PREPOSITIONS

Prepositions
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 adictionary, reading a lot in
English (literature) and learning useful phrases off by heart (study tips).

PREPOSITIONS OF TIME
English
on
in

Usage

Example

days of the week

months / seasons
time of day
year
after a certain period of time(when?)

on Monday
in August / in winter
in the morning
in 2006
in an hour

since

fornight
forweekend
a certain point of time(when?)
from a certain point of time (past till now)

at night
at the weekend
at half past nine
since 1980

for

over a certain period of time (past till now)

for 2 years

a certain time in the past

earlier than a certain point of time

2 years ago
before 2004

at

ago
before

to
telling the time
past
telling the time
to/ till/ marking the beginning and end of a period of time
until

ten to six (5:50)

ten past six (6:10)
from Monday to/till Friday

till/ until in the sense ofhow long something is going to last

He is on holiday until Friday.

by

in the sense ofat the latest

up to a certain time

I will be back by 6 oclock.

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

IN, AT, ON

PREPOSITIONS OF PLACE
In front of
A band plays their musicin front ofan audience.
The teacher standsin front ofthe students.
The man standing in the linein front ofme smells bad.
Teenagers normally squeeze their zitsin front ofa
mirror.

Behind
Behindis the opposite ofIn front of.It means at the
back (part) of something.
When the teacher writes on the whiteboard, the
students arebehindhim (or her).
Who is that personbehindthe mask?
I slowly down because there was a police
carbehindme.

Between
Betweennormally refers to something in the middle of
two objects or things (or places).
There are mountainsbetweenChile and Argentina.
The number 5 isbetweenthe number 4 and 6.
There is a sea (The English Channel)betweenEngland
and France.

Across From / Opposite

Across fromandOppositemean the same thing. It
usually refers to something being in front of something
else BUT there is normally something between them like
a street or table. It is similar to saying that someone (or
a place) is on the other side of something.
I liveacross froma supermarket (= it is on the other
side of the road)
The chess players satoppositeeach other before they
began their game.
(= They are in front of each other and there is a table
between them)

Next to / Beside
Next toandBesidemean the same thing. It usually
refers to a thing (or person) that is at the side of
another thing.
At a wedding, the bride standsnext tothe groom.
Guards standnext tothe entrance of the bank.
He walkedbesideme as we went down the street.
In this part of town there isn't a footpathbesidethe
road so you have to be careful.

On
Onmeans that something is in a position that is
physically touching, covering or attached to something.
The clockonthe wall is slow.
He put the foodonthe table.
I can see a spideronthe ceiling.
We were told not to walkonthe grass.

Above / Over
AboveandOverhave a similar meaning. The both mean "at a higher position
than X" butabovenormally refers to being directly (vertically) above you.
Planes normally flyabovethe clouds.
There is a ceilingaboveyou.
There is a haloovermy head. ;)
We put a sun umbrellaoverthe table so we wouldn't get so hot.
Our neighbors in the apartmentaboveus are rally noisy.
Overcan also mean: physically covering the surface of something and is often
used with the wordAllas inAll over.
There waterall overthe floor.
I accidentally spilled red wineall overthe new carpet.
Overis often used as a Preposition of Movement too.

Under / Below
UnderandBelowhave a similar meaning. They mean at a lower level.
(Something is above it).
Your legs areunderthe table.
Monsters liveunderyour bed.
A river flowsundera bridge.
How long can you stayunderthe water?
Miners workbelowthe surface of the Earth.
Sometimes we use the wordunderneathinstead
ofunderandbeneathinstead ofbelow. There is no difference in meaning
those they are less common nowadays.
Underis often used as a Preposition of Movement too.

drawings

THE BALL IS