PERFECTING THE LANGUAGE OF LAW: PREPOSITIONS
Study Unit
PERFECTING THE LANGUAGE OF LAW: PREPOSITIONS ~24 min
Prepositions are important because they show the relationship between people, places and objects. They are difficult to learn for several reasons. First of all, there are many of them and there is no real logic in trying to decide which preposition to use with a particular word. Secondly, your first language may not have prepositions at all, or, if it does, the prepositions may change in translation. This can lead to not using a preposition where you need one or using the wrong preposition. There are some rules you can learn but there are also exceptions. The best way to learn prepositions in English is to read as much as possible.
PREPOSITIONS OF TIME Prepositions of time are especially important to lawyers because an incorrect preposition in a legal document could change its meaning. Here is a basic guide to using prepositions of time.
PREPOSITION WHEN TO USE THE PREPOSITION EXAMPLE
| # | Phrase | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| ON | days of the week IN months IN seasons IN year IN after a period of time passes IN period of the day, except night AT night AT weekend AT answering a question about time SINCE the past until now, stating the starting point in the past | I am in court on Thursday. I am working in Hong Kong in June. I worked in New York in the summer. I qualified as a lawyer in 2015. I’ll be there in 30 minutes. I often have to work in the evening. I don’t like being in the office at night. I’ll see you at the weekend. When? At 2 o’clock. |
I have been working in London since 2016. FOR the past until now, stating the amount of time that has passed I have been working in London for 10 years. FROM a starting date or starting time The rent will increase from 1 February. AGO stating a certain period of time in the past I was a trainee 5 years ago. BEFORE earlier than a certain point in time I worked in a bank before 2018. TO/UNTIL defining a certain period of time I was working on this case from January to/until May. UNTIL how long a period of time will last I will be at the office until 10pm. BY a deadline File the documents by 5pm. DURING before a noun, within a fixed period of time I read a book during the meeting. WHILE/WHILST two things are happening at the same time, within a fixed period of time I was writing while/whilst I was speaking to the client. OVER activity during an extended period of time I repaid the loan over a period of 10 years. WITHIN before a particular period of time has passed Please make payment within 7 days.
Read the information in the table opposite and decide whether the following sentences use the prepositions in bold correctly or incorrectly. 1. I must finish drafting this agreement until 3pm at the very latest. 2. I hardly ever see my family because I am always in the office, even at night. 3. I am going on a training course in Alternative Dispute Resolution on Friday 10 March. 4. I had been working as a solicitor in Singapore since 10 years before I came to New York. 5. I made some notes during I was listening to the judge. 6. I trained as a barrister from June 2017 until the end of 2018 but I decided it wasn’t for me. 7. We have told the defendant’s lawyers that we expect an answer to our offer within 24 hours. 8. She paid for the car in equal monthly instalments during 5 years. 9. I was in the USA working on Wall Street during the financial crisis of 2008. 10. I will begin working as a judge from January of next year.
AS OR LIKE? The prepositions ‘as’ and ‘like’ have different meanings. ‘As’ with a noun means ‘in the role of’. For example, ‘I worked as an employee of the business for 25 years before I retired’. In this example, the speaker is an employee of the company and that was his or her role. ‘Like’ with a noun means ‘similar to’ or ‘in the same way as’. For example, ‘I worked like an employee of my daughter’s business last summer in that I did the same number of hours, but, of course, I didn’t require any payment.’ In this example the speaker worked in a similar way to an employee in his or her daughter’s business, but was not an employee.
Read the information above and choose either ‘as’ or ‘like’ to complete the following sentences.
1. I use my spare bedroom (1) ….. an office. 2. She doesn’t like doing litigation work, just (2) ….. me. 3. I study law at the University of Oxford and many of the buildings look (3) ….. ancient castles. 4. My friend Louisa couldn’t get an internship after her law degree so she worked (4) ….. a barista in a café for a few months. 5. Could I please use your desk (5) ….. a buffet table for the office party we are having tonight?
Complete the following extract from a contract for the hire of premises using a preposition from the list below.
(a) beyond (c) until (e) as (g) from (i) to (k) at (m) of (b) under (d) during (f) upon (h) in (j) by (l) after (n) for 15. Termination by the Owner The Owner of the Premises may terminate the Hire Agreement: (i) (1) ….. giving the Hirer not less than 28 days prior written notice (2) ….. the Owner’s desire to terminate the Hire Agreement; and (ii) (3) ….. any time and without notice for any reason (4) ….. its control, such as fire, flood or weather conditions. Under such circumstances the Owner shall return to the Hirer any Hire Fee paid (5) ….. advance by the Hirer in respect of Hire Periods falling (6) ….. the date of such termination and the Hire Deposit (less any deductions permitted (7) ….. these Terms and Conditions). The Owner shall not be liable (8) ….. the Hirer (9) ….. any costs, expenses, claims or losses incurred (10) ….. the Hirer arising (11) ….. a result of such termination.
16. The Owner’s right of entry The Owner may enter the Premises (12) ….. the Hire Period in order to carry out any maintenance or inspection work required for the operation of the Premises (13) ….. the date of hire (14) ….. the end of the term of this Agreement without liability to the Hirer for any loss of any kind whatsoever.
Speaking & Writing for this topic
Two short tasks scored against TOEFL rubrics. The prompt is generated for this topic — use the vocabulary you have just studied.
Suggested structure (TOEFL iBT iSpeak)click to expand
- In my view, …
- I firmly believe that …
- Without hesitation, I would say that …
- Firstly, …
- The first reason is that …
- To begin with, perfecting demands that …
- Secondly, …
- Equally important, …
- A real case that illustrates this is …
- When language meets prepositions, the consequence is …
- For these reasons, I maintain that …
- Taken together, this is why I support …
- Hence, the principle of this concept is indispensable.
- Plan for 15 sec on each of the 4 blocks. Don't over-explain block 1.
- Use ≥5 keywords from the prompt list — score 'Content' depends on it.
- Use TOEFL-grade linkers: "Furthermore", "Consequently", "In contrast", "As a result".
- Avoid restarting sentences — TOEFL graders penalise self-correction loops.
Suggested structure (TOEFL iBT Independent Writing)click to expand
- In contemporary legal practice, the question of … remains pivotal.
- I strongly agree/disagree with the proposition that …
- My thesis is that …
- Firstly, …
- The foremost consideration is that perfecting …
- A salient example is …
- Consequently, …
- Secondly, …
- Equally significant is the fact that …
- To illustrate, …
- Furthermore, language …
- Admittedly, opponents would argue that …
- Nevertheless, this view overlooks …
- In summary, …
- Hence, …
- For these reasons, the position is clear: …
- Use ≥6 keywords across the essay.
- Use 5+ varied linkers (Furthermore, Consequently, Nevertheless, To illustrate, In summary).
- Mix simple, compound, and complex sentences for syntactic variety.
- Avoid repeating the prompt sentence verbatim in your intro.