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A preposition is a word (or word group) used in front of a noun or a pronoun to form a phrase that modifies some other word in the sentence.

The paperwork has been piled onto the file cabinet. (The preposition onto begins a phrase that acts as an adverb modifying the verb has been piled.)

Prepositional Phrase
A prepositional phrase consists of a preposition, the object of that preposition, and the modifiers of the object.

The flowers on the luncheon table are wilted. (preposition on, object table, and modifiers the and luncheon)

Common Prepositions
aboard	about	above	according to	across
across from	after	against	ahead of	along
alongside	alongside of	along with	amid	among
apart from	around	as	as for	aside from
at	away from	back of	because of	before
behind	below	beneath	beside	besides
between	beyond	by	by means of	concerning
considering	contrary to	despite	down	down from
due to	during	except	except for	excepting
for	from	from among	from between	from under
in	in addition to	in back of	in behalf of	in case of
in front of	in place of	in regard to	inside	inside of
in spite of	instead of	into	like	near
near to	notwithstanding	of	off	on
on account of	on behalf of	onto	on top of	opposite
out	out of	outside	outside of	over
over to	owing to	past	prior to	regarding
round	round about	save	since	subsequent to
together with	through	throughout	till	to
toward	under	underneath	unlike	until
unto	up	upon	up to	via
with	within	without

(From Write for Business, page 252, and Proofreader's Guide PDF, page 64)

Adverbs have three forms: positive, comparative, and superlative.

Positive
The positive form describes an action without making any comparisons.

This copier operates efficiently.

Comparative
The comparative form (-er, more, or less) compares the actions of two persons, places, things, or ideas.

This copier operates more efficiently than the one downstairs.

Superlative
The superlative form (-est, most, or least) compares the actions of three or more persons, places, things, or ideas.

This copier operates most efficiently of all the copiers in the building.

Special Adverb Form: Conjunctive Adverbs
A conjunctive adverb can both modify and connect words, phrases, and clauses. It can be used at the beginning, in the middle, or at the end of a sentence.

Consequently, we believe the profit/earnings ratio will not meet our expectations. We do wish, however, to evaluate your stock again in six months. We will buy another stock instead.

(From Write for Business, page 251, and Proofreader's Guide PDF, page 63)

An adverb is a word that modifies a verb (or verbal), an adjective, or another adverb. Adverbs tell how, when, where, why, how often, or how much.(Not and never are adverbs.)

The business was sold quickly. (Quickly modifies the verb was sold.)

The staff was extremely concerned. (Extremely modifies the adjective concerned.)

Management moved very quickly to reassign employees. (Very modifies the adverb quickly, which modifies the verb moved.)

Note: Most adverbs have an ly ending. Some adverbs can be written either with an ly or without; when in doubt, use the ly form.

deep, deeply; tight, tightly; loud, loudly

A Closer Look
Adverbs can be placed in different positions in a sentence. Usually, they appear in front of the words they modify, but they can correctly follow the words as well.

Caution: Adverbs should not be placed between a verb and its direct object.

The secretary carefully prepared the report. (adverb before the verb)

The secretary prepared the report carefully. (adverb after the verb and its direct object)

If the problem isn't addressed, these customers will definitely leave. (adverb between verbs)

(From Write for Business, page 251, and Proofreader's Guide PDF, page 63)

Adjectives have three forms: positive, comparative, and superlative.

Positive
The positive form describes without making any comparisons.

Good employees are important assets.

Comparative
The comparative form (-er, more, or less) compares two persons, places, things, or ideas.

Good employees are a more important asset than good buildings.

Superlative
The superlative form (-est, most, or least) compares three or more persons, places, things, or ideas.

Good employees are the most important asset a business can possess.

Note: Most one-syllable and some two-syllable adjectives take the er and est endings. Most two-syllable and most three-syllable adjectives use more and most (and less and least).

Positive	Comparative	Superlative
good	better	best
bad	worse	worst
cold	colder	coldest
crabby	crabbier	crabbiest
impressive	more impressive	most impressive

(From Write for Business, page 250, and Proofreader's Guide PDF, page 61)

Like nouns, adjectives can be common (lowercased) or proper (capitalized).

The professors at Oxford University agreed that Americanized English was unusual.

Note: Since Americanized is derived from the proper noun America, it is considered a proper adjective and is always capitalized. The and unusual are common adjectives; the is capitalized only because it is the first word of the sentence.

(From Write for Business, page 250, and Proofreader's Guide PDF, page 61)