In English, we often put where or when something happens before the subject of the clause. We can focus the reader or listener on a prepositional phrase. Here is a long example of fronting with two prepositional phrases:
And for the first time in my life, I felt something good.
Notice the comma between the prepositional phrase and the clause:
, I felt …
*Side note, ‘for the first time in‘ is the 17th most frequent 5-word Ngram in English.
iWeb 83,907
A search in iWeb corpus for:
. _I * * *
*Note, many of these are not the simple time or location phrases found in the A2 EGP examples,
such as: ‘In my country‘.
Complex adverbs in fixed expressions (idiom) have the form of prepositional phrases, too.
For example, ‘As a result‘.
1 . AS A RESULT, 195850
2 . IN OTHER WORDS, 181088
3 . ON THE OTHER HAND 156769
4 . AT THE SAME TIME 117107
5 . IN THIS CASE, 104769 B2 EVP
6 . FOR MORE INFORMATION, 102640
For more information, please visit our website.
7 . AT THE END OF 99183
8 . IN FACT, THE 81036 B1 emphasis:
In fact, the chances that you get rejected
at some point this year, are high.
9 . IN THE CASE OF 70996
10 . IN ADDITION TO THE 69823
11 . IN SOME CASES , 52326
12 . FOR MORE INFORMATION ON 52196
13 . FOR THIS REASON , 51135
14 . IN FACT, IT 49821
15 . IN THE END, 49141
16 . IN FACT, I 44815
17 . IN THE MEANTIME, 43070
18 . FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT 40673
19 . AT THIS POINT, 38125
20 . BY THE END OF 37546
21 . AS A RESULT OF 36124
22 . IN MOST CASES, 34806
23 . BECAUSE OF THIS, 34282
24 . AT THE TIME, 33114
25 . IN ANY CASE, 31955
26 . BY THE WAY, 31468
By the way, you‘re gonna get your legs back.
27 . ON TOP OF THAT 27914
28 . IN THAT CASE, 27465 B2
29 . IN THE PAST , 27430
30 . IN THIS WAY , 27367
31 . FOR THE FIRST TIME 25544
32 . AT THE TIME OF 25337
33 . AS PART OF THE 24586
34 . IN MANY CASES , 23603
35 . OVER THE YEARS , 23268
36 . WITH THE HELP OF 21857
37 . AT THAT TIME , 21257
38 . IN MY OPINION , 21034
39 . IN THE EVENT OF 20900
40 . OTHER THAN THAT , 20842
41 . ON THE CONTRARY , 20090
42 . OVER THE COURSE OF 19223
43 . AS A MATTER OF 18916
44 . FOR THOSE OF YOU 18402
45 . IN THE EVENT THAT 18204
46 . IN FACT , YOU 17879
47 . AT THAT POINT , 17716
48 . IN DOING SO , 17705
49 . ON THE ONE HAND 17623
50 . AFTER ALL , THE 17370
51 . IN THIS ARTICLE , 17300
52 . IN FACT , THEY 17002
53 . WITH THAT IN MIND 16657
54 . IN FACT , WE 16537
55 . DURING THIS TIME , 16523
56 . AT THE VERY LEAST 16191
57 . AS AN EXAMPLE , 16150
58 . IN RECENT YEARS , 15922
59 . IN FACT , THERE 15752
60 . IN ADDITION TO THIS 15491
61 . IN FACT , IF 15022
62 . IN THIS EXAMPLE , 14575
63 . AT THIS TIME , 14557
64 . IN FACT , HE 14361
65 . FOR THAT REASON , 14346
66 . ALONG THE WAY , 14179
67 . WITH THAT SAID , 13780
68 . IN THE UNITED STATES 13738
69 . FOR ONE THING , 13581
70 . WITH THIS IN MIND 13470
71 . IN THESE CASES , 13442
72 . TO THAT END , 13399
73 . IN FACT , THIS 13099
74 . IN FACT , A 12919
75 . AS SUCH , THE 12843
76 . WITH THE EXCEPTION OF 12530
77 . AT THE BEGINNING OF 12465
78 . AFTER ALL , IT 12203
79 . IN THE ABSENCE OF 12180
80 . IN THE SAME WAY 12161
81 . AT ONE POINT , 12096
82 . IN FACT , IN 11949
83 . IN SUCH CASES , 11890
84 . FOR SOME REASON , 11734
85 . IN EITHER CASE , 11640
86 . IN FACT , MANY 11622
87 . IN THIS CASE THE 11584
88 . PRIOR TO THAT , 11396
89 . ON THE OTHER SIDE 11341
90 . IN MY CASE , 11313
91 . AS SUCH , IT 11293
92 . IN AN EFFORT TO 11272
93 . IN ADDITION TO BEING 11213
94 . SINCE THEN , THE 10992
95 . BY THE TIME THE 10708
96 . IN MY EXPERIENCE , 10579
97 . AT THE AGE OF 10546
98 . IN ADDITION TO HIS 10471
99 . AT THE MOMENT , 10466
100 . TO THIS END , 10259
A1 prepositions:
as, at, for, in, of, on, to, with
A2 vocabulary at the lowest sense:
by, case, cases, fact, information, point, reason, way
The examples in the EGP follow the pattern:
_ii _a _nn ,
(in the iWeb corpus will require checking against the English Vocabulary Profile too.)
1 AS A RESULT , 290795
2 IN THE WORLD , 190027
3 AT THE TIME , 168187
4 IN THE PAST , 163602
5 IN THE END , 144888
6 BY THE WAY , 138727
7 OVER THE YEARS , 122255
8 IN THE FUTURE , 103232
9 AROUND THE WORLD , 97683
10 IN THE MEANTIME , 94573
11 IN MY OPINION , 90529
12 AT THE MOMENT , 76707
13 AT A TIME , 75724
14 IN THE MORNING , 69197
15 IN THE COUNTRY , 58979
16 IN THE GAME , 52619
17 ALONG THE WAY , 51139
18 AS A WHOLE , 46227
19 IN THE AREA , 45406
20 ON THE MARKET , 45020
21 ACROSS THE COUNTRY , 40418
22 ON THE CONTRARY , 40261
23 ON THE GROUND , 39184
24 IN THE CITY , 38545
25 ON THE INTERNET , 37699
26 ON THE ROAD , 36751
27 AS AN EXAMPLE , 36726
28 IN THE PROCESS , 35675
29 AT THE END , 35360
30 IN THE AIR , 33846
31 IN THE FIELD , 33081
32 DURING THE DAY , 32580
33 IN MY EXPERIENCE , 31710
34 IN A ROW , 31355
35 OVER THE WORLD , 30648
36 IN THE DAY , 30313
37 IN A WAY , 29346
38 IN THE INDUSTRY , 29111
39 IN MY CASE , 28788
40 IN MY LIFE , 27693
41 ON THE FLOOR , 27584
42 IN THE SUMMER , 27569
43 TO THE PUBLIC , 27263
44 AT THE TOP , 26257
45 IN THE REGION , 25933
46 IN THE HOUSE , 25358
47 THROUGHOUT THE YEAR , 24429
48 IN THE BEGINNING , 24386
49 TO THE RIGHT , 24197
50 IN YOUR LIFE , 24076
51 IN THE BODY , 23714
52 IN THE MIDDLE , 23049
53 IN THE COMMUNITY , 22764
54 IN A WHILE , 22527
55 ON THE RIGHT , 22484
56 ON THE SITE , 21818
57 ON THE SURFACE , 21482
58 IN THE WATER , 21255
59 IN THE BOOK , 20576
60 AROUND THE CORNER , 20546
61 IN THE EVENING , 20430
62 AS A CHILD , 20423
63 IN THE MARKET , 20297
64 FROM THE BEGINNING , 19941
65 THROUGHOUT THE DAY , 19918
66 TO THE GROUND , 19838
67 IN THE BACKGROUND , 19786
68 IN THE KITCHEN , 19459
69 IN THE CLASSROOM , 19330
70 IN A NUTSHELL , 19293
71 IN THE STATE , 19277
72 IN A STATEMENT , 19125
73 OVER THE WEEKEND , 18909
74 ON THE WEB , 18856
75 IN MY MIND , 18651
76 IN A SENSE , 18561
77 IN THE WINTER , 18443
78 OF THE WAY , 18313
79 IN THE FILM , 18262
80 FROM THE START , 18200
81 IN THE ROOM , 18031
82 IN THE CAR , 17961
83 IN THE FALL , 17478
84 IN THE VIDEO , 17131
85 OF THE BOX , 17082
86 IN YOUR HOME , 17025
87 ON THE BEACH , 16997
88 AT THE BEGINNING , 16946
89 IN MY VIEW , 16895
90 ON THE PLANET , 16428
91 DOWN THE ROAD , 16403
92 IN THE SPRING , 16392
93 ON THE TABLE , 16302
94 ON THE LIST , 16260
95 TO AN END , 16247
96 IN THE SERIES , 16077
97 AT THE BOTTOM , 15821
98 ON THE FIELD , 15676
99 AT A MINIMUM , 15585
100 ON YOUR COMPUTER , 15582