Editing English grammar (section)

===Prepositions===
{{Main|English prepositions}}
[[Preposition]]s form a closed word class,<ref name=carter-mccarthy-p313/> although there are also certain phrases that serve as prepositions, such as ''in front of''. A single preposition may have a variety of meanings, often including temporal, spatial and abstract. Many words that are prepositions can also serve as adverbs. Examples of common English prepositions (including phrasal instances) are: ''of'', ''in'', ''on'', ''over'', ''under'', ''to'', ''from'', ''with'', ''in front of'', ''behind'', ''opposite'', ''by'', ''before'', ''after'', ''during'', ''through'', ''in spite of'' or ''despite'', ''between'', ''among'', etc.

A preposition is usually used with a noun phrase as its [[complement (grammar)|complement]]. A preposition together with its complement is called a [[prepositional phrase]].<ref name=carter-mccarthy-p314-315>{{Harvnb|Carter|McCarthy|2006|pp=314–315}}</ref> Examples are ''in England'', ''under the table'', ''after six pleasant weeks'', ''between the land and the sea''. A prepositional phrase can be used as a complement or post-modifier of a noun in a noun phrase, as in ''the man in the car'', ''the start of the fight''; as a complement of a verb or adjective, as in ''deal with the problem'', ''proud of oneself''; or generally as an adverb phrase (see above).

English allows the use of [[Preposition stranding|"stranded" prepositions]]. This can occur in interrogative and [[English relative clauses|relative clauses]], where the interrogative or relative pronoun that is the preposition's complement is moved to the start ([[wh-fronting|fronted]]), leaving the preposition in place. This kind of structure is avoided in some kinds of formal English. For example:
*''What are you talking about?'' (Possible alternative version: ''About what are you talking?'')
*''The song that you were listening to{{nbsp}}...'' (more formal: ''The song to which you were listening{{nbsp}}...'')
Notice that in the second example the relative pronoun ''that'' could be omitted.

Stranded prepositions can also arise in [[English passive voice|passive voice]] constructions and other uses of passive [[past participle|past participial phrases]], where the complement in a prepositional phrase can become [[zero (linguistics)|zero]] in the same way that a verb's direct object would: ''it was looked at''; ''I will be operated on''; ''get your teeth seen to''. The same can happen in certain uses of [[infinitive]] phrases: ''he is nice to talk to''; ''this is the page to make copies of''.