Prepositions postposition¶

Postpositions¶

Postposition	Example Sentence	Notes / CGEL-type comment
ago	I met her three days ago.	Always temporal; follows noun phrase; cannot take clause.
aside	He stepped two paces aside.	Often part of idiomatic expressions (put aside).
apart	They live miles apart.	Spatial separation; follows noun.
through	They worked the night through.	Often in fixed expressions (all night through); can be adverbial.
notwithstanding	Fees notwithstanding, he completed the course.	Formal/legalistic; can appear pre- or post-positionally (notwithstanding the fees).
barring	Barring rain, the match will be played.	Conditional; follows noun phrase.
past	We drove five miles past.	Spatial; often directional (past the church).
outside	He waited outside the room.	Rarely postpositional; usually prepositional.
inside	He waited inside the house.	Same as outside; mostly prepositional.
aboard	All hands aboard ship!	Can be pre- or postpositional; fixed expressions.
en route	We are en route Paris.	Borrowed from French; fixed adverbial phrase.
aslant	The tree fell aslant the road.	Literary/archaic; postpositional.
throughout	People sang throughout the night.	Usually prepositional, but can follow NP in some constructions.

Word	Preposition Example	Postposition Example	Notes
across	She walked across the street.	The street across was busy.	“Across” can follow NP in informal/fixed contexts.
inside	Wait inside the house.	The house inside was warm.	Postpositional use is less common; mostly fixed expressions.
outside	They waited outside the door.	The door outside was locked.	Postpositional often emphasizes location.
through	They worked through the night.	The night through, they worked tirelessly.	“Through” can follow NP in idiomatic/fixed phrases.
throughout	People sang throughout the night.	The night throughout, people sang.	NP-final use is literary/idiomatic.
aboard	All hands aboard the ship!	The ship aboard were the crew.	Fixed expressions; postpositional is mostly exclamatory/liturgical.