Here's a breakdown:
* Preposition: A word that shows the relationship between a noun or pronoun (the object of the preposition) and another word in the sentence. For example, "in" in "The book is in the box."
* Compound: Something made up of two or more parts.
* Compound Preposition: A preposition formed by combining two or more words.
Examples of compound prepositions:
* according to (e.g., "According to the news, the storm will arrive tomorrow.")
* because of (e.g., "I stayed home because of the bad weather.")
* in spite of (e.g., "In spite of the rain, we went for a walk.")
* on account of (e.g., "He was absent from work on account of illness.")
* along with (e.g., "He brought his dog along with him.")
Key Features of Compound Prepositions:
* They are often used to express more complex or specific relationships than simple prepositions.
* They can be treated as a single unit, meaning they usually cannot be separated by other words.
* They are typically not hyphenated, except for some rare cases.
Note: Some compound prepositions may also function as phrasal prepositions (which include a preposition and an adverb). However, all phrasal prepositions are compound prepositions, but not all compound prepositions are phrasal prepositions.