Preposition Quiz

Instructions: Circle the sentence which uses the preposition correctly.

1
a) I arrived to the station at about 7pm.
b) I arrived at the station at about 7pm.
2
a) Where are you? – I´m in the shops.
b) Where are you? – I´m at the shops.
3
a) I haven´t been there since seven years ago.
b) I haven´t been there for seven years.
4
a) I didn´t see my sister for many years.
b) I didn´t see my sister since many years.
5
a) I arrived to Spain 4 months ago.
b) I arrived in Spain 4 months ago.
6
a) They came to this country in December.
b) They arrived at this country in December.
7
a) I am going to the shops to buy a coat.
b) I am going to the shops for buy a coat.
8
a) He explained to me that he was going to be late.
b) He explained me that he was going to be late.
9
a) I don´t eat hamburgers because they´re not good to me.
b) I don´t eat hamburgers because they´re not good for me.
10.
a) They asked me for my ID at the club.
b) They asked to me for my ID at the club.
11.
a) He is married with her.
b) He is married to her.
12.
a) My boyfriend is bad for me, because he´s lazy!
b) My boyfriend is bad to me, because he´s lazy!
 At and To for Location

You say at to explain where you, someone else or something is at the time of speaking.

E.g. She is at the station (now) OR I am at the shops (now).

Exception: you can´t use at with countries/cities/towns. E.g She is at Spain NO! She is in Spain (now)

You say to to talk about someone else or something that is in a different location now, but you cannot use to to
talk about where you are now – it sounds very strange!

E.g. She went to the station.

This uses the past tense, but we assume she is STILL at the station now, so here it has exactly the same meaning as
´She is at the station’ ).
For , Since and Ago for Time
You use for to indicate a period of time. E.g. He has been travelling for five years.

You use since to indicate one specific time in the past. E.g. He has been travelling since 2007.

Ago – never use ago with the present perfect, it is for past tenses.

Collocations: Arrive in/Come to a specific Country/City, Village, etc

You must remember that it´s ‘arrive + in’ and ‘come + to’ when talking about countries, cities, villages and so on.
When it´s a general place, e.g. cinema, my house, airport, you use ‘arrived at’ (see above ‘At and To for Location’)

E.g. They will arrive in London at 6pm OR They will come to London in December.

Good/Bad for me Vs Good/Bad to me

You say someone or something is ´good/bad for you´ when they have a positive or negative effect on your physical
or mental well-being. The focus is on their innate character, not specific actions toward you.

E.g. My boyfriend is good for me, because he´s relaxed and kind.
E.g. Fruit is good for my body.

You can only use A PERSON with ´good/bad to me’. You say someone is good/bad to you when they ACT toward
you in a positive/negative way. The focus is on their actions toward you.

CORRECT: He is bad to her, he always hits her. (action)

INCORRECT: The hamburger is bad to her, it always hits her (How can a hamburger ´hit´someone!?)

For/To with nouns and verbs

You use for before a noun. E.g. We went to a restaurant for dinner OR I went to the shop for food.

You use to before the infinitive of the verb. E.g. We went to a restaurant to eat OR I went to the shop to buy food.

NEVER confuse For with To with infinitives. It is always: “I went… to eat, to buy, to play, to do, to see, to relax”, etc!

And finally…here are some VERY common prepositional mistakes….

CORRECT INCORRECT
Married to Married with
It is Ask me NOT Ask to me
Explain to me Explain me
I am going home I am going to home (this is an exception where we don´t use to)
Homework

Instructions: Put the prepositions in the correct spaces.

I moved _______ work and live _______ Spain about six months ago and my husband _______ here a
month later. I remember when I arrived _______ the airport _______ collect him, I was overwhelmed
with happiness. He´d had a long flight so we went _______ buy a cup of coffee first and then went out
_______dinner in the evening. I hadn´t seen him in a month, so we had a lot of things _______ talk
about. After we had eaten we went home _______ relax. Our daughter called us from her mobile
phone at about 9.30pm _______ ask where dad was. I explained _______ her that he was at home with
me! I´ve been married _______ Jim for 19 years and we met _______ work. I get really stressed about
work, but Jim is very calm and easy-going – he´s good _______ me. When we first met I had just ended
a very bad relationship with another man. He often told me I was stupid and borrowed a lot of my
money without paying it back. He was bad _______ me during our relationship. I explained all this
_______ Jim a few months after we met and he was so understanding and kind. I knew then that I
wanted to be with him forever. We have been happy _______ the day we married.

To x 10 in arrived at x 2 for x 2 Since

Homework

Instructions: Put the prepositions in the correct spaces.

I moved _______ work and live _______ Spain about six months ago and my husband _______ here a
month later. I remember when I arrived _______ the airport _______ collect him, I was overwhelmed
with happiness. He´d had a long flight so we went _______ buy a cup of coffee first and then went out
_______dinner in the evening. I hadn´t seen him in a month, so we had a lot of things _______ talk
about. After we had eaten we went home _______ relax. Our daughter called us from her mobile
phone at about 9.30pm _______ ask where dad was. I explained _______ her that he was at home with
me! I´ve been married _______ Jim for 19 years and we met _______ work. I get really stressed about
work, but Jim is very calm and easy-going – he´s good _______ me. When we first met I had just ended
a very bad relationship with another man. He often told me I was stupid and borrowed a lot of my
money without paying it back. He was bad _______ me during our relationship. I explained all this
_______ Jim a few months after we met and he was so understanding and kind. I knew then that I
wanted to be with him forever. We have been happy _______ the day we married.

To x 10 in arrived at x 2 for x 2 Since