Preposition

1. At, above, below, over & under

To describe a person’s age.

a)            At – refers to the exact age of a person.

Examples:

Children go to school at the age of six.

Mr Lee opted for early retirement at the age of 45. 

b)           Above & over – refers to ages higher than a specific age level.

Examples:

The bank has provided special services for those above the age of 55.

Only those above 21 can apply for    membership to the club.

c)            Below & under – refers to ages lower than a specific age level.

Examples:

Children below 7 years cannot enter the pool unless accompanied by an adult.

Those under 55 are not considered to be senior citizens.

d)           Between – refers to range of ages

Examples:

The spelling competition is for children between the ages of 5 and 7.

(Those who are 5, 6 &7 of ages) 

 

2. Above & below

Refer to the position of someone or something in a group or list.

Examples:

Jenny is the senior officer in the Accounting Department.

She has two other officers working below her.

You can find Sam’s phone number just above Sarah’s in my telephone book. 

 

3. above, below, between, over & under

refer to numbers or quantities.

a)            above, below, over & under – refer to number in relation to scales of measurement ( such as price, speed, weight, etc.

Examples:

We need to bring down Jenny’s temperature. It is above 100 F

 

b)           over – refer to number in relation to people or heights.

Examples:

The computer fair attracted over 2,000 people this weekend.

John is over six feet tall.

 

c)           between – refer to an approximate number or amount by stating first the smaller number and then the bigger one.

Examples:

That company suffered losses of between 1 and 1.5 million dollars last year.

I think between 50 and 60 people turned up for the opening of the new art gallery in Penang Road.

 

4. At – refer to an exact number or quantity.

By – refer to an increase or decrease in quantity, or the difference between two quantities.

Examples:

The grandfather clock was marked at $1,000 but the shop brought it down to $800 during the sale.

The baby’s weigh increased by another pound last week.

Happy learning

 by tengkp

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