Preposition and Conjunction Exercise
As you recall, a preposition is any word that conveys position or direction. When it is placed with a pronoun or noun it forms a prepositional phrase. Conjunctions connect other words, phrases and clauses together. In the text below conjunctions are bolded in green and prepositions in navy blue. The translations of the words are provided beside the Old English text. In later exercises you will have the opportunity to look up the words yourself and determine how to best render their meaning in Modern English. For now, however, just become accustomed to recognizing these parts of speech in a passage.
| Riddle 8 | Translation | |
| Hrægl mīn swīgađ þonne ic hrūsan trede | ||
| oþþe þā wīc būge oþþe wado drēfe. | and, or [18] | |
| Hwilum mec āhebbađ ofer hæleþa byht | over | |
| hyrste mīne ond þēos hēa lyft, | and | |
| (5) | ond mec þonne wīde wolcna strengu | |
| ofer folc byređ. Frætwe mīne | ||
| swōgađ hlūde ond swinsiađ, | ||
| torhte singađ, þonne ic getenge ne [19] bēom | not | |
| flōde ond foldan, fērende gæst. | or [20] |
Now that we have finished identifying the prepositions and conjunctions we have all the grammatical information we need to begin translating the riddle into Modern English.
Back to Pronoun, Preposition & Conjunction Exercise
[18] The word oþþe can be translated many different ways including and, or and until. I have personally chosen to translate the first oþþe as and, while I used or for the second oþþe.
[19] The Old English word ne is considered both an adverb and a conjunction; it negates, and shares function with our negative, not.
[20] ond can also be translated a variety of ways including and, but, if, or and so on.