Prepositions are key to ACE Grammar

The ACE English courses emphasize having students identify parts of speech and diagram sentences. The VERB is the “key” to the sentence and students are directed to underline that first. But another important “next step” is to find all the prepositions and mark off the prepositional phrases in parentheses. The words inside the parentheses will NOT function as the subject, direct object, objective complement, or any other part of speech.

Identifying prepositions is so important that each year in the English PACES students are required to recite a list of memorized prepositions to their supervisor.

A few years ago I found this song which we incorporate into our Opening Assembly at school for a few weeks in the fall in order to help students memorize the list of prepositions. Here are the words to the song. The video has the tune. (If you’re interested in the sheet music, send me a note via “contact” form above and I’ll send it to you!)

Prepositions are not hard, if you sing this song;

So listen once, then listen twice, and you can sing along.

Aboard, about, above, across, after, against, along,

Amid, among, around, at, before, behind, below.

Beneath, beside, between, beyond, by, down, during, except.

For, from, in, inside, into, like, near. Of, off, on, outside, over, past.

Since, through, throughout, till, to, toward.

Under, underneath, until, unto, up, upon,

With, within, without, will finish the preposition song!