Most preposition usage is essentially conventional, even quirkish at times, and many preposition choices actually have no inherent

or discernible logic of their own. For instance, its not easy to discern any logical difference between in, on, and at as prepositions of place and location, and this is why so many nonnative English speakers take a long time to master their proper usage. Achieving this mastery, in fact, requires committing to memory the specific prepositions needed according to established usage, and its a task that becomes even more tedious and difficult in the case of the prepositional phrases and prepositional idioms. The common run of prepositions usually establishes a space or time relationship between ideas within a phrase, clause, or sentence, and they can be divided into five groups: 1. The prepositions of place and location: in, at, and on 2. The prepositions of motion: to, toward, in, and into 3. The prepositions of movement and direction: to, onto, and into 4. The prepositions for specific points of time: on, at, in, and after 5. The prepositions for periods or extended time: since, for, by, fromto, fromuntil, before, during, within, between, and beyond. Rules for Usage: PREPOSITIONS THAT ESTABLISH RELATIONSHIPS IN SPACE The prepositions in, at, and on for indicating place and location. The general rule is to use in for an enclosed space, at for a point, and on for a surface. Here are some specific guidelines for their use in American English: Use in for spaces: They always meet in a secret room [in a suburban hotel, in a parking lot, in a farm, in a ricefield]. Use in for names of specific land areas: She lives in a quiet town [in

Tagaytay, in Cavite, in Southern Tagalog, in the island of Palawan, in the Philippines, in Southeast Asia]. Use in for bodies of water: That kind of fish thrives in freshwater [in the river, in the lake, in streams, in the sea]. Use in for lines: The registrants are in a row [in a line, in a queue]. Use at to indicate points: Youll find us at the entrance [at the taxi stand, at the supermarket, at the intersection]. Use at for specific addresses, as in She lives at 40 Lilac St. Use on for names of streets, roads, avenues, and boulevards: Her apartment is on San Pablo Street [on Ortigas Avenue, on Santolan Road, on Roxas Boulevard]. Use on for surfaces: Theres a large stain on the floor [on the wall, on the ceiling, on the roof]. The prepositions in, at, and on for indicating location. Use in in these cases: The children are in the kitchen [in the garden, in the car, in the library, in the class, in school]. (The article the is mandatory except for the fourth and last example.) Use at in these particular cases: She was at home [at the library, at the office, at school, at work] when we arrived. Use on in these particular cases: They are on the plane [on the train, on the boat]. Some locations, though, dont need a preposition between them and the verb: They sleep downstairs [inside, outside, downtown, upstairs, uptown]. Rules for Usage: PREPOSITIONS THAT ESTABLISH MOTION AND DIRECTION

The prepositions of motion to, toward, in, and into. These four prepositions link the verbs of movementmove, go, transfer, walk, run, swim, ride, drive, fly, travel, and many more to their object destination. All of these verbs, except transfer, can take both to and toward. We must keep in mind, however, that to is used to convey the idea of movement toward a specific destination, while toward is used to convey movement in a general direction that may not reach a specific destination: Please take me to the bus station. (The speaker obligates the listener to specifically take him to a particular place.) The speedboat headed toward the harbor. (The speaker indicates only a movement in a general direction.) We can actually interchange into and in more or less freely when used with verbs of motion. There are exceptions, though. We can only use in (or inside) when the preposition is the last word in the sentence or occurs right before an adverbial of time (today, tomorrow), manner (quickly, hurriedly) or frequency (once, twice). Examples: The woman went into the managers office. The woman went in twice. The woman went in. The new tenants moved into the apartment yesterday The new tenants moved in hurriedly. The new tenants moved in. We can also use into as the last word in a question: What sort of trouble have you gotten yourself into? But we should use in if the question is said in this form: What sort of trouble are you in? In/into also has two unique uses with the verb move. The first is when move in is followed by a clause indicating purpose or motive: The hunters moved in for the kill. The soldiers moved in for the

attack. In both examples, in is part of the verb phrase, so we cannot use into. The second case is when we use into with move to convey the idea of simple movement: The firemen moved into the burning building. The prepositions of direction to, onto, and into. These prepositions correspond to the common prepositions of location: to for at, onto for on, and into for in. Each is defined by the same space relations of point, line, surface, or area as in the prepositions of location. To, the basic directional preposition, signifies orientation toward a goal. If that goal is physical, like a specific destination, to conveys the idea of movement in the direction of that goal: The troops returned to their base. Toward, of course, also works as a directional preposition, and means about the same thing as the directional preposition to. If the goal is not a physical place, as in an action, to simply puts the verb in the infinitive form to express a particular purpose: She sings to earn extra money. She cut her hair to show her displeasure. The directional prepositions onto and into are, as we know, compounds formed by to with corresponding prepositions of location: on + to = onto, to signify movement toward a surface, and in + to = into, to signify movement inside a finite three-dimensional space or volume. When used with many verbs of motion, however, on and in already have a directional meaning. We therefore can freely use them instead of onto and into. Note that on and onto work equally well in the following sentences: The cats fell on [onto] the floor. The whales washed up onto [on] the beach. The girl jumped into [in] the river. You will notice, however, that always, the compound locational prepositions onto and into convey the consummation of an action, while the simple locational prepositions on and in indicate the subjects end-position as a result of the action.

Lets look at some examples. Consummation of action: The boy fell onto [to] the ground. The sailor dived into [to] the pool. Position of subject: The boy is on the ground. The sailor is in the pool. Now we discover something interesting: directional prepositions actually serve to convey the idea of cause, while locational prepositions serve to convey the idea of effect. This, in fact, is as near a rule of thumb as we can get in dealing with these two kinds of prepositions. We cannot leave this subject, of course, without discussing at as a preposition of motion and direction. Being the least specific of the prepositions in space orientation, we can use at in a good number of ways. To mark a verb of motion directed towards a point: She arrived at the airport late. The marksman aimed at the hostage-taker with precision. To indicate direction: The man leaped at the thief to subdue him. She jumped at me without warning. Rules for Usage: PREPOSITIONS THAT ESTABLISH RELATIONSHIPS IN TIME The prepositions for specific points in time: on, at, in, and after. On is used with the days of the week: We are going out on Monday [on Tuesday, on Sunday]. On is used for specific dates (optional in informal usage): The trade fair will start on March 12, 2003 [on March 12, on the 12th of March, on the 12th ].

At is used with clocked time: She picks her son from school at 4:30 p.m. At is used with the following times of the day: noon, night, midnight, sunrise, sunset: We sail for Palawan at noon [at midnight, at sunrise]. At is used with certain major holidays (without the word Day) as points of time: The family always gets together at Thanksgiving [at Christmas, at Easter, at Halloween]. In is used with the following times of the day: morning, afternoon, evening: She waters her roses in the morning [in the afternoon, in the evening]. In is used with dates that do not carry the specific day: The Spanish explorer reached the Philippines in March 1521. In is used with months, years, decades, and centuries as points of time: The famous writer was born in April [in 1946, in the 1940s, in the 20th century]. In is used with the seasons as points of time: He promised not to leave her in autumn [in summer, in spring, in winter]. After is used with events that happen later than another event or point of time: The overseas worker came home only after the holidays. The prepositions for periods or extended time: since, for, by, from...to, from...until, during, within, between, and beyond. Since is used with an event that happens at some time or continuously after another time or event: She has not watched a movie since last month. They have been producing noodles since the war. For is used with particular durations: Our president will be abroad for three weeks [not for long, for most of next month].

By is used with an act completed or to be completed by a certain time: She expects to finish writing the book by April [by then, by the second quarter]. From...to is used to refer to the beginning and end of an activity or event: The weather was stormy from Wednesday to Friday. From...until is used to refer to the beginning of one period to the beginning of another: Our sales rose continuously from Christmas until right before Holy Week. During is used to refer to a period of time in which an event happens or an activity is done: She had coffee during the morning break. Between is used to refer to an action taking place between the beginning and the end of a period: You must get the job done between now and Friday. Within is used to refer to an action that must take place or be completed within a given period: You must get the job done within the week. Beyond is used to refer to a period of time after a particular event has taken place or a particular time has elapsed: Beyond the mid-1990s all of our offices had shifted to word processors. Prepositions for specific time frames. In is used with the three basic time frames: past, present, future: He was a kindly man in the past. She is doing nothing in the present [...at present is the preferred usage at present]. In the future, change the oil of your car regularly. In is used with prescribed time periods: The project must be completed in a month [in a year, in five years].

Prepositions Time
English on Usage days of the week months / seasons time of day year after a certain period of time (when?) Example on Monday in August / in winter in the morning in 2006 in an hour

in

at

for night for weekend a certain point of time (when?) from a certain point of time (past till now) over a certain period of time (past till now) a certain time in the past earlier than a certain point of time telling the time telling the time marking the beginning and end of a period of time in the sense of how long something is going to last in the sense of at the latest up to a certain time

at night at the weekend at half past nine since 1980

since

for ago before to past to / till / until till / until

for 2 years 2 years ago before 2004 ten to six (5:50) ten past six (6:10) from Monday to/till Friday He is on holiday until Friday. I will be back by 6 oclock. By 11 o'clock, I had read five pages.

by

Prepositions Place (Position and Direction)

English Usage in room, building, street, town, country book, paper etc. car, taxi picture, world Example in the kitchen, in London in the book in the car, in a taxi in the picture, in the world at the door, at the station at the table at a concert, at the party at the cinema, at school, at work

at

meaning next to, by an object for table for events place where you are to do something typical (watch a film, study, work) attached for a place with a river being on a surface for a certain side (left, right) for a floor in a house for public transport for television, radio

on

the picture on the wall London lies on the Thames. on the table on the left on the first floor on the bus, on a plane on TV, on the radio Jane is standing by / next to / beside the car. the bag is under the table the fish are below the surface put a jacket over your shirt over 16 years of age walk over the bridge climb over the wall a path above the lake walk across the bridge swim across the lake drive through the tunnel

by, next to, beside under

left or right of somebody or something on the ground, lower than (or covered by) something else lower than something else but above ground covered by something else meaning more than getting to the other side (also across) overcoming an obstacle

below

over

above

higher than something else, but not directly over it getting to the other side (also over) getting to the other side something with limits on top, bottom

across through

English

Usage and the sides movement to person or building movement to a place or country for bed enter a room / a building movement in the direction of something (but not directly to it) movement to the top of something in the sense of where from

Example

to

go to the cinema go to London / Ireland go to bed go into the kitchen / the house go 5 steps towards the house jump onto the table a flower from the garden

into

towards onto from

Other important Prepositions

English from of by on in off out of Usage who gave it who/what does it belong to what does it show who made it walking or riding on horseback entering a public transport vehicle entering a car / Taxi leaving a public transport vehicle leaving a car / Taxi rise or fall of something travelling (other than walking or horseriding) for age for topics, meaning what about Example a present from Jane a page of the book the picture of a palace a book by Mark Twain on foot, on horseback get on the bus get in the car get off the train get out of the taxi prices have risen by 10 percent by car, by bus she learned Russian at 45 we were talking about you

by

at about