Below are explanations for the two Preposition Samples:

Prepositions from The Brothers Karamazov

It came to pass that, settling permanently in Paris he, too, forgot the child, especially when the Revolution of February broke out, making an impression on his mind that he remembered all the rest of his life.

As the interactive exercise instructs, the first step is to highlight any words that could be prepositions:

It came to pass that, settling permanently in Paris he, too, forgot the child, especially when the Revolution of February broke out, making an impression on his mind that he remembered all the rest of his life.

There appear to be four prepositions in this sentence:

1. IN: precedes a nominal (PARIS), which serves as its object
2. OF: precedes a nominal (FEBRUARY), which serves as its object
3. ON: precedes a nominal (HIS MIND), which serves as its object
4. OF: precedes a nominal (HIS LIFE), which serves as its object

Challenge Sample from Robinson Crusoe

I told my mother that my intensely firm thoughts were bent upon seeing the very wide world that I should never settle to anything with resolution enough to go through with it, and my father should be giving me more robust consent than force me to go without it.

Again, the first step is to highlight any words that might be prepositions:

I told my mother that my intensely firm thoughts were bent upon seeing the very wide world that I should never settle to anything with resolution enough to go through with it, and my father should be giving me more robust consent than force me to go without it.

For this sample, there appears to be four prepositions in this sentence:

1. TO: precedes a nominal (ANYTHING), which serves as its object
2. WITH: precedes a nominal (RESOLUTION), which serves as its object
3. WITH: precedes a nominal (IT), which serves as its object
4. WITHOUT: precedes a nominal (IT), which serves as its object

Tips to Keep in Mind

The KEY MARKER for prepositions is if it precedes a nominal (noun, phrase, or clause). There are a number of considerations that prove tricky when analyzing for prepositions. First, as stated above, many of the prepositions can also serve as subordinators. The difference is that a preposition precedes a nominal ONLY, and a subordinator precedes a clause (subject and main verb). Second, many of the prepositions can also serve as verb particles, such as UPON in the second sentence above. We will look more closely at phrasal verbs and verb particles in Section 5. Finally, don't confuse an infinitive marker with a preposition. There were a couple of examples of TO GO in the second sentence above. The difference is clear: the infinitive marker TO precedes a verb in its base form; the preposition TO precedes a nominal.

If you have questions about these sample analyses, please contact your instructor or start a conversation in your work group.