Prepositions in Common Phrases

Many frequently-used industry-related phrases require the usage of prepositions to indicate where a user action takes place. These phrases are referred to as "prepositional phrases" and normally consist of a preposition followed by a group of nouns or a phrase.

In This Article

• General
• Guidelines
• Common Prepositional Phrases

General

The choice of a proper preposition is challenging mostly because of the abstract nature of the software products.

Guidelines

• Find the proper place for the prepositional phrase within the sentence as its position defines which part of the sentence is actually modified. If the prepositional phrase modifies a verb phrase, consider moving it.

  Not that good	Much better
  Only 17 characters are available for the table name on the standard tape label. (Here it is not clear whether "on the standard tape label" refers to the table name or to the location of the 17 characters.)	On a standard tape label, only 17 characters are available for the table name.

• When you describe the action of turning a switch on or off, use lowercase for the "on" and "off" prepositions (both in text and in step procedures).

Common Prepositional Phrases

Common prepositional phrases are expressions that use specific prepositions that go with specific verbs, locations, and so on.

In	On	At	Other
Do something in a command mode. Do something in a dialog box. Do something in a pane. Enter something in a window. Find something in a class. Find something in a code snippet. Find something in a container. Find something in a file. Find something in a filename. Find something in a property. Find something in a method. Find something in a object. View something in the example.	Do something on a page. Do something on a worksheet. Do something on the desktop. Do something on a control. Do something on the screen.	Do something at a command line. Do something at a prompt.	Choose something from a menu. Find something under a section.