Talk:preposition
The category of prepositions[change]
The traditional view is that prepositions are always followed by nouns. Not so! They can be followed by:
- prepositions (e.g., out from under...)
- adjectives (e.g., on high, for free),
- adverbs (e.g., until recently)
- interogative clauses (e.g., we can't agree on whether to have children or not).
Furthermore, while the traditional analysis has a preposition becoming a conjunction when followed by a clause, given the above, there's no justification for this. Thus, before is a preposition in both of the following examples:
- She stood before the door.
- She stood before she walked.