ENGLISH LANGUAGE-4
PREPOSITION
Prepositions
Prepositions are short words (on, in, to) that usually stand in
front of nouns (sometimes also in front of gerund verbs).
Even advanced learners of English find prepositions difficult, as
a 1:1 translation is usually not possible. One preposition in your
native language might have several translations depending on
the situation.
There are hardly any rules as to when to use which preposition.
The only way to learn prepositions is looking them up in
a dictionary, reading a lot in English (literature) and learning
useful phrases off by heart (study tips).
The following table contains rules for some of the most
frequently used prepositions in English:
Prepositions Time
English Usage Example
on days of the week on Monday
in months / seasons in August / in winter
time of day in the morning
year in 2006
after a certain period of in an hour
time (when?)
English Usage Example
at for night at night
for weekend at the weekend
a certain point of time (when?) at half past nine
since from a certain point of time (past since 1980
till now)
for over a certain period of time for 2 years
(past till now)
ago a certain time in the past 2 years ago
before earlier than a certain point of before 2004
time
to telling the time ten to six (5:50)
past telling the time ten past six (6:10)
to / marking the beginning and end from Monday to/till
till / until of a period of time Friday
till / in the sense of how long He is on holiday until
until something is going to last Friday.
by in the sense of at the latest I will be back by 6
up to a certain time oclock.
By 11 o'clock, I had
read five pages.
Prepositions Place (Position and Direction)
English Usage Example
in room, building, street, town, in the kitchen, in
country London
book, paper etc. in the book
car, taxi in the car, in a taxi
picture, world in the picture, in
the world
at meaning next to, by an object at the door, at the
for table station
for events at the table
place where you are to do at a concert, at the
something typical (watch a film, party
study, work) at the cinema, at
school, at work
on attached the picture on the
for a place with a river wall
being on a surface London lies on the
for a certain side (left, right) Thames.
on the table
for a floor in a house
on the left
for public transport
on the first floor
for television, radio
on the bus, on a
plane
on TV, on the
radio
English Usage Example
by, next left or right of somebody or Jane is standing
to, beside something by / next to / beside
the car.
under on the ground, lower than (or the bag is under
covered by) something else the table
below lower than something else but the fish are below
above ground the surface
over covered by something else put a jacket over
meaning more than your shirt
getting to the other side over 16 years of
(also across) age
overcoming an obstacle walk over the
bridge
climb over the
wall
above higher than something else, but not a path above the
directly over it lake
across getting to the other side (also over) walk across the
getting to the other side bridge
swim across the
lake
through something with limits on top, drive through the
bottom and the sides tunnel
English Usage Example
to movement to person or building go to the cinema
movement to a place or country go to London /
for bed Ireland
go to bed
into enter a room / a building go into the
kitchen / the house
towards movement in the direction of go 5 steps towards
something (but not directly to it) 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
Other important Prepositions
English Usage Example
fr who gave it a present from Jane
om
of who/what does it belong to a page of the book
what does it show the picture of a palace
by who made it a book by Mark Twain
on walking or riding on on foot, on horseback
English Usage Example
horseback get on the bus
entering a public transport
vehicle
in entering a car / Taxi get in the car
of leaving a public transport get off the train
f vehicle
ou leaving a car / Taxi get out of the taxi
t of
by rise or fall of something prices have risen by 10
travelling (other than walking percent
or horseriding) by car, by bus
at for age she learned Russian at 45
ab for topics, meaning what we were talking about you
out about
