PREPOSITIONS

Most controversial prepositions

PREPOSITION USAGE EXAMPLE

IN - Room, building, street, town,
country.
- Book, paper, etc.
- Transportation
- Parts of the day (not specific
times), months, years, seasons.
AT - Next to an object.
- For events.
- Place where you are doing
something. (At a point)
- With the time of the day (hours)
or with noon, night and midnight.
ON - Attached.
- For things that are on the surface
of something.
- For a certain side.
- For a floor in a house.
- For media.
- With days of the week.
- We sleep in our bedroom. We
live in Texas.
- I read about it in Hunger Games.
- We are going in a bus to the
shopping centre.
- My cousin was born in 2008/He
reads in the evening.
- Leave my book at the lamp.
- I will meet you at the football
match.
- We are studying at the library.
- I go to English lessons at 9:00.
- He often goes for a walk at
night.
- The clock is on the wall.
- The keys are on the table.
- My mate is on the right side.
- I live on the first floor.
- I saw it on Twitter.
- I went to the cinema on Friday.

Other prepositions:

• Over/above = por encima

• Below/beneath/under/underneath = debajo
• By/near/next to = cerca (objeto cercano a un punto)
• Between = algo que está entre objetos individuales
• Among = algo que está entre un grupo de cosas o personas no definidas
• Against= contra
• Ahead of = delante de
• Along = a lo largo
• Around = alrededor
• Behind = detrás
• Through = a través de
• Toward = hacia
• Within = dentro de
• About = sobre
 Prepositions following verbs (collocations)

About: worry, complain read

- He worries about the exam

- She complained about the housework
- I read about the environment in a magazine

At: arrive (a building or event), smile, look

- She arrived at home at 3:00 p.m

- The little girl smiled at the dog
- She looked at him

From: differ, suffer

- The final project differs from my first idea

- He suffers from dementia

For: search

- They are searching for a file in the laptop

In: occur, result, succeed

- The same problem occurred in the other class

- Remodelling the house resulted in a higher sales price
- She will succeed in doing the exam

Of: approve, consist, smell

- I approve of the idea

- The task consists of grammar
- The air freshener smells of candy

On: concentrate, depend, insist

- She is concentrating on his homework

- They depend on each other
- The teacher insists on following this rule

To: belong, contribute, lead, refer

- Dolphins belong to the family of mammals.

- I hope to contribute to the future research.
- My investigation will lead to a better medicine.
- Please, refer to my previous explanation.

With: (dis)agree, argue, deal

- I (dis)agree with you.

- She argued with his boyfriend.
- They will deal with the situation.
 Prepositions following adjectives

- Accustomed to - Familiar with

- Aware of - Grateful for/to
- Beneficial to - Interested in
- (In)capable of - Happy about/for/with
- Characteristic of - Opposed to
- Composed by/to - Proud of
- Different from - Responsible for
- Disappointed in/with - Similar to
- Employed at/by - Sorry about/for
- Essential to - Annoyed about
- Terrified of - Upset about
- Ashamed of - Delighted with/at/by
- Scared of - Bored with/at/by
- Afraid of - Pleased with/at/by
- Jealous of - Good/bad/excellent at/for
- Surprised at/by - Similar to
- Amazed at/by - Different from/to
- Shocked at/by

EXERCISE: AT-FOR-IN-OF-ON-TO-WITH

1. to be excellent __________ something 13.keen __________ going to the cinema

2. he is experienced __________ writing emails 14.sorry __________ having done something wrong

3. ashamed __________ having failed 15.provide her __________ everything she needs

4. concentrate __________ something important 16.responsible __________ employing new workers

5. an answer __________ the question 17.an expert __________ astronomy

6. proud __________ his son 18.fond __________ romantic films

7. famous __________ breath-taking sights 19.congratulate him __________ his success

8. supply the customers __________ the right products 20.interested __________ pursuing a career

9. succeed __________ making a lot of money 21.capable __________ getting to the top

10.similar __________ mine 22.to take pride __________ what you do

11.respected __________ being an honest politician 23.to be short __________ money

12.deal __________ the problem later 24.praise her __________ doing such a good job

25.cooperate __________ the competitor