Prepositions

In Pandunia, prepositions are words that can function almost like verbs. They always take an object. The most frequent prepositions in Pandunia are en (location), to (destination) and of (origin). They have broader meanings in Pandunia than the corresponding prepositions in English.

Location: a

The preposition a expresses general location in time or space, 'at, by, in, on'.

vi marche a dao. – We walk ON the road.
mau sid a meza. – A cat sits ON the table.
mi mus sta long a labur. – I must stay long AT work.

Destination: to

The preposition to denotes destination in the broadest sense.

It denotes the destination of movement, 'to'.

de marche to bazar. – They walk TO the market.

It denotes the destination of giving i.e. the recipient, 'to, for'.

mi don da hir buk to yu. – I give this book TO you.
da hir buk es to yu. – This book if FOR you.

It denotes the causal destination, 'for, for the purpose of'.

mi vud morte to mi se nasia. – I would die FOR my nation.

Origin: of

The preposition of denotes separation or origin in the broadest sense.

It denotes the origin of movement, 'from'.

de kom of Brazil. – They come FROM Brazil.

It denotes also the origin of existence, 'of'.

da lexe kitab es of arab asle. – The word kitab is OF Arabic origin.

It denotes also the material origin, 'of'.

da kopa es of glass. – The cup is made OF glass.

It denotes also the causal origin, 'because of'.

da mau morte of sen umre. – The cat died OF old age.
da mau morte of toxe. – The cat died BECAUSE OF poison.

It denotes also the mental origin, 'of, about'.

vi tok of yu. – We talk ABOUT you.
mi fikre of hope. – I think OF hope.

ex ('outside')

The preposition ex denotes location on the outside, 'out, outside'.

deme ye proteste ex da burge. – People protest outside the castle.

en ('inside')

The preposition en denotes location on the inside, 'in, inside'.

presiden sir en da burge. – The president hides in the castle.

kon ('in the company of')

The preposition kon denotes togetherness, 'with, in the company of'.

hi log kon da shefe. – He/she talks with the boss.

pos ('after')

The preposition pos denotes later position in time or space, 'after, later than'.

de kom pos mi. – They come after me.

pre ('before')

The preposition pre denotes earlier position in time or space, 'before, in front of'.

de kom pre mi. – They come before me.

pro ('toward')

The preposition pro denotes direction or intention, 'toward, forth, for, for the sake of, pro'.

mi kurse pro salita. – I jog for health.

re ('back')

The preposition re denotes movement back, 'back, in return'.

hi don da buk re mi. – He gave the book back to me.

tra ('through')

The preposition tra denotes piercing through, 'through'.

via ('by way of')

The preposition via denotes road or way, 'via, by way of'.

vi kom to Berlin via Praha. – We come to Berlin via Prague.

vis ('instead of')

The preposition vis denotes substitution, 'instead of, on behalf of'.

hi log vis mi. – He talks on my behalf.