Prepositions

Prepositions are words that link nouns, pronouns, and phrases to other words in a sentence. You can think of prepositions as an unassuming, short words that are essential part of a sentence and They can express position, movement, time and how an action is completed.

USE OF PREPOSITIONS

In affirmative sentences prepositions normally come before a noun (or gerund) or a pronoun. (She is always on time; She is good at singing, You can rely on me.)

In cleft sentences (1) (the subject is emphasized by putting in a separate clause) or in some passive structures (2) the preposition is at the end position. Study the following sentences:

(1) That is the man I was talking to.
(1) She is the girl I am dreaming about.
(1) He is not a person you can relay on.

(2) I hate being laugh at.
(2) Small children like being read to.
(2) The kitten likes being played with.

Prepositions often come at the end of questions. Structures such as With who…? or For what…? are unusual and very formal. Instead we use Who….with? or What… for? etc.

Who did you go with?
Who is this gift for?
I really worried. What about? Everything.
Jenny’s got engaged. Who to?
What was the meeting about?
Who was it written by?
What are you laughing at?

Normally prepositions are not interchangeable and different prepositions carry different meanings. For example, we use ‘on the picture’ when there’s something physically on the surface of the picture, and ‘in the picture’ when we talk about its content. Some verbs might be even trickier; THINK and POSTPONE can take multiple prepositions with different shades of meaning. Study the following examples:

There is a scratch on this photo. Can you retouch it digitally? (a surface damage)
Who is this young guy in this photo? Is it your brother when he was 10? (talking about the photo)
What do you think of Suzy? Is she good enough? (to have an opinion about sb/smt)
I was thinking about Suzy the whole day. I fell for her. (to remember or imagine sb/smt)
I need some time to think over your proposal. (to consider an idea carefully)
Let’s postpone the meeting by 15 minutes. I have to make an urgent call.
Let’s postpone the meeting to Friday. Something has come up.
Let’s postpone the meeting for a few days until I feel somewhat better.
Let’s postpone the meeting until he comes back.

TYPE OF PREPOSITIONS

1

PREPOSITIONS OF TIME

Prepositions of time tell us when something happened, happens or will happen. The most common ones are: at, on, in, before, after, during, by, form, to, until

The train arrived at the station exactly at midnight.
At the moment, there is nothing we can do.
The meeting starts at 6PM. Be on time!
I was born on 10th December, 1970.
I will throw a huge party on Saturday evening.
On that day, everything changed in her life.
The heat starts becoming unbearable in summer.
In the morning I start my day with a cup of coffee.
The sales decreased significantly in January.
Success comes before work only in dictionaries.
Before leaving, she checked the oven once again.
After seeing her boyfriend walking hand in hand with that girl, Greta decided to leave John on the spot.
My grandfather worked hard throughout his life yet he achieved nothing.
I’ll be in the office till/until 5PM.
The store is open from 8AM to 8PM.
By tomorrow? No way, mate.

Will you be at home until or by 6PM?

Both. But they express very different meanings. Prepositions can be tricky sometimes and there is no use in translating them into your native language as it can be misleading.

I will be at home until 6PM. (I am at home now, but won’t be after 6PM)
I will be at home by 6PM. ( I am not at home now, but will be at 6PM, the latest.)
Do you think everything will be all right until he comes back?
Do you think we can finish it by the time he comes back?

2

PREPOSITIONS OF PLACE

To make the things even a bit complicated at, on, in are the most common prepositions of place too. However, their use follow more rigid rules compared to prepositions of time. Therefore,

at refers to a specific point in space
on tells us that something or somebody is on a horizontal or vertical surface
in refers to confined space or something that has (imaginary) boundaries.

Somebody is at the door;
He was standing at the bus stop, when the ambulance car hit the tree.
Look , there is a butterfly on his shoulder.
Darling, what’s on the menu today?
Is there anything interesting on TV tonight?
There is no beer left in the fridge.
Rex was lying peacefully in the kennel, paying no attention to the intruder.
Do you want to put all these blocks in the garden?

Other common preposition of place are as follows: behind, in front of, above, below, beneath, beyond, outside, between, among, next to etc.

Stand behind me, and wait as I do.
The sun was still below the horizon.
I’ll be waiting for you in front of the cinema.
Come here and sit next to me.
The gardener left the lawnmower between the shed and the garage.
The ground trembled beneath my feet as that heavy bookcase fell over.
You’re not allowed to go beyond the fence. That’s somebody else’s property.

Some of these prepositions can express idiomatic meaning.

Cleaning apartments was beneath her, but having no better option, she accepted the job.
The murderer will spend the rest of his life behind bars. (in the prison)
That was completely beyond belief. (hardly believable)
After the war people had next to nothing to eat. (very little)
This happened under strange circumstances.

Is Peter in the meeting or at the meeting? that’s the question

Well, to tell you the truth, he could be both in or at the meeting as these two phrases answer different questions.
The ‘in’ construction refers to the activity whereas the ‘at’ refers to the location. Study the following examples:

Q: Is Peter here? A: No, he’s at the meeting the whole day. (suggesting that the meeting is somewhere else)
Q: Can I talk to Peter? A: I’m afraid not. He is in the meeting with the French delegation. (he is probably at his place, but he is in the middle of the discussion)
Darling, I’m here in Dover at the meeting, we’re having a break until 2PM, and thought I would give you call.
Darling, can I call you back? I’m in the meeting with the government officials.

In some cases ‘at’ and ‘in’ overlap and have the same meaning. i.e. The children were playing at/in the park the whole day.
In general, as a rule of thumb, we can say that ‘at’ has a broader meaning while ‘in’ is more specific.

Are you at school or in school?

Each preposition expresses an idea. In general at school refers to a location i.e. ‘being at school’ just like being at work
while in school refers to ‘being a student’. Study the following sentences:

Jack hasn’t come back yet; I guess he’s still at school. (location)
Jack’s 18 but he doesn’t work; he’s still in school. (maybe he’s hanging out with his mates right now but he’s still a pupil)

3

PREPOSITIONS OF MOVEMENT

Prepositions of movement show how something or somebody moves from one place to another. They are usually used with verbs of motion (go, walk, jump, run, crawl, drive, fly etc.) and come after them.

Early in the morning Brenda and Mark set off to Germany. (in that direction)
The kitten was able to go across the road without being hit by a car. (from one side to another)
In his youth, Phil traveled across America.
The prisoners escaped by crawling through a hole they had been digging for months. (moving directly inside something and out the other end)
Dad drove the car into the garage. (moving inside of something)
The kitten jumped off the shed onto the roof of the car. (moving on the top of something)
We had a romantic walk along the beach. (moving parallel with something/from one end to the other end)
Kate leaned towards her boyfriend and asked if he loved her. (moving closer to something or somebody)

Other common prepositions of movements are: up, down, over, away, off, out of, under

All our plans went down the drain.
Please go away and leave me alone.
As the dog attacked the burglar, he had to jump over the garden fence and ran away.

At this point, it should come as no surprise that some of these preposition can also form established phrases with idiomatic meaning.

Some painkillers can be bought over the counter. (without visiting a doctor)
Wearing shorts and a T-shirt, I really felt out of place at the party. (not comfortable/not suitable for a situation)
With the sales decreasing 5% every month, they were going into the red.
He writes articles in the Guardian under the name of Pierrot de Carré. (using a pseudonym)

GO to, GO on or GO for?

Go – one of the most common verbs in English – is used with different prepositions; and it seems that there is no rule when we use ‘go to’ or ‘go to a’. Maybe, you’re right but that’s just the way it is. Study the following patterns and try to memorize them:

GO: (no preposition) home, downtown, abroad, north, online
GO to: work, prison, bed, church, school, sleep, college, Canada,
GO to a: meeting, concert, party
GO to the: airport, doctor’s, grandma’s, mall, post office, beach, park
GO on a: trip, vacation, date, holiday, cruise, your honeymoon
GO for: a swim, a drive, lunch, a rest
GO + gerund: swimming, fishing, running, shopping, dancing

4

COMPOUND PREPOSITIONS

A complex preposition is a group of words (such as “because of” or “in line with“) that functions like an ordinary one-word preposition. They can be divided into two groups:

1) two-word units consisting of a word + a preposition (due to, ahead of)
2) three(four) word-units, also known as a phrasal prepositions consisting of a preposition + (an article) noun + a preposition

according to, ahead of, apart from, as for, as regards, because of, contrary to, due to, except for, far from, in between

inside of, instead of, out of, owing to, prior to, regardless of, thanks to, up to, in spite of, at the expense of, as a result of

in accordance with, in connection with, in addition to, in line with, in exchange for, in reference to, in return for

in terms of, in favour of, on behalf of, with regard to, in search of , in case of, with the expectation of

DEPENDANT PREPOSITIONS

Prepositions are hard to guess in a foreign language. You have to master them and use them correctly. In English, some verbs, adjective and nouns prefer certain preposition (very often without any logical connection) and we call them dependent prepositions (they depend on the words after which they come).

1

VERBS WITH PEPOSITION

Some verbs take certain prepositions (i.e. depend on, listen to, look at etc.) before an object or another verb (gerund). These prepositions serve only grammatical purpose and do not change the meaning of the verb. Remember that preposition are always followed by a noun or by a gerund/gerund phrase. Below you can find three verbs that can take two prepositions with difference in meaning and often confuse English learners.

Do you arrive at or arrive in a place?

We use ‘arrive at’ for buildings, part of the buildings or events. However, if we want to say we come to a city, country or any larger geographical location we say ‘arrive in’. Bear in mind that ‘arrive to’ a place is a common mistake even among native speakers. Simply avoid using it.

Our team arrived at the Sydney airport after a 20-hour-flight.
When we arrived in Australia the locals and the kangaroos were waiting for us.
After a month we finally arrived home. (no preposition)

Is cheese made from or made of milk?

We use ‘made from’ when the material in subject turns into something else (changes its nature). On the other hand, we use ‘made of’ when the material doesn’t change during the process. Therefore:

Cheese is made from milk. (milk turns into cheese)
Wine is made from grapes. (grapes turn into wine)
Glass is made from sand.
The house is made of bricks. (the bricks don’t change their forms)
This table is made of white oak.
The necklace is made of silver.

think of or think about?

Frankly saying, I don’t think much of the new Tarantino movie. (to have an opinion about sb/smt)
I have never thought of moving to the US. (to take smt into account)
Can you think of any word that begins with an ‘X’? (to choose quickly)
I was thinking about Suzy the whole day. I fell for her. (to imagine sb/smt)
You look worried. What are you thinking about? (to spend more time considering the situation)

dream of or dream about

I’m dreaming of having my own company and making a lot of money.
Stop dreaming of becoming a famous movie star.
Last night I dreamt about a very strange girl who had purple hair and could fly.

Study the table below. There can sometimes be a pattern in deciding which prepositions go with certain verbs. i.e. verbs of similar meaning take same prepositions – glance/look/stare/wink AT, prevent/rescue/save FROM or speak/talk/turn/reply TO.

ABOUT
argue about
ask about
be about
boast about
care about
decide about
dream about
forget about
know about
laugh about
forget about

AT
aim at
arrive at
glance at
laugh at
look at
point at
smile at
stare at
wink at

FOR
apologize for
apply for
ask for
blame for
care for
head for
pay for
prepare for
search for
wait for
wish for
work for

FROM
borrow from
escape from
graduate from
hide from
prevent from
protect from
recover from
rescue from
retire from
save from
suffer from

IN
arrive in
believe in
invest in
involve in
participate in
result in
specialize in
succeed in
trust in

ON
agree on
base on
blame on
comment on
concentrate on
depend on
impose on
insist on
play on
rely on
work on

TO
add to
apologize to
belong to
devote to
happen to
listen to
object to
refer to
reply to
speak to
talk to
turn to

WITH
agree with
associate with
begin with
charge with
collide with
compare with
confront with
confuse with
cover with
deal with
help with
tamper with

2

ADJECTIVES WITH PEPOSITION

There are many cases in which adjectives are coupled with prepositions to complete the ideas or emotions that the adjective describe. The preposition always comes after the adjective and is followed by a noun or a gerund. Unfortunately, there is no certain rule how to combine adjectives and prepositions; the more you read and listen to native speakers the sooner you become familiar with them. Below you can find a table of some common word combination you may come across in everyday written or spoken English.

She is good at making delicious pancakes. (to have experience or ability)
Eating little meat is good for your health. (to have beneficial effect)
She is good with disabled children. (get on well)
Cheddar cheese is good on toast. (go well together)
She is so good in bed. (does it need any clarification?)

‘amazed at’ or ‘amazed by‘ ?
The standard usage is ‘amazed by’ but lately both forms have become acceptable. ‘Amazed by’ usually refers to a person and ‘amazed at’ to a non-living thing or person’s attribute. I some cases both prepositions sound natural. Study the following examples:

The judges were amazed by the six-year-old boy, who played the piano like a virtuoso.
I was amazed at the sheer size of the house she lived in.
The audience was amazed by/at his debut performance at the National Theater.

‘independent of’ or ‘independent from’?

Two teams of scientists were totally independent of each other, yet they came to very same conclusion.
Independent of how you feel, I’m not going to take part in this.
India became independent from the United Kingdom in 1947.
She became financially independent from her parents at the age of 17.

AT
amazed at
angry at
annoyed at
bad at
disappointed at
excellent at
good at
hopeless at
skillful at
surprised at
terrible at

FOR
blamed for
famous for
grateful for
notorious for
prepared for
qualified for
ready for
renowned for
responsible for
suitable for
thankful for

OF
accused of
afraid of
ashamed of
aware of
capable of
guilty of
jealous of
proud of
scared of
typical of
independent of

IN
disappointed in
experienced in
interested in
polite in
successful in

BY
amazed by/at
crowded by/with
inspired by
shocked by

TO
attracted to
accustomed to
addicted to
allergic to
indifferent to
kind to
married to
related to
similar to
superior to

WITH
associated with
bored with
compatible with
crowded with/by
delighted with
disappointed with
fed up with
familiar with
pleased with
popular with
satisfied with

ABOUT
angry about
crazy about
excited about
furious about
nervous about
optimistic about
sad about
serious about
upset about
worried about

3

NOUNS WITH PEPOSITION

There are lots of nouns that take preposition to make their meanings more certain. Just as with verbs or adjectives, there is no particular rule which preposition normally follow the noun. There are more than one hundred prepositions in English and a few thousands of nouns, so it is unlikely that you will master all of them – and perhaps there is no need to do so – let’s practice only the most common ones.

‘experience in’ or ‘experience with’

The noun ‘experience’ can be used with different prepositions depending on the context. ‘Experience in’ is often used for things related to work or study when we gain experience by being involved in a certain field.
‘Experience with’ is often used when we gain experience by using something (a tool or a software) or by having physical contact:

Why did you apply for this position if you have no experience in sales and marketing at all?
We need a person who has experience in accounting.
Our team has a lot of experience in software development.
Our team has years of experience with CSS and JavaScript.
Do you have any experience with Microsoft Excel?
I have lots of experience (working) with heavy machinery.

Other uses of ‘experience’:

We’re looking for someone who has experience as a teacher.
Two weeks in Peru was an experience of a life time.
We have lot of experience on this matter.
In my experience, this job cannot be done in a week.

OF
advantage of
characteristic of
advantage of
experience of
intention of
fear of
lack of
opinion of
result of
smell of
taste of
use of
victims of

FOR
argument for
case for
cure for
demand for
desire for
hope for
need for
reason for
recipe for
respect for
room for
sympathy for

IN
growth in
increase in
decrease in
belief in
change in
difference in
experience in
success in

BETWEEN
bond between
connection between
difference between
link between
relationship between

TO
access to
addiction to
approach to
attitude to
invitation to
damage to
desire to
devotion to
reaction to
reason to
reference to
response to
solution to

WITH
argument with
experience with
concern with
contact with
difficulty with
meeting with
sympathy with

OVER
authority
control

ON
agreement on
congratulations on
information on
decision on
report on

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Passive
Conditionals
Adjectives
Adverbs
Prepositions

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