What is a Preposition?

A preposition is a word which connects two words by showing their relationship. Prepositions can show a number of relationships such as time, location,
direction, means, agent, purpose, etc.

Prepositions can also connect words without showing a specific meaning like the ones mentioned above (Example: In retrospect, under surveillance, at
stake ). In this case you must learn and memorize the different combinations.

Prepositions of TIME

Prepositions Meaning Examples

On Monday, on September 23rd
ON days and dates

In the morning, in the afternoon, in the evening

(exception: AT night)
For parts of the day, months, In December
IN
years and seasons, certain In 1997
expressions In winter
we didn't go in the end

At three oclock, at noon, at night, atmidnight

AT to express the time something
At last, at the most
happens, and certain expressions

Ive worked here for two years

Complete periods of time
FOR/DURING I heard noises during the night
Within complete periods of time

To mark the beginning of a

Since 1950
SINCE period of time with reference to
the present
You must finish the report by 5 oclock on
BY To mark the end of a time limit Tuesday

I work from 9 to 5, Monday to Friday

FROMTO I work from 9 to 5, Monday until Friday
To mark the beginning and the
FROMUNTIL/
end of a period I work from 9 to 5, Monday throughFriday
THROUGH

Prepositions of LOCATION
Prepositions Meaning Examples
The plate is on the table
ON To be on a surface

To be within physical limits

The monkey's in/inside the cage,
IN/INSIDE
he'sinside the shop
IN

At the theatre, at the

To be in a particular place in cinema, atschool. He is at the
AT
respect of an object of reference traffic lights

The aeroplane is flying over the

city
To be in a higher position in
ABOVE/OVER The poster is on the wall above the
relation to something else
desk

The shoes are under the bed

The shoes are underneath the bed
UNDER /UNDERNEATH To be in a lower position in relation
The shoes are below the bed
/BELOW /BENEATH to something else
The shoes are beneath the bed

My school is near my home

NEAR in proximity to, be close to

I live by the river

directly touching or almost My school is by my home
BY /NEXT TO
touching My school is next to my home

The petrol station is opposite the

OPPOSITE To be directly in front but facing post office

At the beginning of something,

IN FRONT OF ahead of, leading, often
means opposite John was in front of me in the queue

My house is between the pharmacy

To be in the middle of two objects
BETWEEN and the supermarket
or people

I could hardly see Mary among all

To be in the middle of three or
AMONG those people
more objects or people

Prepositions of DIRECTION

Preposition Meaning Examples

s
The cat jumped onto the table
ONTO To be placed on a surface

I go to school every morning

TO To go to (and arrive at) a place

I saw Dan going towards the

TOWARDS indicate the direction of (but not necessarily arrive at) cinema

Please put the food into the bag

INTO To be placed inside something carefully

I went around the world last year

To circle a place (building, field, etc.) to be here, there, My dog likes running aroundthe
AROUND
and everywhere park

The boy climbed down from the

DOWN Going increasingly lower tree

The boy climbed up the tree

UP Going increasingly higher

Ive just come from work

FROM indicating starting point

The train went through the tunnel

THROUGH Going directly into and out of a place

Prepositions of MEANS, AGENT and PURPOSE

Type of
Prepositions Meaning Examples
preposition

I like to travel by car

Means BY a way of travelling
 He painted the house with an electric
instrument or tool used to do
Means WITH roller
something

The book was written by a

person or thing who does the
Agent BY psychologist
action

I brought my books to study

Purpose TO the objective of an action

This pen is special for writing

Purpose FOR having a particular function calligraphy

Prepositions not related to the above

Preposition Meaning Example

As far as I know, no decision has
AS FAR AS to the extent been made
AS FOR as regards As for you, I'll deal with you later!
AS WELL AS also Bring an umbrella as wellas a raincoat

I keep him at a distance

Can you do two things at a time?
AT A DISTANCE She has to be able to travel at a
AT A TIME far off moments notice
AT A MOMENTS at the same moment
He feels at ease in their company
NOTICE without any warning
AT EASE in a relaxed manner Are you at home?
AT HOME in your house Nocturnal creatures come out at night
AT NIGHT during night hours The sun is directly overhead at noon
AT NOON at 12:00 PM We aren't hiring at present
AT PRESENT now
AT SEA on the ocean The fishermen are at sea
AT STAKE in jeopardy There's a lot of money at stake here
AT THE LATEST no later than Turn in the report on Friday at the
AT THE SAME happening at once latest
TIME at the peak of
AT THE TOP OF They arrived at the same time
sometimes
AT TIMES in the place of work She's at the top of her sports career
AT WORK At times I feel like quitting my job
John's at work

Were behind schedule. We should be sitting

BEHIND SCHEDULE delayed down to lunch now

not intentional I'm sorry. I dropped it by accident

BY ACCIDENT arriving in an The goods are arriving by sea
 airplane / ship / land
BY AIR / SEA /
vehicle
LAND
a family right The title is his by birth
BY BIRTH
without previous Do you by chance have a pen?
BY CHANCE
planning Can I pay by cheque?
BY CHEQUE
payment made with a We met by coincidence
BY COINCIDENCE
written order to a bank They ruled by force
BY FORCE
concurrence of events The sweater was made by hand
BY HAND
using physical strength Can you recite the poem by heart?
BY HEART
not made by machine She got the job by means of family connections
BY MEANS OF I took his suitcase by mistake
from memory
BY MISTAKE The question took me by surprise
through this method
BY SURPRISE There's a fruit stand by the side of the road
due to an error
BY THE SIDE OF
not expected
next to

He resigned for a reason

They were happy for a while
FOR A REASON justifiably
I haven't seen you for ages!
FOR A WHILE during a time
Bob, for example, is a vegan
FOR AGES in a long time
The experience frightened me awayfor
FOR EXAMPLE here is a typical case
good
FOR GOOD forever
Is that boat for hire?
FOR HIRE to rent
Geese mate for life
FOR LIFE forever
That house is for sale
FOR SALE offered for purchase

in an even worse
FROM BAD TO
state Things are going from bad to worse
WORSE
without reading He recited the poem from memory
FROM MEMORY
FROM MY POINT from a personal From my point of view, that's the best
perspective choice
OF VIEW
FROM NOW ON after this point in time From now on you report to me
after a point in time in From then on we didn't speak
FROM THEN ON
the past

THE END OF And that's the end of the story!

SOMETHING
the final part

The politician made the commentoff the record

OFF THE RECORD not for publication

ON A REGULAR systematically We see each other on a regular basis

BASIS because of We couldnt go to the beach on
ON ACCOUNT OF located somewhere in
account of the bad weather
ON AN ISLAND the general surface
ON BAIL area of the island They live on an island off the coast
ON BEHALF OF to be released after of Scotland
ON BOARD having deposited The suspect is out on bail
ON CREDIT money with the We made a donation to the charityon
ON EDGE authorities behalf of your mother
The passengers are on board the
 in representation of
on a ship or in an
aircraft
aircraft
They bought the furniture on credit
with an arrangement
Hes been on edge a lot lately
to pay later
We came on foot
nervous
ON FOOT Shes on good terms with her ex-
walking
ON GOOD TERMS husband
to have a good
ON LEAVE Shes on maternity leave until the first
relationship with
ON LOAN of the year
an absence from work
ON ONES SIDE The painting is on loan from the Prado
temporarily lent
ON PAPER He has time on his side
something is operating
ON PATROL You need to get the agreement on
to one's advantage
ON SABBATICAL paper
in written form
ON THE ROAD Officers Cain and Jenkins are on patrol
cruising, usually used
ON TOP OF Professor Hays is on sabbatical this
in reference to the
year
police
The band is on the road this summer
a leave of absence in
On top of everything else, they expect
the academic world
me to teach chemistry this term!
travelling
in addition to

having difficulty
breathing, usually
due to physical
exertion
He was out of breath after
without surrounding
running up five flights of stairs
words or
The senator's aides say that his words
OUT OF BREATH circumstances and
were taken out of context
OUT OF CONTEXT therefore not fully
The fire has spread and it's out of
OUT OF CONTROL understandable
control
OUT OF no longer possible to
Out of curiosity, why did you say that?
CURIOSITY manage
I don't know what to do; I'm freshout of
OUT OF IDEAS due to a strong desire
ideas!
OUT OF ONES to know something
You're out of your mind if you think
MIND with no thoughts or
you can borrow my Lamborghini!
OUT OF ORDER suggestions
The lift is out of order. Youll have to
OUT OF PLACE having lost control of
take the stairs
one's mental faculties
He felt out of place there with so many
not working, usually
wealthy people
used with machines
disarranged; in a
setting where one feels
inappropriate

He will help you to an extent, but you must do

TO AN EXTENT to a certain degree most of the work
TO DATE until now This has been our most successful
year to date

UNDER ARREST taking someone into

UNDER ATTACK custody
UNDER being assaulted
CONSTRUCTION the building of
UNDER CONTROL something
UNDER being dealt with
 successfully and
GUARANTEE competently
UNDER written assurance that
INVESTIGATION a product will be
UNDER LOCK AND repaired or replaced
KEY being investigated
UNDER NO secure
OBLIGATION not being morally or
UNDER legally bound to
OBLIGATION something
UNDER OATH being morally or
UNDER ONES legally bound to
PROTECTION something
UNDER PRESSURE officially sworn in
UNDER THE being protected
CIRCUMSTANCES stressful urgency
UNDER THE given the (difficult)
IMPRESSION nature of the situation
UNDER THE believing, often
INFLUENCE mistakenly or with
UNDER little evidence
SURVEILLANCE having an effect on
someone