Prepositions

Prepositions are locaters in space and time and are used to show the
relation between different words in a sentence.
There are over 100 prepositions, some of which are among the most common words
in the English language. For that reason we divide them into the following categories:

Prepositions of

Prepositions of

Prepositions of

Time

Place

Direction
or
Movement

or

Position

Prepositions of Time

At

- Precise clock times

Ill call you at six oclock ~ We went out at nine

- Names for precise times

Ill eat at midday ~ She went to sleep at midnight

- Holidays periods

I visit my family at Christmas/Easter

- Night, weekend

They go out with their friends at night

On
In

- Specific days

I start my new job on Monday

- Specific dates

Her birthday is on the 25th of September

- Periods of time

(months, seasons, years, centuries)

It is cold in the winter ~ I graduated in February

He was born in 1956 ~ We live in the 21st century

- Morning, Afternoon etc

We arrived home in the evening

- Lengths of time

Ill be there in five or ten minutes

For

- Over a certain period of time

Since
By

- From a certain period of time

- Indicates deadline

Until

- Indicates end point

From
To

- Defines interval

Ive been working here for 2 months

I have been studying since December

I have to finish this report by three oclock

Our oces are closed until Wednesday

They work from nine to five every day

Count down from ten to zero

Prepositions of

Place or Position

Prepositions of Place & Position

At

On

- Specific positions

Theres somebody at the door ~ She was sitting at her desk

- Common locations

I had a long day at University ~ She stayed at home all day

- Events

We met at a party ~ I fell asleep at the conference

- Touching a surface

The computer is on the desk

- Directions

The museum is on the left

- Technology
(TV, Radio, Internet, Computer)

In

I live at 205 Evergreen Terrace ~ We waited at the bus stop

Why is there never anything good on TV?

- Floors of buildings

Womens underwear is on the 5th floor Sir

- Street names

Our shop is located on Newmarket Road

- Public Transport

I like reading on the bus

- Enclosed spaces
- Land areas (continents,
countries, regions, cities)

I locked the keys in the car! ~ Hes waiting in his oce

Gandhi was born in India ~ We used to live in Santiago

Prepositions of Position

Next to,
Beside
In front
of

The girl is sitting next to / beside her dog

The man stood in front of the mirror and put on his tie

Behind

The man was hiding behind the tree

Under,
Below

The woman stood under her umbrella

The temperature was below 5 degrees

Prepositions of
To

Direction or Movement

Movement towards goal

We flew to Las Vegas

Expresses purpose

Going somewhere to do something ~ I called up to ask...

Combining in/on (prepositions of position) with to (preposition of direction) creates

prepositions of movement.
Carla fell into the pool (movement) ~ Carla is in the pool (position)

Into

Onto

Transforming

A caterpillar turns into a butterfly

One thing entering another

We went into the cave and poured whisky

into our glasses

Making contact with a surface

Tom jumped onto the roof of the building.

Moving from one surface to another

Transfer the data onto a USB stick

* Into can often replace in

Towards
Away From
Up
Down

In the direction of

The thief took one step towards the exit,

In the opposite direction of

then ran away from the police

From a low to a high position

The stocks in Microsoft went up

From a high to a low position

She was coming down the stairs

Over
Under

The cat jumped over the fence

I walked under the bridge
We drove around the outskirts of the city

Around

Around the World in 80 Days

I was so lost that I started walking around in circles

Through
Out of
Back (to)

I looked through the window, then walked through the door

To go from inside to outside
(Opposite of into)

Returning to a previous location

As soon as they arrived, they got out of the car

This summer Im hoping to go back to Italy
As soon as I finish work, I go back home

Other Important Prepositions

To connect objects

With

Of

For

By

I ordered a hamburger with chips

Luke went to dinner with his wife

To indicate having

The man with the long beard spoke with an unusual accent

To indicate using

I ate my dinner with a knife and fork

To indicate agreement

Yes, I absolutely agree with you

Belonging to

The first page of the book tells us about the author

For reference

We got married in the summer of 2003

To indicate quantity

Andrew had 3 cups of coee, but he still fell asleep at work

To indicate purpose

Tina studied hard for her final exam

To mean because of

Who created something

Who did something

About

For this reason, I have decided to quit my job

I am very sorry for your loss

The Mona Lisa is a painting by Leonardo da Vinci

This book is by Oscar Wilde
Your letter was delivered by the postman this morning

What are you talking about?

Describing a topic

Tell us a little about yourself?

This book is about the Second World War

From

Who gave an object

Also as direction

This watch was a gift from my parents

Im driving home from work