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 time in an hour
(when?)
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 Friday
till / until of a period of time
till / in the sense of how long He is on holiday until Friday.
until something is going to last
by in the sense of at the latest I will be back by 6 o’clock.
up to a certain time 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 London
country in the book
book, paper etc. in the car, in a taxi
car, taxi in the picture, in the world
picture, world
at meaning next to, by an object at the door, at the station
for table at the table
English Usage Example
for events at a concert, at the party
place where you are to do at the cinema, at school, at work
something typical (watch a film, study,
work)
on attached the picture on the wall
for a place with a river London lies on the Thames.
being on a surface on the table
for a certain side (left, right) on the left
for a floor in a house on the first floor
for public transport on the bus, on a plane
for television, radio on TV, on the radio
by, next left or right of somebody or Jane is standing by / next to /
to, beside something beside the car.
under on the ground, lower than (or the bag is under the table
covered by) something else
below lower than something else but the fish are below the surface
above ground
over covered by something else put a jacket over your shirt
meaning more than over 16 years of age
getting to the other side (also walk over the bridge
across) climb over the wall
overcoming an obstacle
above higher than something else, but a path above the lake
not directly over it
across getting to the other side (also walk across the bridge
over) swim across the lake
getting to the other side
through something with limits on top, drive through the tunnel
bottom and the sides
to movement to person or building go to the cinema
movement to a place or country go to London / Ireland
for bed 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 the house
something (but not directly to it)
onto movement to the top of jump onto the table
something
English Usage Example
from in the sense of where from a flower from the garden
Other important Prepositions
English Usage Example
from who gave it a present from Jane
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 horseback on foot, on horseback
entering a public transport get on the bus
vehicle
in entering a car / Taxi get in the car
off leaving a public transport vehicle get off the train
out leaving a car / Taxi get out of the taxi
of
by rise or fall of something prices have risen by 10 percent
travelling (other than walking or by car, by bus
horseriding)
at for age she learned Russian at 45
about for topics, meaning what about we were talking about you
PREPOSICIONES DE TIEMPO
Las preposiciones utilizadas con relación al tiempo pueden resultar algo complicadas
para aprender. Probablemente obtengas mejores resultados si te aprendes unos
cuantos ejemplos. Veamos...
AT? IN? ON? BY?
AT se usa con las horas (at 10:00 am), momentos del día (at night) y con nombres de
festividades (at Christmas, at Easter).
IN se refiere a partes o divisiones del día (in the evening), meses (in November),
estaciones del año (in winter) y años (in 2004). IN se usa también para señalar un
período en el cual algo tendrá lugar (in nine months' time).
ON se usa para los días de la semana (on Monday), para partes o divisiones del día
(mencionando el día de la semana) (on Monday mornings) y para las fechas (on 15th
May, on November 5th).
BY indica el último momento/hora/fecha en que una acción será finalizada.
Normalmente es similar en significado a before. BY se usa generalmente con tiempos
futuros (I will have finished my project by Saturday).
BETWEEN? AMONG?
La regla básica, BETWEEN para 2 y AMONG para más de 2 generalmente es
efectiva. Sin embargo, si las dos cosas están mezcladas (variedades de flores, galletas,
etc) se prefiere utilizar AMONG (She walked among the roses and dahlias). Por el
cntrario, si hay pocas cosas y a éstas se las considera aisladamente, se utiliza
BETWEEN (She walked between the three mountains).
TO? TOWARDS?
TO implica la idea de destino mientras que TOWARDS sólo implica dirección o sentido.
Por ejemplo: He walked to the village, implica que él llegó allí. He walked towards the
village, sólo implica que él caminó en esa direción, pero desconocemos si ha llegado.
FROM? OUT OF?
OUT OF es más específico que FROM y expresa "desde el interior". El opuesto de OUT
OF es INTO (He came into the house).
OFF? OUT OF?
OFF expresa la idea de "bajar desde". Por este motivo, we get off a train, plane, ship,
bus or bicycle, pero we get out of a car or taxi. De modo similar, we get in/into a car
or taxi, pero we get on/onto a train, plane, ship, bus or bicycle.
IN? WITH?
Usamos IN cuando nos referimos a lo que alguien está vistiendo (a man in black, a
woman in red). Por el contrario, usamos WITH para objetos que llevamos o portamos
(a man with an umbrella, a lady with a purse) y también para características físicas o
fisonómicas (a girl with red hair).
IN/AT THE BEGINNING? IN/AT THE END?
Recuerda que decimos AT THE BEGINNING OF SOMETHING, pero simplemente IN
THE BEGINNING: At the beginning of the book there is a long sentence; In the
beginning there was the title in red capitals. De modo similar, generalmente se dice AT
THE END OF, pero sólo IN THE END: In the end Fanny marries her cousin who has
been her secret passion since childhood; At the end of the film Fanny marries her
cousin Edmund.
IN TIME vs ON TIME
ON TIME expresa punctualidad, no tarde o demora. IN TIME expresa lo
suficientemente temprano para hacer algo o antes de que un acontecimiento
desagradable ocurra. Por lo tanto, decimos: The hero arrived in time to save the
children; It is important to arrive on time to an interview.
