#Prepositions

Definition: Prepositions are a class of words that indicate relationships between nouns, pronouns and other words in a sentence. Most often they come before a noun. They never change their form, regardless of the case, gender etc. of the word they are referring to.

Some common prepositions are:

about
above
across
after
against
along
among
around
at
before
behind
below
beneath
beside
between
beyond
but
by
despite
down
during
except
for
from
in
inside
into
like
near
of
off
on
onto
out
outside
over
past
since
through
throughout
till
to
toward
under
underneath
until
up
upon
with
within
without.

Prepositions typically come before a noun:

For example:

after class
at home
before Tuesday
in London
on fire
with pleasure

A preposition usually indicates the temporal, spatial or logical relationship of its object to the rest of the sentence.

For example:

The book is on the table.
The book is beside the table.
She read the book during class.


In each of the preceding sentences, a preposition locates the noun "book" in space or in time.

Prepositions are classified as simple or compound.

Simple prepositions
Simple prepositions are single word prepositions. These are all showed above.

For example:

The book is on the table.

Compound prepositions
Compound prepositions are more than one word. in between and because of are prepositions made up of two words - in front of, on behalf of are prepositions made up of three words.

For example:

The book is in between War and Peace and The Lord of the Rings.
The book is in front of the clock.

Examples:

The children climbed the mountain without fear.
There was rejoicing throughout the land when the government was defeated.
The spider crawled slowly along the banister.

The following table contains rules for some of the most frequently used prepositions in English:

Prepositions of Time:
English Usage Example

on



days of the week



on Monday

in



months / seasons
time of day
year
after a certain period of time (when?)



in August / in winter
in the morning
in 2006
in an hour

at



for night
for weekend
a certain point of time (when?)



at night
at the weekend
at half past nine

since



from a certain point of time (past till now)



since 1980

for



over a certain period of time (past till now)



for 2 years

ago



a certain time in the past



2 years ago

before



earlier than a certain point of time



before 2004

to



telling the time



ten to six (5:50)

past



telling the time



ten past six (6:10)

to / till / until



marking the beginning and end of a period of time



from Monday to/till Friday

till / until



in the sense of how long something is going to last



He is on holiday until Friday.

by



in the sense of at the latest
up to a certain time



I will be back by 6 o’clock.
By 11 o'clock, I had read five pages.

Prepositions of Place:
English Usage Example

in



room, building, street, town, country
book, paper etc.
car, taxi
picture, world



in the kitchen, in London
in the book
in the car, in a taxi
in the picture, in the world

at



meaning next to, by an object
for table
for events
place where you are to do something typical (watch a film, study, work)



at the door, at the station
at the table
at a concert, at the party
at the cinema, at school, at work

on



attached
for a place with a river
being on a surface
for a certain side (left, right)
for a floor in a house
for public transport
for television, radio



the picture on the wall
London lies on the Thames.
on the table
on the left
on the first floor
on the bus, on a plane
on TV, on the radio

by, next to, beside



left or right of somebody or something



Jane is standing by / next to / beside the car.

under



on the ground, lower than (or covered by) something else



the bag is under the table

below



lower than something else but above ground



the fish are below the surface

over



covered by something else
meaning more than
getting to the other side (also across)
overcoming an obstacle



put a jacket over your shirt
over 16 years of age
walk over the bridge
climb over the wall

above



higher than something else, but not directly over it



a path above the lake

across



getting to the other side (also over)
getting to the other side



walk across the bridge
swim across the lake

through



something with limits on top, bottom and the sides



drive through the tunnel

to



movement to person or building
movement to a place or country
for bed



go to the cinema
go to London / Ireland
go to bed

into



enter a room / a building



go into the kitchen / the house

towards



movement in the direction of something (but not directly to it)



go 5 steps towards the house

onto



movement to the top of something



jump onto the table

from



in the sense of where from



a flower from the garden