Prepositions

Before you start

1 Read the ema il. look at the highlighted
grammar examples.

,,,

Hi guys
Well, my gap year has started I We landed in Nepal
a few days ago after a long journey. I couldn't
sleep at all during the flight be<ause I was so excited! We flew over the Himalayas - that
was just so beautiful. When we arrived, we went by bus to Chautara and we had to do
the last part of the journey to this village on horses, would you believe? It's miles from
anywhere. And it's freezing at night - the days are pleasant but I can only keep warm at
night by wrapping up in clothes and getting under about fifteen blankets!
As you know, we're here to build a school for the community. An of our group are
involved in the building work except me and Fran - we're lucky; we're working as the
group cooks, so the others have to do the hard world We're going to be here until about
mid-November - the building will take at least two months - then we're moving south to
India, before it gets too cold ...

2 Now read the sentences and choose the correct words in italics. The highlighted grammar
examples will help you .
I You can register for the expedition by complete I completillg a fo rm o nli nc. ,.. Unit 14
2 We arrived ;'I ! at C rete in t he m idd le of the night . ,.. Unit 14
3 The eat's below / I/Iuler the blan ket - he always hides the re! ,.. Unit 14
4 We have to Oy IlIrolls l l / over t he Andes when we come back. ,.. Un it 15
S I was readi ng during I (or the journey so I didn 't see m uch o f t he scenery. ,.. Unit 16
6 I'd li ke to stay in th is job by / l/lItil the end of t he year. ,.. Unit 16
7 Wc prefer to t ravel by I wit/I train - it's more comfo rtab le than flyi n g. ,.. Unit 17
8 Soph ie worked like / liS a french teach er when she came to London. ,.. Unit 17
9 I en joy all Coldplay's music besides / except th eir fi rst CD. "' Unit17
10 Mum 's going to pay me at feast / at fast £50.00 if I paint my room! ,.. Unit 18

3 Check your answ ers below. Then go to the unit for more information and practice.

Jseal le Ol lda.)xa 6 se S ,(q L I!~ un 9

2u!Jnp ~ l;}I\O t lapu n £: U! l 8U!laldw o.) 1

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14 General form and use;
prepositions of place
1 Form
Prepositions arc usua lly onc word, but some have two o r mo re words:
for by with ~jnst towards
apart from because of due to out of away from nexf fa
~ .lIl:.l!tl' of in front of by means of in ~ite of
They are usua ll y followed by a noun or a pronoun:
Wait for me at tile bus stop. I've had a terrible day. Let me tell YO" about it.
If we use a verb after a preposition, we use th e -;ng form:
YOII call lose we;gltt by ealing less and doing more exercise.
Marilytl got tile job ill spite orbe;"g late for tile illterview.
We can use some prepositions o n their own, as adverbs:
! (lson hasn 't {il1islled /';S work. He seems to be (a//iug behind.
Have YOIl bee/l here before?
We can put prepositions at the end o f questions and relative clauses:
Wlw are YOlllookillg at? This is Reeky - slle's the girl I used to share (I {lat with.
Wh- questions + prepositions ~ Unit 62.3 Prepositions in relative ctauses ~ Unit 72.4
For a f ull list of common prepositions ,.. page 338-9

2 Use
Prepositions show relatio nships (of place, time, etc.) between the parts o f a sentence:
place That's my bike - the one a9.ainst the wall.
movement Go across the bridge and into the station.
time My grandfather was in hospital during the fast days of the war.
means You can contact us by phone or email.
instrument Please complete the form with a black pen.
purpose These little hooks are used for hanging pictures on the wall.

3 Preposit ions of place: in, on, at

Prepositio ns o f p lace describe where o ne person o r thing is in relation to another:
YOllr ward , is ill the drawer. The keys (Ire ill tile car.
(+ town/cou ntry) ;" Wa rsaw/ Poland; p(w /'s in Japa n on business.
ill prison/hospital; ill the IIf"1l/spaper/a book

YOllr w(/tcll is 011 ti,e table. My office is 011 the third floor.
Lour/all is a ll the River Thames.
Oil the floor/ wall/ceiling; Oil the leftlrigllt;
atl pC
lge 20; atl a tm iIJlbus/plane (bu t in a car)
We use at to describe the exact or approximate positio n o f something:
It's at fI ,e elld of llle car park. Tile traill stops at Presto/!. Can we sit td Cl window table?
at ti,e top/boltom/end of ... ; at a wedding/collcert/meeting; at tile office/s tatio1l/ airport
We can use at or in with buildin gs, but th e meanin g is d iffere nt. Co mpare:
"m
I call 't talk. at the ci" ema. (I'm watching / going to watch a fi lm .)
I'", wailing fur Karen i" tile cinem a. (I' m inside the building.)

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4 under, below, over, above, on top of

under in a lower position The documents that file on

(close or touching) Put the rubbish in the bin under the sink.

be/{)w
<> in a lower position Arianne INe in the apartment below me.

0"''' • in a higher position

(close or touching)
We have a big cupboard below the stairs .

The sign over the door said 'entrance'.

Put covers over the fumiture before you paint the room.

abo""
• in a higher position There's a helicopter flying round above the school.
The dentist'S is above the bank.
<3>
on top of in a higher position, Can you get my bag, please? It's on top of the wardrobe.
touching

5 next to, by, beside, near

We use next to, by and beside to say th at somethi.ng is close:
Tile keys tire n ext to/byibeside my bag, ;n the living room.
1'(1 love to live by/beside/next to the sea.
Near means ' not very far away'. Compare:
It's IIseful to live nellr an airport but I don 't want to live n ext to one as the lIoise would be awful.
A We usually use near with towns or cities, not next to, by or beside:
,,~t 16fb,~4Jeside !sltmblll. ,/ Em;" lives n ear Istanbul.
1 En/in U.oes

6 in front of, opposite

loo/me always sits ill f ront of SimOlle ill c/(lSS, (lml she a/ways sits opposite her (It IIII/ch.

IJOANNE I

7 between and among

The prepositions between and among have d ifferent meanings .
• 8etwem means 'with one or more people/ob jects o n eit her side' .
• Among means 'su rrounded by more than two people or objects'.

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14 PREPOSITIONS OF PLACE
Practice
1 Underline the preposition in each sentence, then choose the correct word in italics to show
the type of preposition .
0 Can you meet me in front of the snack bar later? ep/acf)! time
1 Can you meet me at ha lf-past eight? place / time
2 Can you get the spoons ou t of the d rawer, please? place / movelllCII/
3 They've been making ca rs for more than seventy years. purpose / time
4 Joanna is moving away frOIll home next year. meallS / movemellt
5 Yo u can contact us by ema il or text message. me(IIIS / purpose
6 Use a sharper knife fo r cutt ing meat. time / purpost'
7 The door can only be opened with a specia l key. purpose / instrument
8 The refugees escaped by using false pass ports. meallS / movemellt

2 Write a sentence about each picture. using the words and phrases below and a preposition
from the box. Use the past simple tense. ctIID Listen and check.
0 1 2
I .

. . II-~
.....
'.
.' /' ­
,
.. .
:\.;:,.... ~ 1 ~ - . "
3 4 5

6 7 8

above among at between in in fro nt of 6ft o pposite under

o Dana and Leona / meet I a plane

I Derek I wait / Ihe bus SlOp / fo r hours
2 I /leave I my coat / the car I last night
3 the cat I often sleep I the duvet
4 they ! Iive ! the greengrocer's
5 LOTi ! live I the greengrocer's
6 we I park / the car / the cinema
7 the girls I have / a picnic I pine trees
8 Jacob I always / sil l the two girls

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3 Nine friends are ta king a flight together to Stockholm. Read the sente nces and write the
names of the people by the correct seat numbers.

la ................... lb ................... l c .................. .

2a ............ ....... 2b l.e¥L 2c .................. .

3a .... ............. 3b ............ 3c .................. .

• j ack and his wife, j ane, arc sitting in the fro nt row. jane hates flyi n g and never sits by the
window. She's sitting bet ween her sister, Ella, who loves looking out of the wi ndow, and
h er husband.
• Marga is sitting in row 3, between two other members of t he group.
• Len is sitting in the cen tre seat of the second row - he's fl yin g ho me to Sweden to
celebrate his birthday, with his wife, Anna, who is sitting next to him .
• Steph is sitting in fron t of her husband, Vince, who always wan ts an aisle scat because of
his lo ng legs .
• Nils is al so fro m Sweden. He's ten 's brother-in-law. NUs' sister is sitting in fro nt of h im.

4 Read the text and choose the correct answer, A. B or C below.

Cllllll listen a nd check.

The Amanjena Hotel is one of the finest luxury hotels

(0) .. _..... Morocco. Situat ed in beautiful grounds (1) _...,.. the
fasci nating town of Marrakech, it is easy to get to. The standard
rooms are all individual buildings and are all situated (2) __ _
palm trees and mature olive trees.
(3) .•....•. each comfortable room there is a king-sized bed as
well as a mini-bar. CD player. TV and DVD. There is also a small private garden WIth a fountain
(4) ....,. __ each room, where guest s can relax. Breakfast is served each morning (5) .......... the
swimming pool. and guests can have dinner (6) .......... one of the hoters two restaurants -
serving Moroccan and international food . For those who want to shop, art. jewellery and
handmade gifts are available (7) .......... the three shops within the hotel complex, and there is a
wide variety of shops (8) _........ nearby Marrakech.

0 A at B by ©i n 5 A in B over C by
I A near B at C next to 6 A at B opposite C between
2 A amo ng B in C between 7 A next to B in fronl o f C al
3 AAt B In COn 8 A in B near C o n to p of
4 A in fro nt of B in C at

5 Write about your bedroom. using the phrases in brackets to help you.
o (next to my bed) .~. ~ ../#~.~.!.~.I?I.~...,.~ .~..!~!:'~,:I'. . ~~. }~.. ~y.. k~:(
1 (next 10 my bed)
2 (under Ihe bed)
3 (on the wa lls)
4 (on top of the wardrobe)
5 (opposite t he bedroom window)

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15 Prepositions of
movement

can come off the motorway

here and drive along this Toad
into the town centre,

1 into, out of, onto, off

IlIto describes movem ent to the inside o f something:
It's millillg. Let's go into the IlOlIse /IOW.
We call drive ;IItO tile town centre this way.
Ollt ofis the opposite of into:
Call YO" get my sllOes (Jut of tile wardrobe?
Open the door mullet me Ollt of tltis rool1l immediately!

Ollto expresses movement to a surface or ' line' :

Tile cat ;w1Ipcd onto tile wall.
I thillk we sllOlIld get onto tile motorway here.

Off is the o pposite of onto:

The cat jumped off 1I1e wall.
Let's get off a,e motonvay alltl get sOllletllillg to ear.

A You may heaT English speakers using off o( rather than off, but many people think this is
incorrect: 11 Please gel off of tlte gUl5s. 1 ./ Please get off ti,e guus.
We get it/t% ut ofa ca r or taxi, but oll{to)/offa bus, plane, train , ship, bike:
Come all - jump i"to tile car. We're late. I got off the tmill tit the last stol).

2 along, past, through

We use almlg when we follow the length of something (e.g. a path, a river, a road):
We call IIrh'e (l lollg the Rltille to till.' SOl/tll of Germany.
Walk alollS the path by tile river - it's very pretty.
We use past when we go up to someth ing and then we pass it. We often use this with shops
and buildings: Go pas t ti,e post office and rile booksilop is 0/1 yOllr left.
We use throllS" wh en we go from onc side o f something to t he other side. We often use this
with countries, o pen space, enclosed tunnels, etc. We'll drive th rough Switzerland.
Go lllrollgll tile mail/ el/tral/ce. I like to walk tl"ougll tlte park Ofl my way to work.

3 across, over
Across and over both Illean ' from o ne side to the other':
Walk across/over tile first bridge. We'll drive across/over ti,e Alps.
But we use over when we are not d irectly touching the surface we are crossing:
XThe h8fSe jumped RCI'8SS the fellce . ./ Tile Iwrse jumped over tile (ellce.

4 at, to
We usually use to to show d irection: Go to the ballk {IlIfi hIm rigllt. Give the book to /amie.
With some verbs (e.g. throw, ShOllt, poi"t), we can use to and Clt, but there is a d ifference in
meaning:
TlrrQw those keys to me, wiff YO II? Jlleed to lock tile rloor. (I want the keys.)
Site was so ll/tSry, sire threw the keys (It me. (to try and hit me)

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 Practice
1 Read the letter and choose the correct underlined words.
CIIID listen and check .

OK'" cytli"!;9 h4lid/ify in. t~ ukL Di.rtric.t WI/S -'reAt, thaltkt. Wc. Had OJoK. f"CAI'Illy lovely allY
whut we 'ydeJ (0) ~ /~ thG Hem/Jowtt PriUS (1) ~ / at. tlu. little vilU:!je of 600t,
t~ we ww 0-) ~ / Jli!,ll. tlte. Rivu Esk for 1/ wHile,3D1"19 (3) !!fUU / ~ .fO~
UJvely little brii,!u. We wtJ1t (4) ~ / I!!1lt tlte. pretty vi1~e of E.rk..J",/e Grw1.- j!f11A ,ytId
"Il tlu. """y to ~veJ13I".u. 011. tlte UJlJut. It's '" 1.0113 wl'Iy. Jil We wt¥tJ; (5) Mti / .illM 1/ rutUy
~e /wtd for '!fterndOI1. t~, tlfH.4 tkm pKt thL biku (ro) ~ / ~ the little t~il1. tlutt
,Jot..! btlftk. up to 600t.

2 Find five more mistakes with prepositions and correct them. Tick (.I) the correct sentences.
CI1iIBIiI li5te n and check.
ou.t of
o I'll tu rn tile TV on . Can you get the DVD oot thc case?
Wc new across the Andes when we went fro m Argentina to Chile.
2 We' re late! Hurry up and get onto the taxi.
3 Mike always ru ns along t he canal path for hal f an hour every morning.
4 The bridge that goes through the railway line is in danger o f collapsing .
.5 Don't throw stones to the cat - you'll hurt her.
6 To get to the station from here, go along the school and turn left.
3 Look at the map of London Zoo and complete the directions with one
word in each gap. You are at the Snowdon Aviary.

• ere . . . .
...... Owls

Library

• •
GIft Shop

Excuse me, 1I0w (10 I gel to ...

o tile Oasis C(lte? Go . ~!~.':!9.......... t he ca nal , .P.f!I.#............ the owls and lovebirds, turn righ t,
go J.~.~h-...... the tunnel. The Oasis Ca fe is on the right.
the woodland walk? Turn right and go ............ the bridge, then turn left and walk
............... the canal.
2 tile gift sl/OI'? Go straight on ... .......... the owls and the lovebirds, turn right and go
.............. the canal, then go .. ... th e tunnel under the road. It's 011 the left .
3 tile entrance? Turn right and go . .. the canal, go ........ ,.......... the Africa section
and go ................... the tunnel .................. the information kiosk. Then turn left.
4 ti,e nearest toilets? Go ........ .. the ca nal and go right ................. .. the bridge.
Go .................. t he libra ry, ................... the tunnel and then go ................... the cafe.
The toilets are inside the cafe on the left.

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