Beyond Basic Prepositions: Exploring Complex Prepositional Phrases

 

There comes a time in every English learner’s life when the simple prepositions—in, on, at—no longer satisfy. Like a teenager outgrowing their school uniform, the learner finds that basic prepositions can cover only so much ground. Yes, one can sit on a chair, be in a room, or arrive at the station. But what about being on the verge of tears, in the middle of nowhere, or at odds with reality? These are the moments when English reveals its love for elaboration, its delight in taking something straightforward and spinning it into something more complex, often with results that range from poetic to preposterous.

The first thing to grasp is that complex prepositional phrases are not simply longer versions of the basic ones; they are tiny linguistic machines. They carry a meaning that cannot always be guessed by combining the parts. Take in charge of. On its own, in is spatial, and charge might suggest electricity or perhaps a cavalry officer with a moustache. Put them together, however, and you have a phrase of authority: the person in charge of the biscuits controls who gets one and who must wait. It is a phrase as powerful in the office kitchen as it is in the boardroom.

Similarly, on behalf of is not about standing literally on a person’s half. It means speaking or acting as their representative. To say, “I’m writing on behalf of my manager” is to take on their voice, though one suspects the manager would prefer to be writing on their own behalf if the email were about a pay rise. Such phrases demonstrate how English gathers words into small conspiracies, producing meanings larger than the sum of their parts.

Students often find these expressions puzzling because they are not always logical. Why, for instance, does one live in the suburbs but work on the outskirts? Why is one at risk of failure but in danger of collapse? Native speakers do not pause to wonder; they merely repeat the phrases they have inherited, like recipes passed down through the generations. To question them is a little like asking why Aunt Margaret insists on putting pineapple in the Christmas stuffing: it may not make sense, but it is tradition.

Yet there is also joy to be found in these phrases. They are the seasoning in English conversation, the things that make speech feel rich and expressive. To say, “I’m tired” is simple enough; to say, “I’m at the end of my tether” is far more evocative. Suddenly, one pictures a harassed donkey tethered to a post, straining hopelessly against its rope. The phrase contains both humour and drama, turning a complaint into a miniature story. Learners who master such expressions often find their English acquiring colour, like a black-and-white film shifting into technicolour.

Consider too the phrase by virtue of. It sounds almost judicial, as though one were about to declare a law. Yet it simply means “because of.” To say, “She was invited by virtue of her experience” is more elaborate than “because she had experience.” The former carries a faint whiff of ceremony, as though her invitation were sealed with a wax stamp. It is these shades of tone and register that make prepositional phrases so useful to writers and speakers alike.

But beware: not all are so lofty. English also abounds with prepositional phrases that are wonderfully colloquial. Someone who is in over their head is not physically drowning (though they may feel they are). It describes the manager suddenly put in charge of a project involving advanced accounting software, despite the fact they cannot even find the calculator app on their phone. Another favourite is under the weather. It does not mean lying beneath a cloud, though that might indeed make one ill, but rather feeling slightly unwell. These phrases are idiomatic, and therefore treacherous to learners who attempt to translate them word for word.

For teachers, the challenge lies in helping students recognise that complex prepositional phrases are best learned as chunks, much like pieces of Lego that cannot be dismantled without losing their shape. Drilling a phrase like at the end of the day—a staple of both business meetings and pub conversations—means repeating it often enough that learners no longer pause to wonder what exactly is ending, or why. The phrase simply becomes a handy way of saying, “When all is considered.”

And then there are those deliciously long-winded prepositional strings that English speakers produce when trying to sound particularly official. A government memo might explain that a policy has been changed for the purposes of compliance with regulations in accordance with statutory requirements. By the time one has unravelled this knot, the will to live may have evaporated, but the prepositions will still be marching on dutifully. These overgrown phrases are a reminder that prepositions can be powerful tools in bureaucracy, capable of making the simple act of filling in a form sound like a moral crusade.

From a learner’s perspective, there are two great temptations to avoid. The first is over-using these phrases in an attempt to sound advanced. A student who sprinkles every sentence with by means of, with regard to, and in connection with may end up sounding like a malfunctioning lawyer’s brief. The second temptation is ignoring them altogether in favour of safe, simple prepositions. Yet doing so risks missing out on much of the humour and richness of English, not to mention a fair share of its misunderstandings.

Imagine the student who proudly tells their host family, “I am in favour of chicken tonight.” Perfectly correct, though faintly absurd, as though a parliamentary vote had been taken on the subject. Or the tourist who says, “I am at a loss for words,” only to be congratulated by their teacher for having produced a phrase of idiomatic brilliance, even while failing to order lunch. These small triumphs and mishaps are the natural territory of anyone venturing beyond basic prepositions.

Perhaps the best way to think of complex prepositional phrases is as little keys to English culture. They tell us something about how speakers imagine the world: tethered donkeys, bad weather, authority structures, ceremonies of virtue. They reveal an affection for imagery and a tolerance for illogicality. And they remind us that English is not just a system of grammar but a collection of habits, metaphors, and quirks accumulated over centuries.

So, as learners move beyond the humble in, on, and at, they should not despair at the apparent chaos. Instead, they might embrace the oddity of it all. After all, it is in the nature of things that languages evolve oddly. English is particularly fond of dressing up in prepositional finery, strutting about with phrases like for the sake of argument or in light of recent events. And, as any teacher knows, it is precisely these quirks that keep students both baffled and amused.

At the end of the day—and yes, that too is a prepositional phrase—mastery of complex prepositional phrases is not simply about grammar. It is about acquiring a voice that sounds natural, expressive, and occasionally mischievous. To be able to say one is on the brink of disaster rather than merely “in trouble” is to share in the humour and drama of English speakers everywhere. It is to step, quite literally, beyond the basics and into the curious, colourful, and at times absurd world of prepositions in action.

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