Where is it?

The ball is in the box The ball is on the box. The ball is under the box.

Jane's house Bill's house

John's house

John's house is next to Jane's house. Jane's house is between Bill's and John's houses. Bill's house is next to Jane's house.

The man stood next to the

The climbers stood on top of The man stood between the The enemies stood opposite The gardners stood behind
gopher and held the umbrella
the mountain. two enemies. each other. the pumpkins.
over it.

The man looked through the The man wrote the address on The man looked at the mail The man looked at the clock The manager sat at his desk
telescope in his hands. the package. in the post box. on the wall. on his chair.
 PREPOSITIONS OF PLACE
1 ) AT - IN - ON

General Information:

AT ON

We use at for a point: We use on for a surface:

at the window - at the entrance - at the door on the wall - on the ceiling - on the floor - on a page
at the end of the street - at the station - at the top on a cover

Bill is waiting for you at the bus stop. Have you seen the notice on the notice board?

IN

We use in for an enclosed space:

in the garden - in the house - in London - in the water
in her bag - in a row - in a town

There is nobody in the room. She lives in a small village.

Special Information:

AT
2. We say at with buildings when we say where the event
1. We say that someone is at an event:
(film, concert,...) takes place:
at a party - at a pop concert - at a conference - at a
Where were you yesterday? At the cinema.
meeting
Tom is at a party. The meeting took place at the headquarters.
3. We say at someone's house: 4. We say at for a place which is a part of our journey:
We stopped at a very nice village. Does the train stop at
We were at Bill's house last Thursday.
Nashville?

ON

2. We say that a place is on the coast / on a river / on a

1. We use on with small islands:
road:
She spent her holiday on a small island. London is on the river Thames.
Portsmouth is on the south coast of England.

IN

1. We say in when we talk about a building itself. 2. We usually say in with towns and villages:
The rooms of Tom's house are small. His parents live in York.

Note these expressions:

AT
at home - at work - at school - at university - at college - at the station - at an airport - at the seaside - at sea (on a
voyage) - at reception - at the corner of a street - at the back / front of a building / cinema / group of people, etc. -
arrive at with other places or events

IN
in the newspaper - in bed - in hospital - in prison - in the street - in the sky - in an armchair (sit) - in a photograph - in a
picture - in a mirror - in the corner of a room - in the back / front of a car - arrive in a country or town

ON
on a farm - on the left - on the right - on the ground floor - on the first, second,... floor - on the way - on the chair (sit)
- on the radio - on television - on a horse - on the corner of a street - on the back / front of a letter / piece of paper etc.
2) TO - INTO - BY

TO INTO

We say go / come / travel / fly / walk / return / drive / We say go into / come into etc. = enter a room / building
have been etc. to a place or event: etc.:
Last year we flew to London. We went to work at seven. He opened the door and went into the room.

BY

We say by to say how we travel:

We went to Paris by plane. I usually go to work by bike / by
car / by underground / by bus

BUT:
we say on foot
we cannot use by if you say my car / the train / a taxi
Then use in for taxis and cars.
Then use on for bike / public transport.

Prepositions of Place: at, in, on

In general, we use:

• at for a POINT
• in for an ENCLOSED SPACE
• on for a SURFACE
at in on

POINT ENCLOSED SPACE SURFACE

at the corner in the garden on the wall

at the bus stop in London on the ceiling

at the door in France on the door

at the top of the page in a box on the cover

at the end of the road in my pocket on the floor

at the entrance in my wallet on the carpet

at the crossroads in a building on the menu

at the front desk in a car on a page

Look at these examples:

• Jane is waiting for you at the bus stop.

• The shop is at the end of the street.
• My plane stopped at Dubai and Hanoi and arrived in Bangkok two hours late.
• When will you arrive at the office?
• Do you work in an office?
• I have a meeting in New York.
• Do you live in Japan?
• Jupiter is in the Solar System.
• The author's name is on the cover of the book.
• There are no prices on this menu.
• You are standing on my foot.
• There was a "no smoking" sign on the wall.
• I live on the 7th floor at 21 Oxford Street in London.
Notice the use of the prepositions of place at, in and on in these standard expressions:

at in on

at home in a car on a bus

at work in a taxi on a train

at school in a helicopter on a plane

at university in a boat on a ship

at college in a lift (elevator) on a bicycle, on a motorbike

at the top in the newspaper on a horse, on an elephant

at the bottom in the sky on the radio, on television

at the side in a row on the left, on the right

at reception in Oxford Street on the way

Prepositions of place are used to clarify a specific place. Place prepositions are used with all nouns. The preposition usually comes before the noun or
the pronoun. The preposition never comes before a verb.

Common Place Prepositions:

aboard - She is aboard the boat.

above - The picture is above the sofa.

across - My house is across the street.

against - The desk is against the wall.

around - My house is around the block.

at - Is your house at the end of the street.

at the back of - We are going to sit at the back of the theater.

at the bottom of - The coins are at the bottom of the lake.

at the top of - The books are at the top of the shelves.

between - We sit between the two boys.

behind - The girls sit behind the two boys.

below - The desk is below the window

by - The books are by the door.

in - I live in the big green and white house.

inside - I live inside the big green house.

on the corner of - We live on the corner of 3rd avenue

in the middle of - We live in the middle of the street.

near - I don't live near the supermarket.

next to - I live next to my best friend.

 to the left of - The blue box is to the left of the green box.

to the right of - The orange box is to the right of the yellow box.

on - The sun heater is on the top of the building.

on the side of - There is a big sign on the side of the house.

on top of - There is a man on the top of the roof.

on the other side of - Do you see what is going on over there on the other side of the roof?

opposite - The post office is on the opposite side of the street.

outside - The car is outside the garage.

under - The blanket is under the bed in a box..

underneath - The pen is underneath the box.

Unit 37. Prepositions of place and direction

(предлоги места и направления)
Words like: above, below, down, from, to, towards, up

Main points
 • You normally use prepositional phrases to say where a person or thing is, or the direction they are moving in.
• You can also use adverbs and adverb phrases for place and direction.
• Many words are both prepositions and adverbs.

1. You use prepositions to talk about the place where someone or something is. Prepositions are always followed by a noun group, which is called the
object of the preposition.

above below in opposite through

among beneath inside outside under
at beside near over underneath
behind between on round

He stood near the door.

Two minutes later we were safely inside the taxi.

Note that some prepositions consist of more than one word.

in between in front of next to on top of

There was a man standing in front of me.

The books were piled on top of each other.

2. You can also use prepositions to talk about the direction that someone or something is moving in, or the place that someone or something is moving
towards.

across into past to

along onto round towards
back to out of through up
 down

They dived into the water.

She turned and rushed out of the room.

3. Many prepositions can be used both for place and direction.

The bank is just across the High Street. {place)

I walked across the room. (direction)

We live in the house over the road. (place)

I stole his keys and escaped over the wall. (direction)

4. You can also use adverbs and adverb phrases for place and direction.

abroad here underground everywhere

away indoors upstairs nowhere
downstairs outdoors ~ somewhere
downwards there anywhere

Sheila was here a moment ago.

Can't you go upstairs and turn the bedroom light off?

Note that a few noun groups can also be used as adverbials of place or direction.

Steve lives next door at number 23.

I thought we went the other way last time.

5. Many words can be used as prepositions and as adverbs, with no difference in meaning. Remember that prepositions have noun groups as objects,
but adverbs do not.

Did he fall down the stairs?

Please do sit down.

I looked underneath the bed, but the box had gone!

Always put a sheet of paper underneath.

Prepositions of place and direction

Preposition Use Examples
above higher than sth. The picture hangs above my bed.
You mustn't go across this road here.
across from one side to the other side
There isn't a bridge across the river.
 The cat ran after the dog.
after one follows the other
After you.
against directed towards sth. The bird flew against the window.
along in a line; from one point to another They're walking along the beach.
among in a group I like being among people.
around in a circular way We're sitting around the campfire.
behind at the back of Our house is behind the supermarket.
below lower than sth. Death Valley is 86 metres below sea level.
beside next to Our house is beside the supermarket.
between sth./sb. is on each side Our house is between the supermarket and the school.
by near He lives in the house by the river.
close to near Our house is close to the supermarket.
down from high to low He came down the hill.
from the place where it starts Do you come from Tokyo?
in front of the part that is in the direction it faces Our house is in front of the supermarket.
inside opposite of outside You shouldn't stay inside the castle.
into entering sth. You shouldn't go into the castle.
near close to Our house is near the supermarket.
next to beside Our house is next to the supermarket.
off away from sth. The cat jumped off the roof.
onto moving to a place The cat jumped onto the roof.
opposite on the other side Our house is opposite the supermarket.
out of leaving sth. The cat jumped out of the window.
outside opposite of inside Can you wait outside?
over above sth./sb. The cat jumped over the wall.
past going near sth./sb. Go past the post office.
round in a circle We're sitting round the campfire.
through going from one point to the other point You shouldn't walk through the forest.
I like going to Australia.
to towards sth./sb.
Can you come to me?
I've never been to Africa.
towards in the direction of sth. We ran towards the castle.
under below sth. The cat is under the table.
up from low to high He went up the hill.