Prepositions may be simple, so consisting of just one word, or complex, so consisting of two, three, or even four words. An example of a simple preposition is UNDER. Examples of complex prepositions are:
a two-word preposition: APART FROM
a three-word preposition: IN RETURN FOR
a four-word preposition: AS A RESULT OF
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As there are lots of complex prepositions in English, I’m going to cover just the two-word prepositions in this article and discuss the others in future articles.
Two-word prepositions usually end in a simple preposition, like for example the complex preposition APART FROM, mentioned above, which ends in the simple preposition FROM.
Taking this into account, we can group the prepositions according to the simple preposition they end in.
Table of Contents
Complex Prepositions with FOR:
AS FOR: As for Jane, she’ll be late. (= concerning Jane, talking about Jane)
BUT FOR: I would never have met her but for her brother. (= if it wasn’t thanks to her brother)
EXCEPT FOR: Everyone got a present except for Tom. (= with the exception of Tom)
SAVE FOR: The streets were empty save for some children. (= not including some children)
Complex Prepositions with FROM:
APART FROM: Apart from this incident, everything was fine. (= besides this incident)
ASIDE FROM: Aside from being boring, the movie was also too long. (= in addition to being boring)
AWAY FROM: She’s away from home. (= not at home)
Complex Prepositions with OF:
AHEAD OF: He quickly got ahead of me. (= to a place in front of me)
AS OF: The law takes effect as of March 15. (= on March 15)
BECAUSE OF: We had to stay home because of the storm. (= because there was a storm)
DEVOID OF: This student is devoid of any ambition. (= he doesn’t have any ambition)
EXCLUSIVE OF: All colors are allowed exclusive of blue. (= not including blue)
INSIDE OF: He was hidden inside of the bunker. (= inside the bunker)
INSTEAD OF: You can do it instead of me. (= rather than me)
IRRESPECTIVE OF: We decided to buy the house irrespective of the price. (= no matter what price)
OUT OF: He walked out of his room. (= from his room to the outside of it)
OUTSIDE OF: I’d like to live outside of the city. (= outside the city)
REGARDLESS OF: I’ll go there regardless of the weather. (= without considering the weather)
UPWARD(S) OF: I think he earns upwards of $5000. (= more than $5000)
VOID OF: The girl is void of charm. (= she has no charm)
Complex Prepositions with TO:
ACCORDING TO: According to my boss I work too little.(= as stated by my boss)
AS TO: I was at a loss as to how to say it. (= I didn’t know how to say it)
CLOSE TO: I won close to a million dollars. (= almost/nearly a million dollars)
CONTRARY TO: Contrary to what they say, I’m not rich. (= what they say is not true)
DUE TO: Due to the epidemic, our vacation was canceled. (= because of the epidemic)
NEXT TO: He was standing next to his brother. (= at his side)
OWING TO: She’s depressed owing to her sister’s death. (= because of her sister’s death)
PRELIMINARY TO: This preparatory training is preliminary to the finals. (= comes before the main thing, which is the finals)
PREPARATORY TO: Preparatory to the job interview, I read everything I could about the company on the Internet. (= in preparation for the interview)
PREVIOUS TO: She was elected president and previous to that she was vice president. (= before that she was vice president)
PRIOR TO: He graduated just prior to the war. (= just before the war)
RELATIVE TO: He’s quite strong relative to his body size. (= when measured against his body size)
SUBSEQUENT TO: Subsequent to the job interview, I got a really good offer. (= after the interview)
THANKS TO: Thanks to this device, you can measure the distance to the moon. (= with the help of this device)
UP TO: She’s not up to forgiving him. (= not ready to forgive him)
Complex Prepositions with WITH:
ALONG WITH: His sister came along with him. (= together with him)
TOGETHER WITH: There were three people together with the president and his wife. (= in addition to the president and his wife)
Other Two-Word Prepositions:
SUCH AS: I think you should have a pet, such as a dog or a cat. (= like for example a dog or a cat)
DEPENDING ON: Depending on your age, you may not be let in. (= whether you will be let in will be determined by your age)
AS AGAINST: Only 30% of people voted for him as against 51% for his opponent. (= in comparison to 51% for his opponent)
AS PER: I did everything as per your instructions. (= according to your instructions)
AS REGARDS: As regards your previous book, we’re thinking about a second edition. (= regarding your previous book)
RATHER THAN: He wants to buy a dog rather than a hamster. (= and not a hamster, instead of a hamster)