English language

​Definition:

A word or one of the parts of the speech that shows the relationship between a noun or pronoun and other words in a sentence.

A preposition links nouns, pronouns and phrases to other words in a sentence.

 

example:

I study for my test

 

on this example we see how the preposition "for", links I study and my test in order to make sense together.

 

List of common prepositions

 

• aboard

• about

• above

• across

• after

• against

• along

• amid

• among

• anti

• around

• as

• at

• before

• behind

• below

• beneath

• beside

• besides

• between

• beyond

• but

 

 

 

 

 

 One preposition in your native language might have several translations depending on the situation.

 

The best way to learn prepositions is looking them up in a dictionary and reading a lot.

However we difference them based on the usage we give to them, for example the preposition "at" can be used as preposition of time (is a preposition which relates to time) in the sentence,

"See you tonite at 10" where the preposition "at" links See you to a time.

Or in the sentence "See you at my house" the preposition "at" links See you to a place, and then the preposition "at" works as a preposition of place.

 

Generally speaking we can classify prepositions in three groups for its study:

 

• prepositions of time

• prepositions of place

• other kinds of prepositions

 

 

prepositions of time

prepositions of time are words that basically tell us when something happens in time and at certain level .The prepositons at, on and in are the ones we use the most to express time.

I will now show you how to use the prepositions at, on and in as prepositions of time:

 

"At"...........We use at to designate specific times.  examples:

The last train tonite passes at 12:30 pm.

You have an appointment tomorrow at eight am.

School closes at five.

 

"On"..........We use on to designate days and dates. examples:

My brother is coming on Monday.

We're having a party on the Fourth of July.

He meets me on christmas eve

 

"In".............We use in for nonspecific times during a day, a month, a season, or a year.

                                                                                            examples:

She likes to jog in the morning.

It's too cold in winter to run outside.

He started the job in 1971.

He's going to quit in August.

I go running in the afternoon.

 

at	in	on
PRECISE TIME	MONTHS, YEARS, CENTURIES and LONG PERIODS	DAYS and DATES
at 3 o'clock	in May	on Sunday
at 10.30am	in summer	on Tuesdays
at noon	in the summer	on 6 March
at dinnertime	in 1990	on 25 Dec. 2010
at bedtime	in the 1990s	on Christmas Day
at sunrise	in the next century	on Independence Day
at sunset	in the Ice Age	on my birthday
at the moment	in the past/future	on New Year's Eve

 

 

We also have many more prepositions that can also be used as prepositions of time such as:

 

"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

prepositions of place are words that basically tell us where something happens at place and at certain position .The prepositons at, on and in are the ones we use the most to express place.

I will now show you how to use the prepositions at, on and in as prepositions of place:

 

"At"........We use at for specific addresses. examples:

Joan lives at 55 Boretz Road in Durham.

 

"On".......We use on to designate names of streets, avenues, etc. examples:

Her house is on Boretz Road.

 

"In".........We use in for the names of land-areas (towns, counties, states, countries, and continents).    examples:                                                  

She lives in Durham.

Durham is in Windham County.

Windham County is in Connecticut.

 

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

 

We also have many more prepositions that can also be used as prepositions of place such as:

 

"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"   "by"	in the sense of where from   in the sense of besides or at the side of	a flower from the garden Where you sitting by the door?

Other kinds of prepositions

 

 Preposition of Movement or Direction.(to, toward, through, into,like)

 

To

The preposition "to" indicates movement with the aim of a specific destination, which can be a place or an event

examples:

I’m travelling to France tomorrow.

I need to go to the Post Office.

Can you tell me the way to the station?

Are you going to the party?

I’ve never been to a football match.

What time did you go to work?

Note that up to is often used to express movement to a person, examples:

He came up to me and asked me what the time was.

Come to me bro.

The preposition to is sometimes used to indicate a specific position, especially if a person or object is facing something, examples:

There’s a door to your left.

He stood with his back to the window.

 

Towards

The preposition towards indicates movement in a particular direction, examples:

She was carrying a suitcase and walking towards him.

He kicked the ball towards the goal.

Anna pointed towards the window.

Everyone sitting at the table turned towards me.

Note the contrast in the following two examples:

I’m going to Oxford for a meeting.

I think we’re heading towards Oxford now, we must have gone wrong.

In the first example, to introduces a specific destination. In the second example with towards, the direction of movement is a more important part of the meaning than the idea of a particular destination.

Note that occasionally, towards is also used to indicate position, but this is a position in relation to a particular direction from the point of view of the speaker, examples:

She was sitting towards the back of the room.

Tom stood with his back towards the door.

 

Through

The preposition through refers to movement within a space which can be thought of as three-dimensional, examples:

They couldn’t get the new sofa through the door.

We drove through some spectacular countryside.

The canal flows through the city centre.

You won’t be able to see it unless you look through the binoculars.

Through usually suggests movement across an entire space, from one side of something to another, e.g:

He cut through the wire.

 

Into

The preposition into refers to movement from the outside to the inside of a three dimensional space, examples:

We got into the back of the car.

She reached into her bag and found the keys.

With certain verbs into can be used to express the idea of movement in the direction of something, often resulting in actually hitting it, as in the second example below, e.g:

He looked straight into her eyes.

She swerved and crashed into the fence

Like Like as a preposition with nouns or pronouns is used to express ideas of similarity or comparison. examples: When she's on stage, she looks a bit like Britney, but she sounds more like Madonna. Like you, I prefer to eat my breakfast in the morning without engaging in small talk. It was only five o' clock, but it seemed like the middle of the night, it was so dark. These plants grow very well in hot countries, like CostaRica and Venezuela. What's Bournemouth like as a seaside town? ~ It's a little bit like Brighton. Quite lively!

This looks like a very old building.

A racoon looks like a cross between a cat and a dog.

He dresses like a gangster.

When Vanessa sings, she sounds like Katy Perry

 

Preposition for Agent. (by)

By

Preposition for agent is used for a thing which is cause of another thing in the sentence.

This book is written by Shakespeare.

The work was completed by him.

The room was decorated by her.

Like a virgin by Madonna.

Hyo-Jin and her husband didn't paint their house
by themselves

 

Preposition for device, instrument or machine.(by,with)

"By" and "With"

Prepositions for device by and with are used by different devices, instruments or machines.

examples:

She comes by bus daily.

He opened the lock with key.