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Prepositions

Prepositions

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Prepositions are short words (on, in, to) that usually

stand in front of nouns (sometimes also in front of
gerund verbs).
Even advanced learners of English find prepositions
difficult, as a 1:1 translation is usually not possible.
One preposition in your native language might have
several translations depending on the situation.
There are hardly any rules as to when to use which
preposition. The only way to learn prepositions is
looking them up in a dictionary (/en/lingopad),
reading a lot in English (literature (/en/readon/literature)) and learning useful phrases off by heart
(study tips (/en/cram-up/learning/gap-filling)).
The following table contains rules for some of the
most frequently used prepositions in English:

Prepositions Time

Literature
(/en/readon/literature)
Newsticker

English

days of the week

on Monday

in

months / seasons

in August / in
winter

time of day
year

in the morning

after a certain
period of time
(when?)

in 2006
in an hour

for night

at night

for weekend

at the weekend

a certain point of
time (when?)

at half past nine

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

2 years ago

on/newsticker)

Business
at

(/en/businessenglish/communication)
Grammar
(/en/business-

Example

on

(/en/read-

Communication

Usage

since

english/grammar)
Business-Info
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Chill Out

the past

Games & Riddles

(/en/chill-

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.

in the sense of at
the latest

I will be back by 6
oclock.

up to a certain
time

By 11 o'clock, I had
read five pages.

out/games)
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Prepositions Place (Position and Direction)

English
in

Usage
room, building,
street, town,
country

in the kitchen, in
London

book, paper etc.

in the car, in a taxi

car, taxi

at

in the picture, in
the world

meaning next to,

by an object

at the door, at the

station

for table

at the table

for events

at a concert, at
the party

attached
for a place with a
river

under

at the cinema, at
school, at work

the picture on the

wall

being on a surface

London lies on
the Thames.

for a certain side

(left, right)

on the table
on the left

for a floor in a
house

on the first floor

for public
transport

by, next
to,
beside

in the book

picture, world

place where you

are to do
something typical
(watch a film,
study, work)
on

Example

on the bus, on a
plane

for television, radio

on TV, on the
radio

left or right of
somebody or
something

Jane is standing
by / next to /
beside the car.

on the ground,
lower than (or
covered by)
something else

the bag is under

the table

below

over

lower than
something else
but above ground

the fish are below

the surface

covered by
something else

put a jacket over

your shirt

meaning more
than

over 16 years of
age

getting to the
other side (also
across)

walk over the

bridge

overcoming an
obstacle

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)

walk across the

bridge

getting to the
other side
through

to

swim across the

lake

something with
limits on top,
bottom and the
sides

drive through the

tunnel

movement to
person or building

go to the cinema

movement to a
place or country
for bed

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

in the sense of
where from

a flower from the

garden

Other important Prepositions

English

Usage

from

who gave it

a present from Jane

who/what does it
belong to

a page of the book

of

what does it show

Example

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 vehicle

get on the bus

in

entering a car /
Taxi

get in the car

off

leaving a public

get off the train

transport vehicle
out
of

leaving a car / Taxi

get out of the taxi

by

rise or fall of
something

prices have risen

by 10 percent

travelling (other
than walking or
horseriding)

by car, by bus

for age

she learned
Russian at 45

for topics, meaning

what about

we were talking
about you

at
about

Exercises on Prepositions
Exercise on Prepositions Place 1 (/en/cramup/grammar/prepositions/exercises?07)
Exercise on Prepositions Place 2 (/en/cramup/grammar/prepositions/exercises?08)
Exercise on Prepositions Place 3 (/en/cramup/grammar/prepositions/exercises?09)
Exercise on Prepositions Place 4 (/en/cramup/grammar/prepositions/exercises?10)
Exercise on Prepositions Place 5 (/en/cramup/grammar/prepositions/exercises)
Exercise on Prepositions Time 1 (/en/cramup/grammar/prepositions/exercises?02)
Exercise on Prepositions Time 2 (/en/cramup/grammar/prepositions/exercises?18)
Exercise on Prepositions since and for (/en/cramup/vocabulary/since-for)
See also: Date (/en/cram-up/vocabulary/date) and
Time (/en/cram-up/vocabulary/time)
Exercise on Prepositions Buses (/en/cramup/grammar/prepositions/exercises?11)
Exercise on Prepositions A picture (/en/cramup/grammar/prepositions/exercises?12)
Exercise on Prepositions A photograph (/en/cramup/grammar/prepositions/exercises?13)
Exercise on Prepositions The Wampanoag (/en/cramup/grammar/prepositions/exercises?06)
Exercise on Prepositions George Washington
(/en/cram-up/grammar/prepositions/exercises?14)
Exercise on Prepositions Henry Ford (/en/cramup/grammar/prepositions/exercises?15)
Exercise on Prepositions McDonalds (/en/cramup/grammar/prepositions/exercises?16)
Exercise on Prepositions Uluru (/en/cramup/grammar/prepositions/exercises?17)

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