PREPOSITIONS.
305. The word
preposition implies place before: hence it would seem that a
preposition is always before its object. It may be so in the majority of
cases, but in a considerable proportion of instances the preposition is
after its object.
This occurs in such cases as the following:—
Preposition not before its
object.
(1) After a relative pronoun, a very common
occurrence; thus,—
The most dismal Christmas fun which these eyes
ever looked on.—Thackeray.
An ancient nation which they know nothing
of.—Emerson.
A foe, whom a champion has fought with
to-day.—Scott.
Some little toys that girls are fond
of.—Swift.
"It's the man that I spoke to you about"
said Mr. Pickwick.—Dickens.
(2) After an interrogative adverb, adjective, or
pronoun, also frequently found:—
What God doth the wizard pray to?—Hawthorne.
What is the little one thinking
about?—J. G. Holland.
Where the Devil did it come from, I
wonder?—Dickens.
(3) With an infinitive, in such expressions as
these:—
A proper quarrel for a Crusader to do battle
in.—Scott.
"You know, General,
it was nothing to joke about."—Cable
Had no harsh treatment to reproach herself
with.—Boyesen
A loss of vitality scarcely to be accounted
for.—Holmes.
Places for horses to be hitched
to.—Id.
(4) After a noun,—the case in which the
preposition is expected to be, and regularly is, before its object;
as,—
And unseen mermaids' pearly
song
Comes bubbling up, the weeds among.
—Beddoes.
Forever panting and forever
young,
All breathing human passion far
above.
—Keats.
306. Since the object of a
preposition is most often a noun, the statement is made that the preposition
usually precedes its object; as in the following sentence, "Roused by
the shock, he started from his trance."
Here the words by and from are connectives;
but they do more than connect. By shows the relation in thought between
roused and shock, expressing means or agency; from shows
the relation in thought between started and trance, and expresses
separation. Both introduce phrases.
Definition.
307. A preposition
is a word joined to a noun or its equivalent to make up a qualifying or an
adverbial phrase, and to show the relation between its object and the word
modified.
Objects, nouns and the
following.
308. Besides nouns,
prepositions may have as objects—
(1) Pronouns: "Upon them with the lance;"
"With whom I traverse earth."
(2)
Adjectives: "On high the winds lift up their voices."
(3) Adverbs: "If I live wholly from within;"
"Had it not been for the sea from aft."
(4) Phrases: "Everything came to her from on
high;" "From of old they had been zealous worshipers."
(5) Infinitives: "The queen now scarce spoke to him
save to convey some necessary command for her service."
(6) Gerunds: "They shrink from inflicting
what they threaten;" "He is not content with shining on great
occasions."
(7) Clauses:
"Each soldier eye shall brightly
turn
To where thy sky-born glories
burn."
Object usually objective case, if
noun or pronoun.
309. The object of a
preposition, if a noun or pronoun, is usually in the objective case. In
pronouns, this is shown by the form of the word, as in Sec. 308 (1).
Often possessive.
In the double-possessive idiom, however, the object is in
the possessive case after of; for example,—
There was also a book of Defoe's,... and another
of Mather's.—Franklin.
See also numerous examples in Secs. 68 and 87.
Sometimes nominative.
And the prepositions but and save are found
with the nominative form of the pronoun following; as,—
Nobody knows but my mate
and I
Where our nest and our nestlings lie.
—BRYANT.
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