun or the noun phrase it connects to? So, that is the noun or the noun phrase the preposition connects the rest of the sentence to.

Pause the video and have a go.

Okay, let's take a look.

In a, the noun phrase would be January.

In b, the noun phrase is a very long one, "the two ornaments on the fireplace." But there's no verb in that, so it's all one noun phrase.

In c, the noun phrase is "Miss Ofoedu." And in d, "the blizzard." So we've got a preposition coming before a noun, or a noun phrase, to connect it to the rest of the sentence.

Now, prepositions always link to a noun or a noun phrase, but they can have different purposes.

We can have prepositions of time, which helps show when something is happening.

For instance: at three o'clock, on Monday, in December, since 2019, for two hours, during the summer.

So these show us when something happened.

We can also have prepositions of place.

In the pool, at the station, on my table, under his chair, below the waves, above the ground.

These show us where something happened.

Notice, as before, the preposition comes before a noun phrase, "under" comes before "his chair." We can also have prepositions of cause to show why something happened.

Because of his beliefs.

Due to the weather.

Thanks to Mr. Clarke.

Again, the preposition is coming before a noun, or a noun phrase, and these ones show us why something happened.

We can see them all together here, prepositions of time to show when, prepositions of place to show where, and prepositions of cause to show why.

Okay, now you try.

Let's see if you can identify the preposition in each sentence.

And I've highlighted the noun phrase it links to for you.

Have a go.

Well done.

So, in a, it would be because of, "because of your goal." In b, it would be on, "on Tuesday night." And on c, it would be at, "at our opponent's home ground." Notice how that preposition shows how the rest of the sentence links to that noun phrase.

Really good job.

Okay so, together, the preposition, and the noun phrase that follows it, are called a preposition phrase.

Let's take a look.

"We won the game at our opponent's home ground." We just saw that sentence, and we said that "at" was the preposition, and "our opponent's home ground" was the noun phrase.

So, all together, "at our opponent's home ground" is the preposition phrase.

It's the preposition, plus the noun phrase that follows it.

So, in these sentences, let's see if you can identify the preposition, and the preposition phrase it begins.

Pause the video and have a go.

Great effort, let's take a look.

In a, the preposition is "for," so the preposition phrase would be, "for over 70 years." In b, the preposition is "in," so the preposition phrase would be "in Buckingham Palace." In c, the preposition is "due to," so the preposition phrase would be, "due to her family's history." Really well done, if you managed to spot those.

Now, here's a tricky bit.

We can tell if a word is acting as a preposition because it will be followed by a noun, or a noun phrase, and not a clause.

Let me explain that.

In this sentence, we've written, "Miss Ofoedu taught us PE after lunch." We can see we've got the noun, lunch.

There's no verb in lunch, so "after" is a preposition in this sentence.

But if we look at this sentence, it says, "Miss Ofoedu taught us PE after we had lunch." Now, "we had lunch" contains a verb, the word had is a verb.

This means "we had lunch" is a clause.

Now we know that prepositions come before nouns and noun phrases, not before clauses.

So here, the word "after" is working as a subordinating conjunction, not a preposition.

So, "after lunch" is a preposition phrase, but "after we had lunch" is a subordinate clause.

Now, that was a tricky point.

Let's see if we can practise a little bit.

Is the highlighted word, before or after, acting as a preposition by joining the sentence to a noun phrase? So in which of these sentences is that highlighted word acting as a preposition coming before a noun, or a noun phrase, not before a clause? You're gonna have to think hard about this one, so pause the video and have a try.

Okay, let's have a think.

In a, the word "before" comes before Andeep.

So "before Andeep" is a preposition phrase, because Andeep is just a noun.

In b, we've got "before Andeep had started," that's a verb.

"Andeep had started" is a clause, so no, before is not acting as a preposition in that sentence.

In c, we've got, "after I had my tea." Had is a verb, "I had my tea" is a clause, so no, after is not acting as a preposition there.

And in d, we've got, "after tea." Now, tea is just a noun, so "after" is coming before a noun, which means it's acting as a preposition in that sentence.

So look how the same word, after or before, can sometimes be acting as a preposition, and sometimes acting as a subordinating conjunction, as in the other examples.

Really well done, if you manage to spot that very tricky difference.

Now, again, we can tell if a word is acting as a preposition because it's going to be followed by that noun or noun phrase.

In this example, "He pushed it up the hill." "I put it in the fridge." "Please go out the back door." These words are followed by a noun phrase, "the hill," "the fridge," "the back door." So up, in, and out, are all acting as prepositions here.

Now let's put those same words in different sentences.

"He pushed it up." "He put it in." "Here's a form to fill out." We've used the same words, but can you see how, here, they are not followed by a noun phrase? So, in these sentences, the same words are not prepositions.

So to be a preposition, the word must be followed by a noun or a noun phrase, because the job of a preposition is to link that noun or noun phrase to the rest of the sentence.

So, is the highlighted word in purple acting as a preposition in these sentences by joining the sentence on to a noun or noun phrase? Pause the video, and think carefully about these ones.

Okay, let's discuss.

So, in a, the word "in" does not link to anything afterwards, so no, it's not acting as a preposition.

In b, in is followed by the noun phrase "the tray," so, yes, it is a preposition.

In c, there's no noun or noun phrase after that word, so it's not a preposition.

But in d, it's followed by a long noun phrase, so, yes, "for" is acting as a preposition there.

If you've managed to spot those differences, you're doing a fantastic job in this lesson.

Let's keep going.

So, here's our first task for the lesson.

I'm gonna show you some sentences, and for each sentence, I want you to circle the preposition, and highlight the preposition phrase it begins.

Maybe your teacher will tell you to underline it, that's up to you.

Here's an example.

"The train was late due to poor weather conditions." Now, I can see here, I've got my preposition phrase highlighted in purple, and I'm going to circle that preposition, "due to." And I know it's a preposition, because it comes in front of that noun phrase, "poor weather conditions." There's the preposition phrase.

Here are your sentences.

Remember you're going to circle the preposition, and highlight the preposition phrase in whatever way your teacher has asked you to do.

Pause the video, and have a go.

Okay, let's take a look at these.

In our first one, our preposition phrase is, "before the deadline." In b, it's, "between the two of us." In c, it's, "to the local library." In d, "for 30 minutes." In e, "into the dark cave" And in f, "due to the thin air." Now let's circle those prepositions.

We've got before, between, to, for, into, and due to.

If you've managed to spot those, you've done a fantastic job, well done.

Okay, let's move on to the second part of our lesson, looking at using prepositions when we're writing a range of sentence types.

This is going to be super helpful for us in our writing.

Let's get going.

Now, we can select prepositions to help show the relationship between the noun phrase and the rest of the sentence.

Here are three prepositions we could use, thanks to, during, and for.

Here are three sentences.

Let's choose the right prepositions for each gap.

Sofia has lived in the UK for seven years.

Lucas and Jun have to finish their stories during playtime.

And I finally understood the work, thanks to Mr. Clarke's help.

So, I've chosen a preposition to do the best job of linking each noun phrase to the rest of the sentence.

Let's see if you can try.

I've given you three prepositions here, "due to," "in," and "above." Pause the video, and decide which one fits best in the gap in each sentence.

Have a go.

Okay, let's have a look.

"Because it was sunny, we had story time in the school garden." "We gazed in awe as the stars twinkled above our heads." And, "It was almost impossible to see the ball due to the thick fog." Good job, if you found this.

Now, let's try another one.

How many different prepositions can you think of to complete each of my sentences here? I've got, "I'll talk to you," blank, "playtime," and, "Let's roll it," blank, "the hill." I wonder how many prepositions you can think of for each of those gaps? Pause the video, and see how many you can come up with.

Okay, let's take a look.

I could say, and yours might be different, remember, but I could say, I'll talk to you at playtime, during playtime, before playtime, after playtime.

I could say, let's roll it up the hill, down the hill, towards the hill, along the hill, even.

And what we've done is we've made lots of different proposition phrases there, at playtime, during playtime, before playtime, after playtime.

All of those are preposition phrases.

Fantastic job.

Now, we could also add a noun phrase after a preposition we've been given to complete a sentence, and that would be another way of creating a preposition phrase.

Let's look at this one.

"As the sun set, the shadows lengthened on ___." "The moon, which was pale silver, appeared during ___." "We spotted distant stars and shimmering planets thanks to ___." So, we've highlighted the preposition there, but what's missing here is the noun of a noun phrase.

Here are some ideas.

I could say, the shadows lengthened on the dry grass.

I could say, the moon appeared during the evening.

I could say we spotted distant stars and shimmering planets thanks to our telescope.

Each time I've added a noun phrase, the dry grass, the evening, our telescope, that links to that preposition I've been given.

And now I've created preposition phrases, on the dry grass, during the evening, thanks to our telescope.

Let's see if you can do the same.

I've given you some noun phrases down the side, "the lesson," "our teamwork," "the classroom," and I've given you a sentence finishing with a preposition.

Can you select the right noun phrase to fill each gap and create a new preposition phrase? Pause the video and have a try.

Okay, let's take a look.

When we had finished PE, we went back into the classroom.

Jun was very tired, nodded off during the lesson.

We were behind at half time, but we won thanks to our teamwork.

Really good job, if you spotted those connections.

Can you see we've now made some preposition phrases? Into the classroom, during the lesson, thanks to our teamwork.

Let's try another one.

How many ways can you think of to end this sentence with a noun phrase after the preposition? I've given you the start of the sentence, "The school is located between," we've got that preposition, between.

So how many noun phrases can you think of that would finish that sentence? Pause the video, and see how many you can come up with.

Okay, let's have a look together.

We could say, between Barking and Dagenham.

We could say, between two different parks, between my mom's house and my dad's house, between the river and the hillside, between Sofia's house and the main road, between the countryside and the city.

We've made all these different preposition phrases.

We've got the preposition, between, followed by those noun phrases we've come up with.

And notice how none of those noun phrases contains a verb, they are all phrases, and phrases do not contain a verb.

Really good job.

So, as I just said, if we want to keep a word as a preposition, it must be followed by a phrase, and not by a clause.

Now, that's tricky, so let me show you an example.

I've got this sentence starter here.

"It began to snow, but it stopped after." Now, we know that the word "after" can be a preposition, so we could say this, "It began to snow, but it stopped after 15 minutes." This is a preposition phrase, because 15 minutes is a phrase, it's a noun phrase.

But I could have finished the sentence like this, "It began to snow, but it stopped after we put our gloves on." Now, I bet some of you have spotted that that end of the sentence contains the verb "put." So we've created a clause now, "after we put our gloves on" is a clause, so "after" is no longer a preposition in this sentence, because it's not been followed by a noun or a noun phrase.

So, let's try and test that idea.

Which of these could follow the word in green to create a preposition phrase? "When assembly was over, we all went out to," get some fresh air, the playground, run around the playground.

And remember, if we're keeping it as a preposition, it must be followed by a noun or a noun phrase, and not a clause.

So, which of those examples would make a preposition phrase? Pause the video and have a hard think.

Great effort.

If we look at a, we can see that verb, get.

So no, that won't be a preposition phrase, that will create a clause.

In b, there's no verb, so yes, that would create the preposition phrase, "to the playground." And in c, we've got that verb, run, so no, that wouldn't be a preposition phrase, again, it's going to be a clause.

Really well done, if you managed to spot that.

Let's try another one.

Which of these sentences end in a preposition phrase? Remember, we're looking for a preposition, followed by a noun or noun phrase, we shouldn't see a verb.

Pause the video, and spot the sentences which end in a preposition phrase.

Have a go.

Okay, let's take a look.

In a, we can see that preposition phrase "on the field." There's no verb there, so yes, it's a preposition phrase.

In b, we can see "before lunch." There's no verb there, so yes, it's a preposition phrase.

In c, we've got "after it gets warmer." Gets is a verb, so that is a clause, and not a phrase, not a preposition phrase in c.

Really well done.

Now, preposition phrases do not have to be at the end of a sentence.

We might see them like this.

"I've known him for five years, but we are not good friends." We've got the preposition, "for," followed by the noun phrase, "five years," and it's in the middle of the sentence there.

"After we went to the shops, we came home late." We've got the preposition, "to," and the noun phrase, "the shops," creating that preposition phrase, "to the shops." "Because we had climbed up a steep hill, we were exhausted." "Up" is our preposition, "a steep hill" is our noun phrase, we've made that preposition phrase in the middle of the sentence.

So, there's the preposition phrase, it does not have to be at the end of the sentence.

So, I wonder if you can find the preposition phrase in each of these sentences, remembering it might be hidden somewhere in the middle.

Pause the video and have a go.

Okay, let's take a look.

In a, we would have, "through an ancient forest." "Through" is the preposition, "an ancient forest" is the noun phrase.

We have "out of its hole." "Out of" is the preposition, "its hole" is the noun phrase.

"For two hours." "For" is the preposition, "two hours" is the noun phrase.

And each of those is a preposition phrase in the middle of a sentence.

Well done, if you managed to see those.

Let's do our final task for this lesson.

I want you to complete each sentence using a preposition phrase based on the preposition you've been given.

Here are your sentences, you can see the preposition in green.

Now, sometimes, that preposition is in the middle of the sentence, so I want to think carefully about what you would like to add.

Now, remember, you must add a noun or noun phrase, not a clause, because we're trying to keep these as preposition phrases in this lesson.

So, pause the video, and see if you can complete those sentences by adding in that preposition phrase.

Have a go.

Okay, let's take a look at some example sentences we could have written.

Remember, yours will look different to mine, but you've got to try and make sure you've used a phrase, and not a clause, after these prepositions.

I said, "While it was running heavily, we had to stay in the classroom." "I've only been a member of the team since January, but I'm already the top scorer." "Jue wanted to hike up the mountain, but Alex refused due to his injured foot." "The beach, which was next to the North Sea, was covered in golden sand." "Because the class behaved poorly, Miss Ofoedu kept us in for 10 minutes." So, each time, I've added in just a noun or noun phrase after that preposition to create a preposition phrase.

Hopefully you managed to do the same, in which case, fantastic job.

Okay, let's summarise our learning from this lesson.

We've learned that prepositions are words, or groups of words, that connect a sentence to a noun or noun phrase, to show when, where, or why something happened.

We learned that a preposition is always followed by a noun or noun phrase to create a preposition phrase.

And we learned that a preposition phrase does not contain a verb, because it is a phrase, and not a clause.

And we learned the preposition phrases can be placed anywhere in a sentence.

We've done an amazing job this lesson, I'm really pleased you've stuck through right to the end to learn this really important knowledge.

I can't wait to see you again in a future lesson.

Goodbye.