Can prepositions refer to object pronouns?

Question

Hello my friends,My question is very clear like the title.Can prepositions refer to object pronouns?Normally we know that prepositions can refer to nouns. How about object pronouns(them, me, you, him so on..)For example, "You are inside the house, and I want to come to you."Can I say: "I want to come to you inside the house." ?or "My friend is on a long trip to Europe" Can I say: "I miss him on a long trip to Europe."I think, they are wrong, not correct. Prepositions can refer to nouns, not object pronouns.Thank you in advance.

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

JawelMy question is very clear like the title.

Unfortunately, it's not. You are using "refer" incorrectly. Strictly speaking, only nouns can refer to anything. The noun "table" refers to a thing in the real world that we call a table. Reference is the relationship between a word and a thing.

In grammar, though, we also say "refer" when talking about the relationship between a pronoun and a noun.

Steve is absent today because he is ill. Here 'he' refers to 'Steve'.

Categories like conjunctions and prepositions cannot refer in either of these ways.

After reading your post I think you mean 'modify' rather than 'refer'.

JawelI want to come to you inside the house.
I miss him on a long trip to Europe.

I believe you are asking if a prepositional phrase can modify a pronoun.

There may be unusual cases where people say something like that, but in general we never do that in English.

JawelI think they are wrong, not correct.

True. You have come to the correct conclusion.

CJ

Can prepositions refer to object pronouns?

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