Prepositions

What is a Preposition?

A preposition links nouns, pronouns and phrases to other words in a sentence. The word or phrase that the preposition introduces is called the object of the preposition.
A preposition usually indicates the temporal, spatial or logical relationship of its object to the rest of the sentence as in the following examples:

The book is on the table.

The book is beneath the table.

The book is leaning against the table.

The book is beside the table.

She held the book over the table.

She read the book during class.

In each of the preceding sentences, a preposition locates the noun "book" in space or in time.
A prepositional phrase is made up of the preposition, its object and any associated adjectives or adverbs. A prepositional phrase can function as a noun, an adjective, or an adverb. The most common prepositions are "about," "above," "across," "after," "against," "along," "among," "around," "at," "before," "behind," "below," "beneath," "beside," "between," "beyond," "but," "by," "despite," "down," "during," "except," "for," "from," "in," "inside," "into," "like," "near," "of," "off," "on," "onto," "out," "outside," "over," "past," "since," "through," "throughout," "till," "to," "toward," "under," "underneath," "until," "up," "upon," "with," "within," and "without."
Each of the highlighted words in the following sentences is a preposition:

The children climbed the mountain without fear.

In this sentence, the preposition "without" introduces the noun "fear." The prepositional phrase "without fear" functions as an adverb describing how the children climbed.

There was rejoicing throughout the land when the government was defeated.

Here, the preposition "throughout" introduces the noun phrase "the land." The prepositional phrase acts as an adverb describing the location of the rejoicing.

The spider crawled slowly along the banister.

The preposition "along" introduces the noun phrase "the banister" and the prepositional phrase "along the banister" acts as an adverb, describing where the spider crawled.

The dog is hiding under the porch because it knows it will be punished for chewing up a new pair of shoes.

Here the preposition "under" introduces the prepositional phrase "under the porch," which acts as an adverb modifying the compound verb "is hiding."

The screenwriter searched for the manuscript he was certain was somewhere in his office.

Similarly in this sentence, the preposition "in" introduces a prepositional phrase "in his office," which acts as an adverb describing the location of the missing papers.

Should

Should

"Should" is most commonly used to make recommendations or give advice. It can also be used to express obligation as well as expectation.

Examples:

·       When you go to Berlin, you should visit the palaces in Potsdam. recommendation

·       You should focus more on your family and less on work. advice

·       I really should be in the office by 7:00 AM. obligation

·       By now, they should already be in Dubai. expectation

Using "Should" in Present, Past, and Future

Most modal verbs behave quite irregularly in the past and the future. Study the chart below to learn how "should" behaves in different contexts.

Modal Use	Positive Forms 1. = Present   2. = Past   3. = Future	Negative Forms 1. = Present   2. = Past   3. = Future	You can also use:
should recommendation, advisability	1. People with high cholesterol should eat low-fat foods. 2. Frank should have eaten low-fat foods. That might have prevented his heart attack. 3. You really should start eating better.	1. Sarah shouldn't smoke so much. It's not good for her health. 2. Sarah shouldn't have smoked so much. That's what caused her health problems. 3. Sarah shouldn't smoke when she visits Martha next week. Martha hates when people smoke in her house.	ought to
should obligation	I should be at work before 9:00. We should return the video before the video rental store closes. "Should" can also express something between recommendation and obligation. "Be supposed to" expresses a similar idea and can easily be used in the past or in negative forms.	NO NEGATIVE FORMS	be supposed to
should expectation	1. Susan should be in New York by now.  2. Susan should have arrived in New York last week. Let's call her and see what she is up to. 3. Susan should be in New York by next week. Her new job starts on Monday.	1. Susan shouldn't be in New York yet. 2. Susan shouldn't have arrived in New York until yesterday. 3. Susan shouldn't arrive in New York until next week.	ought to, be supposed to

THE QUANTIFIERS

Compound nouns made with SOME, ANY and NO

Some +	-thing	-body	-one	-where
Any +
No +

Compound nouns with some- and any- are used in the same way as some and any.
Positive statements:

• Someone is sleeping in my bed.
• He saw something in the garden.
• I left my glasses somewhere in the house.

Questions:

• Are you looking for someone? (= I'm sure you are)
• Have you lost something? (= I'm sure you have)
• Is there anything to eat? (real question)
• Did you go anywhere last night?

Negative statements:

• She didn't go anywhere last night.
• He doesn't know anybody here.

NOTICE that there is a difference in emphasis between nothing, nobody etc. and not ... anything, not ... anybody:

• I don't know anything about it. (= neutral, no emphasis)
• I know nothing about it (= more emphatic, maybe defensive)

More examples:

SOMETHING, SOMEBODY, SOMEWHERE
a. I have something to tell you.
b. There is something to drink in the fridge.
c. He knows somebody in New York
d. Susie has somebody staying with her.
e. They want to go somewhere hot for their holidays.
f. Keith is looking for somewhere to live.

ANYBODY, ANYTHING, ANYWHERE
a. Is there anybody who speaks English here?
b. Does anybody have the time?
c. Is there anything to eat?
d. Have you anything to say?
e. He doesn't have anything to stay tonight.
f. I wouldn't eat anything except at Maxim's.

NOBODY, NOTHING, NOWHERE
a. There is nobody in the house at the moment
b. When I arrived there was nobody to meet me.
c. I have learnt nothing since I began the course.
d. There is nothing to eat.
e. There is nowhere as beautiful as Paris in the Spring.
f. Homeless people have nowhere to go at night.

ANY can also be used in positive statements to mean 'no matter which', 'no matter who', 'no matter what':
Examples:
a. You can borrow any of my books.
b. They can choose anything from the menu.
c. You may invite anybody to dinner, I don't mind.

A day to remember...

Biography

Martin Luther King, Jr., (January 15, 1929-April 4, 1968) was born Michael Luther King, Jr., but later had his name changed to Martin. His grandfather began the family's long tenure as pastors of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, serving from 1914 to 1931; his father has served from then until the present, and from 1960 until his death Martin Luther acted as co-pastor. Martin Luther attended segregated public schools in Georgia, graduating from high school at the age of fifteen; he received the B. A. degree in 1948 from Morehouse College, a distinguished Negro institution of Atlanta from which both his father and grandfather had graduated. After three years of theological study at Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania where he was elected president of a predominantly white senior class, he was awarded the B.D. in 1951. With a fellowship won at Crozer, he enrolled in graduate studies at Boston University, completing his residence for the doctorate in 1953 and receiving the degree in 1955. In Boston he met and married Coretta Scott, a young woman of uncommon intellectual and artistic attainments. Two sons and two daughters were born into the family.

In 1954, Martin Luther King accepted the pastorale of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. Always a strong worker for civil rights for members of his race, King was, by this time, a member of the executive committee of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the leading organization of its kind in the nation. He was ready, then, early in December, 1955, to accept the leadership of the first great Negro nonviolent demonstration of contemporary times in the United States, the bus boycott described by Gunnar Jahn in his presentation speech in honor of the laureate. The boycott lasted 382 days. On December 21, 1956, after the Supreme Court of the United States had declared unconstitutional the laws requiring segregation on buses, Negroes and whites rode the buses as equals. During these days of boycott, King was arrested, his home was bombed, he was subjected to personal abuse, but at the same time he emerged as a Negro leader of the first rank.

In 1957 he was elected president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization formed to provide new leadership for the now burgeoning civil rights movement. The ideals for this organization he took from Christianity; its operational techniques from Gandhi. In the eleven-year period between 1957 and 1968, King traveled over six million miles and spoke over twenty-five hundred times, appearing wherever there was injustice, protest, and action; and meanwhile he wrote five books as well as numerous articles. In these years, he led a massive protest in Birmingham, Alabama, that caught the attention of the entire world, providing what he called a coalition of conscience. and inspiring his "Letter from a Birmingham Jail", a manifesto of the Negro revolution; he planned the drives in Alabama for the registration of Negroes as voters; he directed the peaceful march on Washington, D.C., of 250,000 people to whom he delivered his address, "l Have a Dream", he conferred with President John F. Kennedy and campaigned for President Lyndon B. Johnson; he was arrested upwards of twenty times and assaulted at least four times; he was awarded five honorary degrees; was named Man of the Year by Time magazine in 1963; and became not only the symbolic leader of American blacks but also a world figure.

At the age of thirty-five, Martin Luther King, Jr., was the youngest man to have received the Nobel Peace Prize. When notified of his selection, he announced that he would turn over the prize money of $54,123 to the furtherance of the civil rights movement.

On the evening of April 4, 1968, while standing on the balcony of his motel room in Memphis, Tennessee, where he was to lead a protest march in sympathy with striking garbage workers of that city, he was assassinated.

Might

"Might" is most commonly used to express possibility. It is also often used in conditionalsentences. English speakers can also use "might" to make suggestions or requests, although this is less common in American English.

Examples:

• Your purse might be in the living room. possibility
• If I didn't have to work, I might go with you. conditional
• You might visit the botanical gardens during your visit. suggestion
• Might I borrow your pen? request

Using "Might" in Present, Past, and Future

Most modal verbs behave quite irregularly in the past and the future. Study the chart below to learn how "might" behaves in different contexts.

Modal Use	Positive Forms 1. = Present   2. = Past   3. = Future	Negative Forms 1. = Present   2. = Past   3. = Future	You can also use:
might possibility	1. She might be on the bus. I think her car is having problems. 2. She might have taken the bus. I'm not sure how she got to work. 3. She might take the bus to get home. I don't think Bill will be able to give her a ride.	1. She might not be on the bus. She might be walking home. 2. She might not have taken the bus. She might have walked home. 3. She might not take the bus. She might get a ride from Bill.	could, may
might conditional of may	1. If I entered the contest, I might actually win. 2. If I had entered the contest, I might actually have won. 3. If I entered the contest tomorrow, I might actually win. Unfortunately, I can't enter it.	1. Even if I entered the contest, I might not win. 2. Even if I had entered the contest, I might not have won. 3. Even if I entered the contest tomorrow, I might not win.
might suggestion	1. NO PRESENT FORM 2. You might have tried the cheese cake. 3. You might try the cheesecake.	1. NO PRESENT FORM 2. PAST FORM UNCOMMON 3. You might not want to eat the cheese cake. It's very calorific.	could
might request (British form)	Might I have something to drink? Might I borrow the stapler? Requests usually refer to the near future.	NEGATIVE FORMS UNCOMMON	could, may, can

REMEMBER: "Might not" vs. "Could not"  "Might not" suggests you do not know if something happens. "Could not" suggests that it is impossible for something to happen. Examples: Jack might not have the key. Maybe he does not have the key. Jack could not have the key. It is impossible that he has the key.

Energy and on...

What is Energy?

In Layman terms, Energy is the amount of force or power when applied can move one object from one position to another or Energy defines the capacity of a system to do work. Energy exists in everybody whether they are human beings or animals or non living things for eg: Jet, Light, Machines etc..

Energy can have many forms: kinetic, potential, light, sound, gravitational, elastic, electromagnetic or nuclear. According to the law of conservation of energy, any form of energy can be converted into another form and the total energy will remain the same. For eg: a laborer when pushes the pile of bags, his potential energy stored inside him is converted into the kinetic energy from the movement of matter or when you burn the wood it's chemical energy is converted into the heat energy or when you charge your mobile phone the electrical energy is converted into the chemical energy which gets stored inside the battery's molecules.

The many different natural and renewable energy technologies highlighted throughout the website are by no means breakthrough. Many of the renewable energy technologies have been around for years, and as time goes by, are increasing in efficiency.

What are the sources of energy?

Energy are broadly classifies into two main groups: renewable and Non-renewable.

Renewable Energy

Renewable energy is energy which is generated from natural sources i.e. sun, wind, rain, tides and can be generated again and again as and when required. They are available in plenty and by far most the cleanest sources of energy available on this planet. For eg: Energy that we receive from the sun can be used to generate electricity. Similarly, energy from wind, geothermal, biomass from plants, tides can be used this form of energy to another form.

Here are some of the pros and cons of using renewable sources of energy:-

Pros

• The sun, wind, geothermal, ocean energy are available in the abundant quantity and free to use.
• The non-renewable sources of energy that we are using are limited and are bound to expire one day.
• Renewable sources have low carbon emissions, therefore they are considered as green and environment friendly.
• Renewable helps in stimulating the economy and creating job opportunities. The money that is used to build these plants can provide jobs to thousands to lakhs of people.
• You don't have to rely on any third country for the supply of renewable sources as in case of non-renewable sources.
• Renewable sources can cost less than consuming the local electrical supply. In the long run, the prices of electricity are expected to soar since they are based on the prices of crude oil, so renewable sources can cut your electricity bills.
• Various tax incentives in the form of tax waivers, credit deductions are available for individuals and businesses who want to go green.

Cons

• It is not easy to set up a plant as the initial costs are quite steep.
• Solar energy can be used during the day time and not during night or rainy season.
• Geothermal energy which can be used to generate electricity has side effects too. It can bring toxic chemicals beneath the earth surface onto the top and can create environmental changes.
• Hydroelectric provide pure form of energy but building dams across the river which is quite expensive can affect natural flow and affect wildlife.
• To use wind energy, you have to rely on strong winds therefore you have to choose suitable site to operate them. Also, they can affect bird population as they are quite high.

Non-Renewable Energy

Non-Renewable energy is energy which is taken from the sources that are available on the earth in limited quantity and will vanish fifty-sixty years from now. Non-renewable sources are not environmental friendly and can have serious affect on our health. They are called non-renewable because they can be re-generated within a short span of time. Non-renewable sources exist in the form of fossil fuels, natural gas, oil and coal.

Here are some of the pros and cons of using non-renewable sources of energy:-

Pros

• Non-renewable sources are cheap and easy to use. You can easily fill up your car tank and power your motor vehicle.
• You can use small amount of nuclear energy to produce large amount of power.
• Non-renewable have little or no competition at all. For eg: if you are driving a battery driven car your battery gets discharged then you won't be able to charge it in the middle if the road rather it is easy to find a gas pumping station.
• They are considered as cheap when converting from one type of energy to another.

Cons

• Non-renewable sources will expire some day and we have to us our endangered resources to create more non-renewable sources of energy.
• The speed at which such resources are being utilized can have serious environmental changes.
• Non-renewable sources release toxic gases in the air when burnt which are the major cause for global warming.
• Since these sources are going to expire soon, prices of these sources are soaring day by day.

Why should we conserve energy?

Energy needs to be conserved to protect our environment from drastic changes, to save the depleting resources for our future generations. The rate at which the energy is being produced and consumed can damage our world in many ways. In other words, it helps us to save the environment. We can reduce those impacts by consuming less energy. The cost of energy is rising every year. It is important for us to realize how energy is useful to us and how can we avoid it getting wasted.

To start saving energy is not a big thing at all. We can start saving the energy from our home itself, just by turning off the lights during day hours, washing clothes in cold water or using public transport instead of using our own vehicle and later can implement these things on much wider scale at society level, then at city level then district level and finally at country level. You might notice a small change in your monthly bills by implementing these changes as they would be getting decreased more and more. With so many alternatives and so many techniques about there, if millions of people like us start doing these things, it will help us to save much more money and also help the environment.