What is a preposition?

Prepositions are used to express the relationship of a noun or pronoun (or another grammatical element functioning as a noun) to the rest of the sentence. The noun or pronoun that is connected by the preposition is known as the object of the preposition.

Some common prepositions are in, on, for, to, of, with, and about, though there are many others.
(전치사는 문장의 전반적 부분에 대한 명사 또는 대명사 (또는 명사로 기능하는 다른 문법 요소)의 관계를 표현하는 데 사용된다. 전치사로 연결된 명사 또는 대명사는 전치사의 목적어로 알려져 있다.  다시말해, 전치사는 명사 (명사구 포함) 또는 대명사 앞에 놓이고, 뒤에 따르는 명사 또는 대명사와 함께 형용사구 또는 부사구를 만들기도 한다.  [형용사구 예로는; The old man with a tall hat is the mayor. – 긴모자를 쓴 노인이 시장이다. ]. [부사구 예로는; He crossed across the street and went into a store. – 그는 거리를 건너 상점에 들어갔다] 가 있다.
몇 가지 일반적인 전치사들은 in, on, for, to, of, with, about 등이 있는데 아주 상당히 많은 수가존재한다.  )

Prepositional Phrases

Prepositions and their objects together form prepositional phrases, which can function as either adjectives or (more commonly) adverbs. (전치사와 그의 목적어는 함께 형용사 또는 (더 일반적으로) 부사로 기능할 수 있는 전치사구를 형성한다.)

For example:

• “There is a film at noon we could see.” (adjectival, modifying the noun film)
• “He hit the nail with a hammer.” (adverbial, modifying the verb hit)

A prepositional phrase always contains at least a preposition and its object (a noun or pronoun), but it can also contain modifiers that add additional meaning to the object. These can even be other prepositional phrases functioning as adjectives. (전치사구는 항상 최소한 전치사와 그 목적어(명사 또는 대명사)를 포함하지만 목적어에 의미를 더하는 수식어를 포함할 수도 있고 형용사로 기능하는 다른 전치사구일 수도 있다)

For example:

• “He drove to school in a red car.”
• “We keep the lawnmower in the shed out back.”

Adjective complements

Occasionally, adverbial prepositions are used to modify predicative adjectives to complete or elaborate upon their meaning. When they are used in this way, they function as adjective complements. (때때로 부사 전치사는 술어 형용사를 수정하여 의미를 완성하거나 정교하게 만드는 데 사용된다. 이런 식으로 사용될 때 형용사 보어 역할을 하게되는것이다.)

For example:

• “Megan was afraid of thunderstorms.”
• “Philip is upset about what was said.”
• “We are very pleased with the number of donations we received.”

Choosing the appropriate preposition

Common Prepositional Errors

Prepositions can be very difficult to navigate because many of them are used to express multiple kinds of relationships, and it’s easy to use one in the wrong context. (많은 전치사는 여러 종류의 관계를 표현하는 데 사용되기 때문에 매우 어려울 수 있으며 잘못된 문맥에서 사용되기도 한다.)

For example:

• “I had cereal and milk for breakfast.” (correct)
• “I had breakfast with cereal and milk.” (incorrect)

The second sentence is a common error. It implies that you, the cereal, and the milk all had breakfast together. (두 번째 문장은 일반적 오류표현이고, 나는 시리얼과 우유와 함께 아침을 먹었다는 것을 의미한다.) You can have breakfast with your friends or your family, but not with cereal and milk. (친구, 가족들과는 아침을 먹을수 있지만 시리얼과 우유랑 먹을순 없는 노릇이다). However, we can use with to show a connection between cereal and milk, as in:

• “I had cereal with milk for breakfast.” (With를 사용하고도 문맥에 이상이 없게 하려면 “나는 우유랑 시리얼을 아침으로 먹엇다” 라곤 할수있다)

Another similar error is:

• “I go to work with my car.”

In the first sentence, it implies that you and your car go to work together. (여기서는 “나랑 차가 같이 일하러 갔다”가 되니 문맥상 문제가된다) You can go to work with a person, but when speaking about a means of transportation, we often use the preposition by, (그래서 with 말고 by로 고치면 된다)  as in:

• “I go to work by car.”

If the object is modified by a possessive determiner, we can also use the preposition in (문맥상 in을 사용하는것은 문제가 않된다) :

• “I go to work in my car.” (“나는 내차를 타고 일하러 갔다” 가 되므로)

When choosing the appropriate preposition in a sentence, we must consider their various categories as well as what the prepositional phrase is going to modify. (문장에서 적절한 전치사를 선택할 때, 우리는 전치사구가 무엇을 수정할 것인지 뿐만 아니라 다양한 범주를 고려해야 한다.)

Categories of prepositions

Prepositions can be broadly divided into eight categories: time, place, direction or movement, agency, instrument or device, reason or purpose, connection, and origin.
(전치사는 시간, 장소, 방향 또는 움직임, 대리인, 도구 또는 장치, 이유 또는 목적, 연결 및 기원의 8가지 범주로 크게 나눌 수 있다.)

The following table highlights the most common categories of prepositions and how they are used to form adjectival or adverbial prepositional phrases in a sentence:

Notice that many prepositions fall under two or more categories. To determine what type of preposition is being used in a sentence, you must look closely at the context and what the prepositional phrase is modifying. Remember that prepositional phrases can be used with verbs, with nouns, and with adjectives.
(많은 전치사가 두 개 이상의 범주에 속한다는 점에 유의해야한다. 문장에서 어떤 유형의 전치사가 사용되고 있는지 확인하려면 문맥과 전치사 구가 수정하는 내용을 자세히 살펴보아야 한다. 전치사 구는 동사, 명사 및 형용사와 함께 사용할 수 있음을 기억해야한다.)

Continue on to the rest of the sections in this chapter to learn more about how and when prepositions are (and are not) used.

Prepositions vs. Infinitives

The word to is a very common preposition, used to express time, direction, and connection. To is also used, however, as a particle to introduce the infinitive form of verbs—e.g., to run, to play, to think, to be, etc.

For example:

• “I often ride my bicycle to work.” (preposition of direction)
• “I often ride my bicycle to stay healthy.” (infinitive)

Because they share the same introductory word, it’s easy to mistake one for the other. Just remember that infinitives always use the word to with the base or bare form of a verb, while the preposition to is always followed by a noun, pronoun, or a grammatical element functioning as a noun.