Complex Preposition
A complex preposition is a word group (such as "along with" or "on account of")
that functions like an ordinary one-word preposition.
Complex prepositions can be divided into two groups:
two-word units (a word + a simple preposition), such as apart from (also
known as compound prepositions)
three-word units (a simple preposition + a noun + a simple preposition),
such as by means of (also known as phrasal prepositions)
Examples of Complex Prepositions in English
according to
ahead of
along with
apart from
as for
as well as
aside from
away from
because of
but for
by means of
by virtue of
by way of
close to
contrary to
due to
except for
far from
for lack of
in accordance with
in addition to
in back of
in between
in (the) case of
in charge of
in exchange for
in front of
in light of
in line with
in place of
in (the) process of
in regard to
inside of
in spite of
instead of
in view of
near to
next to
on account of
on behalf of
on top of
out of
outside of
owing to
prior to
subsequent to
such as
thanks to
together with
up against
up to
up until
with respect to
Examples of Complex Prepositions in Sentences
"Up until Pearl Harbor, half of the 48 states had laws making it illegal to
employ a married woman."
(Bill Bryson, The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid. Broadway Books,
2006)
"Her name is Miss Mey. She owns all the land for miles around, as well
as the house in which we live."
(Alice Walker, "Beauty: When the Other Dancer Is the Self," 1983)
"To see what is in front of one's nose needs a constant struggle."
(George Orwell, "In Front of Your Nose." Tribune, March 22, 1946)
"But our deeds are like children that are born to us; they live and act apart
from our own will. Nay, children may be strangled, but deeds never: they
have an indestructible life both in and out of our consciousness."
(George Eliot, Romola, 1862-1863)
"To ensure that it was not for lack of appetite that the spider had rejected the
moth, I offered the spider an edible scarab beetle, which it promptly took."
(Thomas Eisner, For Love of Insects. Harvard University Press, 2003)
"Thanks to the Interstate Highway System, it is now possible to travel from
coast to coast without seeing anything."
(Charles Kuralt, On the Road With Charles Kuralt. Putnam, 1985)
"In addition to my other numerous acquaintances, I have one more intimate
confidant. My depression is the most faithful mistress I have known. No
wonder, then, that I return the love."
(Soren Kierkegaard, Either/Or, 1843; translated 1987)
"Man, unlike any other thing organic or inorganic in the universe, grows
beyond his work, walks up the stairs of his concepts, emerges ahead of his
accomplishments."
(John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath. Viking, 1939)
Observations:
"As opposed to simple prepositions, compound prepositions are two or three
words in length. . . .
Juan's car is parked in front of the store.
Notice how the compound preposition in front of describes the relationship
between Juan's car and the store.
Uga sat next to Marta at the pep rally.
In the above sentence, the compound preposition next to describes where Uga sat
in relation to Marta.
We were late because of the heavy traffic.
In this last example, the compound preposition because of shows the relationship
between the lateness and the heavy traffic." (Jeffrey Strausser and Jose
Paniza, Painless English For Speakers of Other Languages. Barron's, 2007)
References
Dixon, R. M. (1982). The grammar of English phrasal verbs.
Kiss, T. (2008, July). Towards a grammar of preposition-noun combinations.
In The Proceedings of the 15th International Conference on Head-Driven Phrase
Structure Grammar. Stanford: CSLI Publications (pp. 116-130).
Nordquist, R. (2010). Grammar and composition. Contact Language.