Preposition Followed By Adjective

Constructions with Preposition + Adjective Combinations

Construction such as in brief, at first, in full, in private, for certain, in short, in vain, and for sure, composed of a preposition followed by an adjective, occur frequently in English.

As demonstrated in the examples below, they can occur in different positions in a sentence. These constructions often have meanings similar to adverbs (e.g., in private = privately, in vain = vainly, in full = fully, of late = lately).