Beneathis a preposition or an adverb.
Beneath: meaning and use
Beneathmeans ‘at a lower level than’.
Beneathis most common in formal writing. We don’t use it often in informal speaking. In speaking,underandbeloware much more common.
See also:
Below
Under
Beneathas a preposition
We usebeneathmost commonly to describe the position of things which are at a lower level than something else:
Archaeologists discovered a gold cup justbeneaththe surface at the site of a Roman villa.
The metro station is rightbeneaththe airport.
Beneathis particularly common when talking about the ground or surface directly under one’s feet:
She could feel the train coming because the groundbeneathher feet was moving.
Beneathas an adverb
Beneathas an adverb isn’t verycommon and we mostly use it in formal writing:
She looked down from the balcony at the two men talkingbeneath.
In the kitchen there was a modern sink with cupboards and drawersbeneath.
Beneath,underorbelow?
Beneathhas a meaning similar tounderandbelowbutwe do not use it withnumbers:
We bought it for justunder200 pounds.
Not: …for just beneath 200 pounds.
The temperature wasbelowzero all that week.
Not:The temperature was beneath…
We usebeneath, notunder, to talk about things which are at a lower level interms of aperson’s abilities, status or expectations. We often usebeneathnotunderwhen someone feels that they are too important or too intelligent to do something:
[A student is commenting on a language course]
The writing and grammar courses were good but maybe a bitbeneathmy expectations.
Not: …maybe a bit under my expectations.