preposition

in grammar, a preposition is a part of speech that introduces a prepositional phrase. For example, in the sentence "The cat sleeps on the sofa", the word "on" is a preposition, introducing the prepositional phrase "on the sofa". In English, the most used prepositions are "of", "to", "in", "for", "with" and "on". Simply put, a preposition indicates a relation between things mentioned in a sentence. Linguists sometimes distinguish between a preposition, which precedes its phrase, a postposition, which follows its phrase, and a circumposition, which surrounds its phrase. Taken together, these three parts of speech are called adpositions. In more technical language, an adposition is an element that, prototypically, combines syntactically with a phrase and indicates how that phrase should be interpreted in the surrounding context. Some linguists use the word "preposition" instead of "adposition" for all three cases.^[1]
In linguistics, adpositions are considered to be members of the syntactic category "P". "PPs",^[2] consisting of an adpositional head and its complement phrase, are used for a wide range of syntactic and semantic functions, most commonly modification and complementation. The following examples illustrate some uses of English prepositional phrases:

• as a modifier to a verb
  
  • sleep throughout the winter
  • danced atop the tables for hours
• as a modifier to a noun
  
  • the weather in April
  • cheese from France with live bacteria
• as the complement of a verb
  
  • insist on staying home
  • dispose of unwanted items
• as the complement of a noun
  
  • a thirst for revenge
  • an amendment to the constitution
• as the complement of an adjective or adverb
  
  • attentive to their needs
  • separately from its neighbors
• as the complement of another preposition
  
  • until after supper
  • from beneath the bed

Adpositions perform many of the same functions as case markings, but adpositions are syntactic elements, while case markings are morphological elements.

Definition

Adpositions form a heterogeneous class, with fuzzy boundaries that tend to overlap with other categories (like verbs, nouns, and adjectives). It is thus impossible to provide an absolute definition that picks out all and only the adpositions in every language. The following features, however, are often required of adpositions.

• An adposition combines syntactically with exactly one complement phrase, most often a noun phrase (or, in a different analysis, a determiner phrase). (In some analyses, an adposition need have no complement. See below.) In English, this is generally a noun (or something functioning as a noun, e.g., a gerund), called the object of the preposition, together with its attendant modifiers.
• An adposition establishes the grammatical relationship that links its complement phrase to another word or phrase in the context. In English, it also establishes a semantic relationship, which may be spatial (in, on, under, ...), temporal (after, during, ...), or logical (via, ...) in nature.
• An adposition determines certain grammatical properties of its complement (e.g. its case). In English, the objects of prepositions are always in the objective case. In Koine Greek, certain prepositions always take their objects in a certain case (e.g., εν always takes its object in the dative), and other prepositions may take their object in one of several cases, depending on the meaning of the preposition (e.g., δια takes its object in the genitive or in the accusative, depending on the meaning).
• Adpositions are non-inflecting (or "invariant"); i.e., they do not have paradigms of forms (for different tenses, cases, genders, etc.) in the same way as verbs, adjectives, and nouns in the same language. There are exceptions, though, for example in Celtic languages (see Inflected preposition).

[edit] Properties

The following properties are characteristic of most adpositional systems.

• Adpositions are among the most frequently occurring words in languages that have them. For example, one frequency ranking for English word forms^[3] begins as follows (adpositions in bold):

the, of, and, to, a, in, that, it, is, was, I, for, on, you, …

• The most common adpositions are single, monomorphemic words. According to the ranking cited above, for example, the most common English prepositions are the following:

of, to, in, for, on, with, as, by, at, from, …

• Adpositions form a closed class of lexical items and cannot be productively derived from words of other categories.

[edit] Stranding

Main article: Preposition stranding

Preposition stranding is a syntactic construct in which a preposition with an object occurs somewhere other than immediately next to its object. It is most commonly found in English as well as North Germanic languages. The existence of preposition stranding in German and Dutch is debated. Preposition stranding is also found in languages outside the Germanic family, such as Vata and Gbadi (languages of the Niger-Congo) and the dialects of some North American French speakers.

[edit] Classification

Adpositions can be organized into subclasses according to various criteria. These can be based on directly observable properties (such as the adposition's form or its position in the sentence) or on less visible properties (such as the adposition's meaning or function in the context at hand).

[edit] Simple vs complex

Simple adpositions consist of a single word, while complex adpositions consist of a group of words that act as one unit. Some examples of complex prepositions in English are:

• in spite of, with respect to, except for, by dint of, next to

The boundary between simple and complex adpositions is not clear-cut and for the most part arbitrary. Many simple adpositions are derived from complex forms (e.g. with + in → within, by + side → beside) through grammaticalization. This change takes time, and during the transitional stages the adposition acts in some ways like a single word, and in other ways like a multi-word unit. For example, current German orthographic conventions recognize the indeterminate status of the following adpositions, allowing two spellings:^[4]

• anstelle / an Stelle ("instead of"), aufgrund / auf Grund ("because of"), mithilfe / mit Hilfe ("thanks to"), zugunsten / zu Gunsten ("in favor of"), zuungunsten / zu Ungunsten ("to the disadvantage of"), zulasten / zu Lasten ("at the expense of")

The boundary between complex adpositions and free combinations of words is also a fuzzy one. For English, this involves structures of the form "preposition + (article) + noun + preposition". Many sequences in English, such as in front of, that are traditionally regarded as prepositional phrases are not so regarded by linguists.^[5] The following characteristics are good indications that a given combination is "frozen" enough to be considered a complex preposition in English:

• It contains a word that cannot be used in any other context: by dint of, in lieu of.
• The first preposition cannot be replaced: with a view to but not *for/without a view to
• It is impossible to insert an article, or to use a different article: on *an/*the account of, for the/*a sake of
• The range of possible adjectives is very limited: in great favor of, but not *in helpful favor of
• The number of the noun cannot be changed: by virtue/*virtues of
• It is impossible to use a possessive determiner: in spite of him, not *in his spite

Complex prepositions develop through the grammaticalization of commonly-used free combinations. This is an ongoing process that introduces new prepositions into English.^[6]

[edit] Classification by position

The surface position of an adposition with respect to its complement allows us to define the following subclasses:

• A preposition precedes its complement to form a prepositional phrase.

German: auf dem Tisch, French: sur la table, Polish: na stole ("on the table")

• A postposition follows its complement to form a postpositional phrase.

Chinese: 桌子上 zhuōzi shàng (lit. "table on"), Finnish: (minun) kanssani (lit. "my with"), Turkish: benimle (or "benim ile") (lit. "me with")

These two terms are in fact much more commonly used than the more general adposition. Whether a language has primarily prepositions or postpositions is seen as an important aspect of its typological classification, correlated with many other properties of the language according to research into linguistic universals.
It is usually straightforward to say whether an adposition precedes or follows its complement, but in some cases, the complement may not appear in its "normal" position. For example, in preposition stranding constructions, the complement appears somewhere to the left of the preposition:

• {How much money} did you say the guy wanted to sell us the car for?
• She's going to the Bahamas? {Who} with?

In other cases, the complement of the adposition is missing altogether:

• I'm going to the park. Do you want to come with?
• French: Il fait trop froid, je ne suis pas habillée pour. ("It's too cold, I'm not dressed for [this situation].")

The adpositions in these examples are generally still considered to be prepositions, because when they form a phrase with the complement (in more ordinary constructions), they must appear first.
Some adpositions can in fact appear on either side of their complement; these might be called ambipositions (Reindl 2001, Libert 2006):

• He slept {through the whole night}/{the whole night through}.
• German: {meiner Meinung nach}/{nach meiner Meinung} ("in my opinion")

An ambiposition may have distinct meanings, and it may govern distinct cases, depending on its position. E.g. German preposition, entlang (along). It can be put before or after the noun related to it (but with different noun cases attached to it).

die Straße entlang

entlang der Straße

along the road

Another logical possibility is for the adposition to appear on both sides of its complement:

• A circumposition has two parts, which surround the complement to form a circumpositional phrase.
  • English: from now on
  • Dutch: naar het einde toe ("towards the end", lit. "to the end to")
  • Mandarin: 從 冰箱 裡 cóng bīngxīang lǐ ("from the inside of the refrigerator", lit. "from refrigerator inside")
  • French: à un détail près ("except for one detail", lit. "at one detail near")

"Circumposition" can be useful as a descriptive term, although on closer inspection, most circumpositional phrases can be broken down into a more hierarchical structure, or given a different analysis altogether. For example, the Mandarin example above could be analyzed as a prepositional phrase headed by cóng ("from"), taking the postpositional phrase bīngxīang lǐ ("refrigerator inside") as its complement. Alternatively, the cóng may be analyzed as not being a preposition at all (see the section below regarding coverbs).

• An inposition is an adposition between constituents of a complex complement.^[7]
• Ambiposition is a term sometimes used for an adposition that can function as either a preposition or a postposition.^[8]

Melis (2003) proposes the descriptive term interposition for adpositions in the structures such as the following:

• mot à mot ("word for word"), coup sur coup ("one after another, repeatedly"), page après page ("page upon page")

These phrases do require special attention, but the term "interposition" cannot be taken literally to mean that the adposition appears inside its complement (because the two nouns do not form a single phrase *mot mot or *page page). Genuine examples of "interposed" adpositions can be found in Latin (e.g. summa cum laude, lit. "highest with praise"), but these are always related to a more basic prepositional structure.

Classification by complement

Although noun phrases are the most typical complements, adpositions can in fact combine with a variety of syntactic categories, much like verbs.

• noun phrases: It was on {the table}.
• adpositional phrases: Come out from {under the bed}.
• adjectives and adjective phrases: The scene went from {blindingly bright} to {pitch black}.
• adverbs or adverb phrases: I worked there until {recently}
• infinitival or participial verb phrases: Let's think about {solving this problem}.
• interrogative clauses: We can't agree on {whether to have children or not}
• full sentences (see Conjunctions below)

Also like verbs, adpositions can appear without a complement; see Adverbs below.
Some adpositions could be described as combining with two complements:

• {With Sammy president}, we can all come out of hiding again.
• {For Sammy to become president}, they'd have to seriously modify the Constitution.

It is more commonly assumed, however, that Sammy and the following predicate first forms a small clause, which then becomes the single complement of the preposition. (In the first example above, a word (such as as) may be considered to be ellided, which, if present, would clarify the grammatical relationship.)

Semantic classification

Adpositions can be used to express a wide range of semantic relations between their complement and the rest of the context. The following list is not an exhaustive classification:

• spatial relations: location (inclusion, exclusion, proximity), direction (origin, path, endpoint)
• temporal relations
• comparison: equality, opposition, price, rate
• content: source, material, subject matter
• agent
• instrument, means, manner
• cause, purpose
• Reference

Most common adpositions are highly polysemous, and much research is devoted to the description and explanation of the various interconnected meanings of particular adpositions. In many cases a primary, spatial meaning can be identified, which is then extended to non-spatial uses by metaphorical or other processes.
In some contexts, adpositions appear in contexts where their semantic contribution is minimal, perhaps altogether absent. Such adpositions are sometimes referred to as functional or case-marking adpositions, and they are lexically selected by another element in the construction, or fixed by the construction as a whole.

• English: dispense with formalities, listen to my advice, good at mathematics
• Russian: otvechat' na vopros (lit. "answer on the question"), obvinenie v obmane ("accusation in [i.e. of] fraud")
• Spanish: soñar con ganar el título ("dream with [i.e. about] winning the title"), consistir en dos grupos ("consist in [i.e. of] two groups")

It is usually possible to find some semantic motivation for the choice of a given adposition, but it is generally impossible to explain why other semantically motivated adpositions are excluded in the same context. The selection of the correct adposition in these cases is a matter of syntactic well-formedness.

Subclasses of spatial adpositions

Spatial adpositions can be divided into two main classes, namely directional and static ones. A directional adposition usually involves motion along a path over time, but can also denote a non-temporal path. Examples of directional adpositions include to, from, towards, into, along and through.

• Bob went to the store. (movement over time)
• A path into the woods. (non-temporal path)
• The fog extended from London to Paris. (non-temporal path)

A static adposition normally does not involve movement. Examples of these include at, in, on, beside, behind, under and above.

• Bob is at the store.

Directional adpositions differ from static ones in that they normally can't combine with a copula to yield a predicate, though there are some exceptions to this, as in Bob is from Australia, which may perhaps be thought of as special uses.

• Fine: Bob is in his bedroom. (in is static)
• Bad: *Bob is to his bedroom. (to is directional)

Directional spatial adpositions can only combine with verbs that involve motion; static prepositions can combine with other verbs as well.

• Fine: Bob is lying down in his bedroom.
• Bad: *Bob is lying down into/from his bedroom.

When a static adposition combines with a motion verb, it sometimes takes on a directional meaning. The following sentence can either mean that Bob jumped around in the water, or else that he jumped so that he ended up in the water.

• Bob jumped in the water.

In some languages, directional adpositions govern a different case on their complement than static ones. These are known as casally modulated prepositions. For example, in German, directional adpositions govern accusative while static ones govern dative. Adpositions that are ambiguous between directional and static interpretations govern accusative when they are interpreted as directional, and dative when they are interpreted as static.

• in seinem Zimmer (in his-DATIVE room) "in his room" (static)
• in sein Zimmer (in his-ACCUSATIVE room) "into his room" (directional)

Directional adpositions can be further divided into telic ones and atelic ones. To, into and across are telic: they involve movement all the way to the endpoint denoted by their complement. Atelic ones include towards and along. When telic adpositions combine with a motion verb, the result is a telic verb phrase. Atelic adpositions give rise to atelic verb phrases when so combined.^[9]
Static adpositions can be further subdivided into projective and non-projective ones. A non-projective static adposition is one whose meaning can be determined by inspecting the meaning of its complement and the meaning of the preposition itself. A projective static adposition requires, in addition, a perspective or point of view. If I say that Bob is behind the rock, you need to know where I am to know on which side of the rock Bob is supposed to be. If I say that your pen is to the left of my book, you also need to know what my point of view is. No such point of view is required in the interpretation of sentences like your pen is on the desk. Projective static prepositions can sometimes take the complement itself as "point of view," if this provides us with certain information. For example, a house normally has a front and a back, so a sentence like the following is actually ambiguous between two readings: one has it that Bob is at the back of the house; the other has it that Bob is on the other side of the house, with respect to the speaker's point of view.

• Bob is behind the house.

A similar effect can be observed with left of, given that objects that have fronts and backs can also be ascribed lefts and rights. The sentence, My keys are to the left of the phone, can either mean that they are on the speaker's left of the phone, or on the phone's left of the phone.^[10]

Classification by grammatical function

Particular uses of adpositions can be classified according to the function of the adpositional phrase in the sentence.

• Modification
  • adverb-like
    

    The athlete ran {across the goal line}.

  • adjective-like
    • attributively

    A road trip {with children} is not the most relaxing vacation.

    • in the predicate position

    The key is {under the plastic rock}.

  
  


• Syntactic functions
  • complement
    

    Let's dispense with the formalities.

    Here the words dispense and with complement one another, functioning as a unit to mean forego, and they share the direct object (the formalities). The verb dispense would not have this meaning without the word with to complement it.

    {In the cellar} was chosen as the best place to hide the bodies.

  
  

Adpositional languages typically single out a particular adposition for the following special functions:

• marking possession
• marking the agent in the passive construction
• marking the beneficiary role in transfer relations

Overlaps with other categories

Adverbs

There are many similarities in form between adpositions and adverbs. Some adverbs are clearly derived from the fusion of a preposition and its complement, and some prepositions have adverb-like uses with no complement:

• {down the stairs}/downstairs, {under the ground}/underground.
• {inside (the house)}, {aboard (the plane)}, {underneath (the surface)}

It is possible to treat all of these adverbs as intransitive prepositions, as opposed to transitive prepositions, which select a complement (just like transitive vs intransitive verbs). This analysis^[11] could also be extended to other adverbs, even those that cannot be used as "ordinary" prepositions with a nominal complement:

• here, there, abroad, downtown, afterwards, …

A more conservative approach is to say simply that adverbs and adpositional phrases share many common functions.

Particles

Phrasal verbs in English are composed of a verb and a "particle" that also looks like an intransitive preposition. The same can be said for the separable verb prefixes found in Dutch and German.

• give up, look out, sleep in, carry on, come to
• Dutch: opbellen ("to call (by phone)"), aanbieden ("to offer"), voorstellen ("to propose")
• German: einkaufen ("to purchase"), aussehen ("to resemble"), anbieten ("to offer")

Although these elements have the same lexical form as prepositions, in many cases they do not have relational semantics, and there is no "missing" complement whose identity can be recovered from the context.

Conjunctions

The set of adpositions overlaps with the set of subordinating conjunctions (or complementizers):

• (preposition) before/after/since the end of the summer
• (conjunction) before/after/since the summer ended
• It looks like another rainy day (preposition) / it's going to rain again today (conjunction).

All of these words can be treated as prepositions if we extend the definition to allow clausal complements. This treatment could be extended further to conjunctions that are never used as ordinary prepositions:

• unless they surrender, although time is almost up, while you were on the phone

Coverbs

In some languages, the role of adpositions is served by coverbs, words that are lexically verbs, but are generally used to convey the meaning of adpositions.
For instance, whether prepositions exist in Chinese is sometimes considered an open question. Coverbs are often referred to as prepositions because they appear before the noun phrase they modify. However, unlike prepositions, coverbs can sometimes stand alone as main verbs. For instance, in Standard Mandarin, dào can be used in a prepositional or a verb sense:

• qù ("to go") is the main verb: 我到北京去。Wǒ dào Běijīng qù. ("I go to Beijing.")
• dào ("to arrive") is the main verb: 我到了。Wǒ dào le. ("I have arrived.")

Case affixes

From a functional point of view, adpositions and morphological case markings are strikingly similar. An adpositional phrase in one language often corresponds directly to a case-marked noun phrase in another language. For example, the agentive noun phrase in the passive construction in English is introduced by the preposition by, while in Russian it is marked by the instrumental case: "oy", "om", or "ami", depending on the noun's gender and number. Sometimes both prepositions and cases can be observed within a single language. For example, in certain uses the genitive case in German is interchangeable with a von prepositional phrase.
Despite this functional similarity, adpositions and case markings are distinct grammatical categories:

• Adpositions combine syntactically with their complement phrase. Case markings combine with a noun morphologically.
• Two adpositions can usually be joined with a conjunction and share a single complement, but this is normally not possible with case markings:

{of and for the people} vs. Latin populi et populo, not *populi et -o ("people-genitive and -dative")

• One adposition can usually combine with two coordinated complements, but this is normally not possible with case markings:

of {the city and the world} vs. Latin urbis et orbis, not *urb- et orbis ("city and world-genitive")

• Case markings combine primarily with nouns, whereas adpositions can combine with phrases of many different categories.
• A case marking usually appears directly on the noun, but an adposition can be separated from the noun by other words.
• Within the noun phrase, determiners and adjectives may agree with the noun in case (case spreading), but an adposition only appears once.
• A language can have hundreds of adpositions (including complex adpositions), but no language has this many distinct morphological cases.

Still, it can be difficult to draw a clear boundary between case markings and adpositions. For example, the post-nominal elements in Japanese and Korean are sometimes called case particles and sometimes postpositions. Sometimes they are analysed as two different groups because they have different characteristics (e.g. ability to combine with focus particles), but in such analysis, it is unclear which words should fall into which group.

• Japanese: 電車で　(densha de, "by train")
• Korean: 한국에 (Hangug-e, "to Korea")

Turkish and Finnish have both extensive case-marking and postpositions, and here there is evidence to help distinguish the two:

• Turkish: (case) sinemaya (cinema-dative, "to the cinema") vs (postposition) sinema için ("for the cinema")
• Finnish: (case) talossa (house-inessive, "in the house") vs (postposition) "talon edessä (house-gen in-front, "in front of the house")

In these examples, the case markings form a word with their hosts (as shown by vowel harmony, other word-internal effects and agreement of adjectives in Finnish), while the postpositions are independent words.
Some languages, like Sanskrit, use postpositions to emphasize the meaning of the grammatical cases, and eliminate possible ambiguities in the meaning of the phrase. For example: रामेण सह (Rāmeṇa saha, "in company of Rāma"). In this example, "Rāmeṇa" is in the instrumental case, but, as its meaning can be ambiguous,the postposition saha is being used to emphasize the meaning of company.
In Indo-European languages, each case often contains several different endings, some of which may even be derived from different roots. An ending is chosen depending on gender, number, whether the word is a noun or a modifier, and other factors.

Word choice

In ambiguous cases, there is not always a clear rule that dictates which adposition is appropriate, and different languages and regional dialects may have different conventions; the standard usage(s) of a given preposition can be idiomatic. Learning the conventionally preferred word is a matter of exposure to examples. For example, most dialects of American English have "to wait in line", but some have "to wait on line". It is for this reason that prepositions are one of the most difficult aspects of a language to learn for non-native speakers.^[12]. Where an adposition is required in one language, it may not be in another. While translating some text, therefore, adpositions must be dealt with on a case-by-case basis, and one may be either supplied or omitted. Those learning English may have difficulty distinguishing between the prepositions on, in, and at, as other languages may use only one or two prepositions for the equivalent of three in English. On the other hand, speakers of English learning Spanish or Portuguese have difficulty distinguishing between the prepositions por and para, as both frequently mean for in English.

Use of Any and Some

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Read the conversation below: Barbara: Is there any milk left? Katherine: Yes, there is some in the bottle on the table. Barbara: Would you like some milk? Katherine: No, thank you. I don't think I'll drink any tonight. Could I have some water, please? Barbara: Sure. There is some in the fridge. Barbara: Do you know anybody who comes from China? Katherine: Yes, I think there is someone who is Chinese in my English class. Barbara: Great, could you ask him some questions for me? Katherine: No problem. Is there anything special you want me to ask? Barbara: No, I don't have anything in particular in mind. Maybe you could ask him some questions about life in China. Is that OK? Katherine: I would be happy to do that for you.

Exercises on some and any

The words some and any are used for countable and uncountable nouns. In general, we could say that some means a few / a little and any means none in negative clauses or a few / a little in questions.

Positive Clauses

In positive clauses, we usually use some.

Example:

I have bought some bread.

I have bought some apples.

Negative Clauses

In negative clauses, we use any. Note, however, that any alone is not a negative - it must be not ... any

Example:

I have not bought any bread.

I have not bought any apples.

Questions

In questions, we usually use any.

Example:

Have you bought any bread?

Have you bought any apples?

Compound Words with some & any

Some & any can also be part of compound words such as:

• something / anything
• someone / anyone
• somewhere / anywhere

Note that some & any have to be used with a noun while compound words with some & any can stand on their own.

Example:

I have bought some bread.

I have bought something.

However, some and any need not stand directly before the noun. Sometimes, the noun appears somewhere before some or any and is not repeated. So if you are not sure whether to use some or something for example, check if there is a noun in the sentence that you can place after some.

Example:

I do not have to buy bread. Rachel has already bought some [bread].

Exceptions

Positive Clauses with Any

We usually use some in positive clauses. But after never, without, hardly, we use any.

Example:

We never go anywhere.

She did her homework without any help.

There’s hardly anyone here.

Also in if clauses, we usually use any.

Example:

If there is anything to do, just call me.

Questions with Some

We usually use any in questions. But if we expect or want the other to answer ‚yes‘, we use some.

Example:

Have you got any brothers and sisters? → some people have brothers or sisters, others don't - we cannot expect the answer to be ‚yes‘

Would you like some biscuits? → we offer something and want to encourage the other to say ‚ja‘

The present perfect simple

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The present perfect simple expresses an action that is still going on or that stopped recently, but has an influence on the present. It puts emphasis on the result.
Form of Present Perfect

Positive Negative Question
I / you / we / they I have spoken. I have not spoken. Have I spoken?
he / she / it He has spoken. He has not spoken. Has he spoken?

For irregular verbs, use the participle form (see list of irregular verbs, 3rd column). For regular verbs, just add “ed”.
Exceptions in Spelling when Adding ‘ed’

Exceptions in spelling when adding ed Example
after a final e only add d love – loved
final consonant after a short, stressed vowel
or l as final consonant after a vowel is doubled admit – admitted
travel – travelled
final y after a consonant becomes i hurry – hurried

Use of Present Perfect

puts emphasis on the result
Example: She has written five letters.
action that is still going on
Example: School has not started yet.
action that stopped recently
Example: She has cooked dinner.
finished action that has an influence on the present
Example: I have lost my key.
action that has taken place once, never or several times before the moment of speaking
Example: I have never been to Australia.
Signal Words of Present Perfect

already, ever, just, never, not yet, so far, till now, up to now

Expressions suggestions and advise

The following English words and expressions are all used to make suggestions and give advice to people.

should
"You should try to practise English."
"You shouldn't translate too much."
Why don't you
"Why don't you join an English club?"
ought to
"You ought to read more."
If I were you, I'd…
"If I were you, I'd watch more television."
*All these expressions are followed by a verb, without to. For example: "He should visit the Eiffel Tower." (Not "he should to visit the Eiffel Tower.")
suggest and recommend
Either use a verb + ing
"I suggest visiting the Eiffel Tower." (We should all go.)
OR use that + a verb without to
"I suggest that you visit the Eiffel Tower." (I'm not going.)
OR use a noun
"I recommend the lasagne." (It's a very good dish to choose in this restaurant.)
advise
"I advise you to buy a good dictionary."
advice
Advice is an uncountable noun. This means that we can't say an advice. Instead, we say some advice or a piece of advice.
"Let me give you some advice."
"She gave me a very useful piece of advice: to buy a good dictionary."
Speaking tip

Many people don't like getting advice if they haven't asked for it! To avoid giving the wrong impression, you can try some of these expressions:
"You could always…"
"Have you considered…"
"Perhaps we could…"
"Do you think it's a good idea to…"

Degree of comparison

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Grammatical categories
Animacy Aspect Case Clusivity Definiteness Degree of comparison Evidentiality Focus Gender Mirativity Modality Mood Noun class Number Person Polarity Tense Topic Transitivity Voice
v • d

In English grammar the degree of comparison of an adjective or adverb describes the relational value of one thing with something in another clause of a sentence. An adjective may simply describe a quality, (the positive); it may compare the quality with that of another of its kind (comparative degree); and it may compare the quality with many or all others (superlative degree).^[1][2] In other languages it may describe a very large degree of a particular quality (in Semitic linguistics, called an elative).
The degree of comparison may be expressed morphologically, or syntactically. In English, for example, most monosyllabic and some disyllabic adjectives have morphological degrees of comparison: green (positive), greener (comparative), greenest (superlative); pretty, prettier, prettiest; while most polysyllabic adjectives use syntax: complex, more complex, most complex.

1. The positive degree is the most basic form of the adjective, positive because it does not relate to any superior or inferior qualities of other things in speech.
2. The comparative degree denotes a greater amount of a quality relative to something else. The phrase “Anna is taller than her father” means that Anna's degree of tallness is greater than her father's degree of tallness.
3. The superlative degree denotes the most, the largest, etc., by which it differs from other things.

English usage

Traditional English grammar uses the comparative form when comparing exactly two things, and the superlative when comparing three or more, but in informal usage this may not hold.

Positive	Comparative	Superlative
Good	Better	Best
Beautiful	More Beautiful	Most Beautiful
Big	Bigger	Biggest
Tall	Taller	Tallest
Sincere	More Sincere	Most Sincere
Small	Smaller	Smallest

Rhetorical use of unbalanced comparatives

In some contexts, such as advertising or political speeches, absolute and relative comparatives are intentionally employed in a way that invites a comparison, and yet the basis of comparison is not established. This is a common rhetorical device used to create an implication of significance where one may not actually be present. Although such usage is common, it is sometimes considered ungrammatical.
For example:

• Always!
• Why pay more?
• We work harder.
• We sell for less!

describing process

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Describing a Process or a Procedure

• Process: How something happens, takes place. Often uses Passive tenses
• Procedure: Giving Directions or Instructions. Usually in Active voice

Process

Describing a process means writing about how something is made or how something happens. Examples: the rainwater cycle, how coffee is grown, how glass is made, getting a driving license, starting a business.

Introduction

First, look at these introductory pages which give information on the Active and Passive voice and when they should be used.

1. Layout of Process Essay
2. More about the Passive
3. Popcorn and Coffee: Passive and Active
4. Using a Computer: Passive and Active
5. Even more about the Active and Passive
6. Exercise Sentences
7. Changing a Tyre
8. Exercise: Making Bread
9. Expanding Your Essay: Adding Where or Why to each stage
10. Gap-fill exercise Changing a tyre
11. Process writing tips

Exercises with Resources, Videos, Background Information

Click for exercises on the following topics

• Orange Juice! New!
• Chocolate Manufacture
• Giving Blood - watch the video presentation
• Paper Manufacture
• How Olive Oil Is Made: Reading and Exercise with Chart (pdf Acrobat file: 267 kb). Also see this page
• Making Glass
• Fish Canning
• How a Photocopier Works
• How Crayons are Made
• How Letters are Sorted
• Fuel Cell Technology in Cars
• How to Demolish an Apartment Block
• Adding Memory To Your Computer
• The Use of Waterjets in Engineering
• Changing a Car Tyre
• Making Jellybeans
• Stanford University site with processes
• Indigo and Tie-Dyed cloth from northern Guinea: a photo-story
• Popcorn
• How tabouleh is made + baba ganoush
• How the Pyramids were built: Past Tense and Passive

Other topics you could write about for practice:

• Getting a Driver's Licence
• How Cups are Made
• Petrol Refining
• How to Build a Runway
• How to . . .
• Getting Married in the UAE!
• Describe how to make Arabic coffee
• Describe how to get a passport
• How to Skin a Cat *

Useful Links for Passive and Process

• How Coca Cola is made
• How Ice Cream is made. A BBC page
• How Peanut Butter is made, from PeanutButterLovers.com

Two sites describing how Bread is made (the kind with yeast, not flat Arabic bread)

• Botham & Co, UK Bakery site - step by step. They also have a more advanced site here
• Warburtons - a UK site, with pictures from a commercial bakery.

Vocabulary and Grammar for Writing About Process

• Passives
• A gap-fill exercise on the Passive in News Headlines
• Language for Writing about Processes

Procedure

Under procedure, we will be writing about following and giving instructions and directions.

Earthquake 8.8 on the Richter Scale Issues Moving in East Java

Earthquake 8.8 on the Richter Scale Issues Moving in East Java
Wednesday, October 7th, 2009 | 20:14 pm
SURABAYA, KOMPAS.com - East Java Governor Soekarwo aside the issue on the Richter scale 8.8 earthquake that will hit the East Java region. According to him, the public expected to respond not just the issues that will actually endanger the public peace and damaging the East Java.

"There is information in East Java will be an earthquake 8.8 on the Richter scale. We ask (anyone) do not be nosy about it. This is very dangerous and damaging public tranquility," said Soekarwo on Wednesday (7 / 10) in the Office of the Governor of East Java, Jalan Pahlawan, Surabaya.

According Soekarwo, when the earthquake issues outstanding, East Java province to follow up the information directly by requesting information from the Bureau of Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics (BMKG) in Surabaya and Jakarta. However, this information proved to be a mere issue.

"Until now, the atmosphere of Java did not show the existence of potential earthquakes. But we need to realize together, the earthquake itself was not predictable," said Soekarwo.

Ready

Apart from these issues, East Java province has been preparing for the anticipated earthquake by conducting disaster management training, particularly in eight districts around the south coast of Java. "All the warning signs we fix and we have prepared, starting from the signals, sirens, to the rafters. We also allocated Rp 40 billion for special handling of the disaster," he said.

Meanwhile, Chief of Data and Information Section BMKG Class I Juanda Syamsul Arifin said it received a lot of questions about the issue of 8.8 Richter scale earthquake in Java. Arifin said the issue is misleading and BMKG never give a statement about the earthquake in Java. "People do not trust issues because of the earthquake itself could not be predicted," said Arifin.


BMG, â €?? Issues Earthquake June 7, Menyesatkanâ €?
South Coast residents evacuate Ready Java
BMG, â €?? Issues Earthquake June 7, Menyesatkanâ €?
Although not prominent, public panic occurred Wednesday (6 / 6) in some areas, will address the issue of the earthquake and tsunami on the date of June 7, 2007. The panic is not only happening in some areas on the south coast of Java, but this issue is also being discussed some of the Bandung warm. In fact, some residents in the city of Bandung, buy groceries and drinks heavily in preparation for the possibility of an earthquake.
The issue will be of the earthquake and tsunami of June 7, circulated not only through short messages (SMS) but also via e-mail chain. The issue will be the existence of this terrible disaster, according to an SMS circulated, starting from the CNN news about three days ago, which states in Australia the Earth's plates are moving north towards Asia. Predictably, this plate will hit the Earth's plates in the southern island of Java on June 7, 2007. This collision will cause a devastating earthquake and possible tsunami.
According to Head of Class I Bandung Geophysics Station Hendri Subakti, the issue was news which is incorrect and misleading. â € œSampai this time, no technology and equipment that can predict an earthquake will happen exactly, including BMG, â €? he said.
Public unrest, it could be because the previous statement from the expert appeared Geotechnological of Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), Dr. Danny Hilman Natawidjaja, stating the city of Bandung and its surrounding threatened rocked by huge quake measuring 7.5 on the Richter scale (SR). This threat could arise, if there is movement on a number plate fracture Cimandiri compiler-Lembang and Bandung basin rocked.
â €?? After news emerged that, every time I asked for clarification by the public regarding seismic issues. BMG as an official institution which monitors earthquakes, till now not able to predict earthquakes. Moreover, to mention happened in Bandung and happen tomorrow (7 / 6), it is quite impossible, â €? he said.
In the last 100 years, according to Hendri, a devastating earthquake has never happened in Bandung. Lembang Fault which is still moving ever shifting due to movement of 4,5-4,8 SR. â € œKalau earthquake does happen, I bet my position and would resign. But if not, I hope the parties accountable for spreading such misleading actions issues, â €? Hendri said firmly.
It also affirmed the National Earthquake Center staff BMG Fatchurochman Faith. â €?? The news was just rumor. Indonesia is vulnerable to earthquakes, from Sumatra to the south west region of Java because the meeting is still active plates, â €?? he said. â €?? Even if the earthquake happens tomorrow, it's just coincidence. So, whenever the plate is located, there is always potential for an earthquake. In Japan, even with frequent earthquakes, it can not be predicted, â €? Iman said.
Meanwhile, Chairman of West Java Province Satkorlak Nua € ™ man, Abdul Hakim said his party did not disseminate any instruction to a number of areas â €?? Terancamâ €? The devastating earthquake. â €?? We did not issue any instructions on the basis of incorrect predictions. Nothing is guaranteed tomorrow (7 / 6) there will be an earthquake, â €? he said, when reached by telephone, Wednesday (6 / 6).
Nua € ™ man asserted, official information about the earthquake only from BMG. However, he acknowledged the public in some areas are affected by these issues.
Not ready
Executing Unit for Disaster Management and Refugees (Satlak PBP) Bandung impressed not have good preparation for dealing with natural disasters that can happen anytime in the city of Bandung.
City environmental officials in Bandung tend to throw the responsibility when asked â €?? PRA €? how Satlak PBP preparation against disasters, especially large-scale disasters that might occur.
â €?? Disaster? Why ask me? There was suddenly asked what all the disasters? Â €? Bandung Regional Secretary said Edi Siswadi met after meeting the UN target of Actual Revenues Evaluation BPHTB Year 2006 and Receipt Year 2007 Target Plan in the Earth Sangkuriang, Bandung, Wednesday (6 / 6).
In fact, according to Decree No.129 Bandung mayor in 2002 on the Establishment of Organization and Work Satlak PBP Bandung, which is still the benchmark, serving as Secretary of Bandung Satlak PBP Executive Bandung.
â €?? Now we're revitalizing existing institutions so that when disaster strikes or remarkable incident (KLB) in Bandung, not recriminations. Luckily we are not disaster-prone areas, â €? he said.
Head of Social Welfare (Welfare) in Bandung City Government, as Secretary Satlak Edi Haryadi PBP Bandung said it has not been prepared to anticipate anything related to the seismic estimates.
â €?? We only anticipate the disaster could be anticipated such as floods or outbreaks of dengue fever. Mah difficult to predict seismic disaster, â €? he said.
When asked how the stock of medicines and other equipment such as an owned veldbed Satlak PBP, Edi replied â €?? There lah. We're also working together with PMI Branch of Health and Bandung.â €?
Pack your goods
The issue will be of the earthquake and tsunami on June 7, 2007, has also been disturbing residents in the southern coast of Cilacap and Yogyakarta. Residents in coastal areas of Yogyakarta, claiming fear of a tsunami so many of the residents who choose to packing their belongings and flee to higher ground. "He said the date 5-19 Juni must be vigilant as the great tsunami is likely to happen," said one resident.
Not a few people who choose to stay up all night on June 5 to 10, and decided to sleep outside the house even though village officials have tried to calm residents by saying that the issue is not true. Society would prefer to believe in television and radio news.
Unrest also affected the community of Cilacap. They began to clean up packing his belongings to evacuate.
Ny. Sartim (30), residents of Cilacap Adipala whose territory a few months ago the tsunami, felt the wind was blowing quite hard and the waves are still too high.
According to him, signs like this is early evidence before the occurrence of earthquakes accompanied by tsunamis. "I've boxed and ready to pack clothing for the displaced, '" he said.
In order to curb unrest, Central Java regency of Cilacap and the Office of First Class BMG Meteorological Station, was forced to intervene. They exert a number of cars equipped with loudspeakers to dampen public disquiet.
Head of Department of Welfare Cilacap Sumaryo admit, at least in the last two days on the coast and coastal communities in the local districts would be uneasy following the issue of earthquakes accompanied by tsunamis.


Large Normal Small
Apparently the earthquake in West Sumatra 7.9 Richter Scale
Saturday, October 10, 2009 | 15:22 pm
TEMPO Interactive, Kildare - The earthquake that occurred Wednesday (30/10) at 17:16 am and killed hundreds of people in West Sumatra was magnitude 7.9 on the Richter scale. In fact, Bureau of Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics had launched an earthquake at 57 kilometers southwest of Pariaman with a depth of 71 kilometers of magnitude 7.6 on the Richter scale.

Head of Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Padangpanjnag Muhamad Taufik Gunawan stating actual magnitude 7.9 on the Richter scala. However, people already know an earthquake measuring 7.6 on the Richter scala.

"BMKG had an obligation to release the data at most five minutes and report to the government and the public. Once we remove the initial data, the data we collect a few minutes later, it turns out scala Richter 7.9 earthquake forces. It's accurate," Muhamad Taufik Gunawan said, Saturday (10/10).

Even so, the Meteorological Agency does not perform error. Because they thought the media had already mengitup West Sumatra earthquake measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale.

"The data that we report to the government, and now governor also has said the earthquake measuring 7.9 on the Richter scale," said Muhamad Taufik Gunawan.

Meteorological Agency also denied the issue of large earthquakes above 8 on the Richter scale which again will occur accompanied by the tsunami in West Sumatra in the near future.

"The outstanding issue, said an earthquake would occur on SR 8 and accompanied by the tsunami in West Sumatra. But the date and the time is not specified. This issue is not true, because the earthquake is unknown when it can not come," said Muhamad Taufik Gunawan told reporters in Media Center Unit Coordinator of West Sumatra,

He called on the public remain vigilant. If there was a large earthquake is more than one minute and tear down the building, residents should immediately away from the beach or to the evacuation site that has been determined.
Post-earthquake 7.9 on the Richter scale Wednesday (30 / 9), the Meteorological Agency had recorded the aftershocks occurred 898 times and 45 times the quake could be felt.

"There's largest aftershock of up to 6 on the Richter scale. Many experts say there is strangeness, because it is not too large aftershocks," says Muhammad Taufik Gunawan.