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Preposition

Definition
A preposition is usually a short word placed before a substantive (or a pronoun) and
indicating the relation of that substantive to other parts of the sentence (mostly verbs).

Example
"I was reading a book in the living-room."
The preposition “in” specifies, where exactly “I was reading a book”. It is placed
directly before the noun “living-room” (not counting a sometimes optional article like
“the”).

Categories
Prepositions, as a class of words, can be divided in five categories.

1. Preposition of time (temporal) e.g. in, on, at, etc.

2. Preposition of place (spatial) e.g. in, on, at, etc.
3. Preposition for direction e.g. to, towards, into, through etc.
4. Preposition for device, instrument or machines e.g. on, by, with, etc. and
various semantic roles e.g. of, for, etc.
This classification is not disjunct: a lot of preposition fall in more than one group, e.g. “in”
can be used for “in the car” (spatial) or for “in five years” (temporal).
There is some overlap with transitions words, conjunctions and linking wordsin
general. Keep in mind, that the main purpose of a preposition is the determination of the
relationship in time or place. Thus, contrary to other “small words”, they are not
an element of style, but absolutely mandatory.

To find the correct preposition is difficult, even for advanced ESL speakers, since a 1:1
translation from your mother tongue is usually wrong. To make matters worse, no real
rules exist, when to use which preposition. So the only way is, to memorize them. As
always, reading books or watching movies helps a lot.
The following lists contain some of the most frequently used prepositions in English.

Prepositions – Time

English Explanation / Meaning Examples

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English Explanation / Meaning Examples

on days (of the week) & dates on Sunday; on May 1st; on Christmas Eve; on my
mark; on the weekend (AmE.)

in months / seasons / year in summer / in July / in 2017

part of the day in the evening
after a period of time in an hour; in the future

at a specific point of time at 11:15 p.m.; at half past six

exceptions (question: at noon; at night; learned English at 42; at
"When ...?") the weekend (BrE.); at first glance

since from a specific point in time since 1980; since yesterday

until now (past till now)

until (till) up to a certain point in time until Monday; I’ll wait to call my manager until I
hear from the client

for over a certain period of time for the first time in forever; for 3 years

ago from now to a a second ago; a decade ago; a while ago

specific point in the past
(now till past)

during throughout the course or during summer; during the vacation; during the
duration of s.th. discussion

before previous to in time; earlier before winter; before dawn; I have to talk to the
than client before I call my manager

after Subsequent in time; at a after midnight; after tomorrow

later timethan

to / past telling the time ten to two (1:50) / ten past two (2:10)

from / to a starting point / an end point from the beginning; from now to eternity

by not later than by 12 o'clock; by next week

Prepositions – Place

English Explanation / Meaning Examples

in position or state inside sth. in London; in the book, in the mirror; in
love

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English Explanation / Meaning Examples

at in the area of ...; specific position at home; at the table; at my side
an event (or a place related to it) at the party; at the cinema; at
school

on position above on the desk; on my shoulder

in contact with on the wall; on the water
a certain side (left, right) on the left side; on the bright side
the state or process of on leave; on fire; on the way
on the phone; on TV; on the menu
means of conveyance on trains; on the bus; on a plane

off from a place or position off the table; off the wall; went off to
Canada; got off the bus; turned off the TV

by, beside at the side of; close to, next to by the door; beside the car; stand by me

under in a lower position; beneath the surface under the table; under water

over in or at a position above put sth. over a shirt; walk over sth.;
over my dead body
more than over 100 years; over ten miles

below in or to a lower place; beneath below the surface; below 20°; below the
clouds

above higher than sth. else; overhead above the door; the clouds above; the
problems cited above

up from a lower towards a higher point up the hill; up there is a …

down a descending direction rolled down the hill; walking down the
street

Prepositions – Direction / Movement

English Explanation / Meaning Examples

across on, at, to or from the other side across the street; lines across the paper

through from one end or side to another through the tunnel; a tour through France

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English Explanation / Meaning Examples

to in a direction toward a person go to bed; move on to; face to face; to
or thing the entrance
back to health; all the way to; to die
toward a (given) state for

into movement to the inside or went into the kitchen; crashed into a
interior of tree
to the condition, state, or form breaking into pieces; go into banking
of

out of movement from the inside to drag myself out of bed; out of nowhere
the outside
no longer in the condition, out of town; out of order; out of
state, or form of fashion

onto movement to the top jumped onto the table

towards movement in the direction of; or towards the house; toward the future; toward
closer to peace

from a starting point; movement walked home from the station;

away from traveled from NY to LA
a note from the teacher; know right
a source, a cause; a distinction from wrong

Other important Prepositions

English Explanation / Meaning Examples

of originating from, composed men of the north; a cup of coffee; the hand of God;
of, associated with, that friend of yours
belonging to

by in the name of; through the a book by Mark Twain; by myself; played by the
agency or action of rules; killed by a bullet; one by one they left; by car,
by bus

about estimation of quantity about ten people; about five minutes; about
two miles
on the subject of a book about English
ready to do sth. the chorus is about to sing

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English Explanation / Meaning Examples

for indicates the object, aim or happy for you; for sale; eager for fame; for one
purpose thing, …; for heaven's sake

with in the presence or use of with a friend; with cheese; with confidence; with a lot
of …; will be with you shortly; from Russia with love

List of Prepositions
Please feel free to download this concise list of prepositions as a 3 page cheat sheetList
of Prepositions — the PDF contains all the prepositions listed on this page.

Prepositions — IN & ON & AT

Short overview of the 3 prepositions in & on & at and their use from more general to
more specific describtions of Time & Place.

Grammar
A preposition is a word that creates a relationship between words to indicate relative
positions in space or time.
The doctrine that a preposition may not be used to end a sentence was promulgated by
18th-century Latin-obsessed grammarians introverts. The rule has since become one of
the most venerated maxims of schoolroom grammatical lore. Alas, unjustified so.

Examples
In fact, English syntax allows and sometimes requires final placement of the preposition.

1. That depends on what you believe in.

2. What did you step on?
3. Elias had no-one to play with.
4. Five excited puppies are almost too many to put up with.

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5. A good medium raw steak should not be so hard to come by.

6. Ending a sentence with a preposition is nothing to be afraid of.

Abbreviations
Although there are no commonly accepted abbreviations for some of the basic terms
used on this page, most grammarians (and dictionaries) employ some of these
abbreviations.
BrE, BE - British English
AmE, AE - American English
sth. - Something
sb. - Somebody
etc. - et cetera (other unspecified things or persons)
e.g. - Exempli gratia (For example)
pron. - pronunciation
sp. - spelling
gram. - grammar
etym. - etymology

n. - noun
v. - verb
obj. - object
adj. - adjective
adv. - adverb
pr. - pronoun
prep. - preposition
conj. - conjunction
art. - article
interj. - interjection

abbr. - abbreviation
aux. - auxiliary
pref. - prefix
suff. - suffix
tr. - transitive

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intr. - intransitive
sing. - singular
pl. - plural
def. - definite
indef. - indefinite

Examples of Prepositions

Some special examples on how to use prepositions ;-)

Has not been heard from since
At your disposal
It's not true I had nothing on. I had the radio on. [Quote from Marilyn Monroe]
By all means
Once and for all
Drinks on the house
On and off
Sth. is important to me
above such foolishness
Mary has much to be angry about.
Very young children are incapable of abstract reasoning.
Go with the tried and trusted basics.
It is strictly between you & me.
Of, by, for - short for "... government of the people, for the people and by the people" -
The Gettysburg Address (November 19, 1863); a speech by U.S. President Abraham
Lincoln (1809 – 1865) during the American Civil War (1861 to 1865).
Child to parent:
What did you bring that book that I don't like to be read to out of up for?
An even longer version, via David Richerby (and yes, we know, "Down Under" is a proper
noun ...):
What did you bring that book that I don't like to be read to out of about Down Under up
for?
We will reach our judgments not on intentions or on promises but on deeds and on
results. [Margaret Thatcher]

Phrasal verbs
Many prepositions are also used as phrasal verbs (or idiomatically). There are no specific
rules these expressions must be memorized. Here are some examples:

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look up
add up to sth.
call sth. off
applied to
depend on
identical to
opposed to
preoccupied with
prohibited from
recover from

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