Prepositions.

You remember those from English class don’t you?  Unfortunately, my kids have not experienced the joy of diagramming sentences and determining where the prepositional phrases belong on the diagram.  Is it true that schools no longer teach the parts of speech and drill students on how to diagram a sentence?

According to dictionary.com prepositions are defined as:

“any member of a class of words found in many languages that are used before nouns, pronouns, or other substantives to form phrases functioning as modifiers of verbs, nouns, or adjectives, and that typically express a spatial, temporal, or other relationship”

Prepositions indicate relationships between words or ideas. Common prepositions include:  at, to, above, behind, through and between – among others.  Effective communicators need to understand the differences, both in theory and practice, when using prepositions.  Prepositions are both parts of speech and actions.

During my career I have participated in many meetings, lectures and seminars – some led effectively, some not.

There is a difference in the following phrases.

Talking to employees  versus  Talking at employees

Communicating with a client  versus  Communicating to a client

The first example in each set implies an engaged relationship while the second implies a disengaged relationship.

Remember the power of the preposition

Communicate effectively.

Be engaged.