6. Preposition

The prepositions express the relations between words in a sentence. They don’t have their own lexical meaning or independent function in the sentence, but they are a most important element of the structure. In English they are one of the main means of expressing relations between nouns and other part of the sentence. Prepositions of place even express extralingustic relations, like notional parts of speech – on the table-under the table -.

The preposition connects words in such patterns as: “noun+preposition+noun”, “adjective+preposition+noun”, “verb+preposition+noun”. What predicts the use of this or that preposition? Sometimes it is the preceding word: depend on, interested in. In these cases the connection between the preposition and the preceding word is stronger than the connection with the following word, and usually this noun is an object, but if the connection with the following word is stronger – is under the table, rises in the morning – the noun is the adverbial modifier.

The preposition express various relations – place, time, cause etc. and are the only means of expressing those relations, as there are no case inflections of nouns:

The roof of the house – showed the letter to the manager – the letter was signed by the manager – he cut the apple with a knife.

The form of the prepositions can be simple, (on, in, with), composite (without, upon) and group prepositions, or word-combinations serving as prepositions: according to, instead of, in spite of. Some prepositions are derived from participles and have the same form: concerning, regarding.

Some prepositions have the same form, as adverbs, but they are different in function: We spoke about health. – Children were running about. Across the road – put it across. Down the stairs – looked down (up, down, after, by, in, on, about, across, above).

7. Particles

Particles are functional words of specifying and limiting meaning. They show subjective attitude. They refer to the word (or phrase) immediately following and give special prominence to the notion expressed by this word, or single it out in some other way, depending on the meaning of the particle. One just does what is reasonable. She could feel anger, even at this late date.

It can stand apart from the word it refers to – I have only met him twice. It is a specific part of the sentence, because without it the meaning of it changes.

The particle not deserves special treatment. It may stand outside the predicate – Not till we landed did we realize that we are alive. Or in short answers: Certainly not. Perhaps not. Of course not. (with modal words). It appears to be the main part of the sentence. Another use is within the predicate, as part of the verb: I am not, he is not, she does not. Here the particle is an auxiliary element within the morphology of the verb, and it has no syntactic function of its own. Its becoming a morpheme within the verb form is seen in the contracted forms isn’t, wouldn’t.

Sometimes the word almost causes doubts whether it is an adverb or a particle: The boat almost overturned. – whether it shows the subjective attitude (it was in danger of overturning) or it denotes the manner in which the action was conducted. It can be felt in the translation – чуть не перевернулась – particle, почти перевернулась – adverb.