Prepositions

Money and Travel and Tourism

• She will arrive ____ 2 o'clock _____ Monday morning.
• ______ the past, I never played football, but I am playing it a lot ____the
moment.
• If you go out alone ____ night, you should carry a mobile phone with
you.
• The class starts ______ the afternoon ____ 2:30pm.
• I was ____ the train when I realized I should have been _____ a taxi.
Preposition
Prepositions are words used to connect nouns, pronouns and phrases
in any sentence. Usually, preposition indicates the relationship
between nouns that how they are connected to each other.
Common Prepositions
• aboard • beyond • inside • than
• about • but • into • through

• above • by • like • to
• across • concerning • minus • toward

• after • considering • near • towards

• against • despite • of • under

• along • down • off • underneath

• amid • during • on • unlike

• among • except • onto • until

• anti • excepting • opposite • up

• around • excluding • outside • upon

• as • following • over • versus

• at • for • past • via

• before • from • per • with

• behind • in • plus • within

• Below beneath • regarding • without

• beside • round
• besides • save

• between • since
Types of Prepositions
1. Preposition for Time (in, on, at)
IN
• Month or Year in January, in 1995
• Particular time of in morning, in first week of January, in summer
day/month/year
• Century/specific time in In 21st century, in stone age, in past, in future
the past
ON
• Day on Monday
• Date On 5th of March
• Particular day On Independence Day
AT
• Time of clock at 5 o’clock, at 7:30 PM
• Short and precise time at noon, at sunset, at bedtime, at the moment
Prepositions of Time
We use:
at for a PRECISE TIME
in for MONTHS, YEARS, CENTURIES and LONG
PERIODS
on for DAYS and DATES

• I have a meeting at 9am.

• The shop closes at midnight.
• In England, it often snows in December.
• Do you think we will go to Jupiter in the future?
• Her birthday is on 20 November.
• Where will you be on New Year's Day?
Examples
• He was born in 1945.
• She will go to New York on 25th of March.
• The concert will begin at 7 o’clock.
• He gets up early in the morning.
Exercise 1
Choose the correct preposition to complete the sentence.
1. We enjoyed a lot (in, on, at) the summer.
2. She received a lot gifts (in, on, at) her birthday.
3. Where were you (in, on, at) the lunchtime?
4. I will call you (in, on, at) 12 A.M
5. The president will deliver speech to public (in, on, at) Independence
Day.
2. Preposition for Place (in, on, at)
IN In school
Place Nature, Place having some boundary In a building
In library
In America
ON On a table
Surface of something On blackboard
On a map
On a page
AT At the entrance
Specific place At bus stop
At the edge of the roof
2. Prepositions for Place
Describes the position of a person or thing in relation to another
person or thing
There is a cup on the table.
The helicopter hovered above the house.
The police placed a sheet over the body.
He stood in front of the door.
Ram sat beside Tara.
A small stream runs below that bridge.
He put the key under the doormat.
He put his hands behind his back.
Examples
• She lives in New York.
• The wedding ceremony will be held in the hall.
• The teacher wrote a sentence on blackboard.
• His house is at the end of street.
Exercise
Choose the correct preposition to complete the sentence.
1. Students study (in, on, at) library.
2. There are some books (in, on, at) the table.
3. He was flying kite (in, on, at) the roof.
4. There was a huge gathering (in, on, at) bus stop.
5. Her parents were waiting for her (in, on, at) the entrance of school.
3. Prepositions for Location
Used to indicate the locations or positions of the subject

Ex: on, in, under, in front of, among, between, against

I put the flower vase under the stairs.

The park is located in front of the school.
I am among the representatives of our school.
The boy is leaning against the wall.
4. Prepositions of Direction
Used to show direction of movement to and from a fixed point.

Ex. to, from, into, along, over, through, across, around, towards

I am walking to school.
We are walking along Talisay Drive.
Their house is across the river.
Holiday is just around the corner.
Ali kicked the ball through the window.
Tim jumped over the fence.
He ran away when he felt that someone is coming toward him.
5. Preposition for Agent (by)
Preposition for agent is used for a thing which is cause of another
thing in the sentence. Such prepositions are by, with etc.
Ex:
This book is written by Shakespeare.
The work was completed by him.
6. Preposition for device/machine
Different preposition are used by different devices, instruments or
machines. e.g. by, with, on etc.
Ex:
She comes by bus daily.
He opened the lock with key.
Object of the Preposition
Object of the Preposition
The noun or pronoun that ends a prepositional phrase.

• on her boat
• in a house
• near the gate
• under the bridge
• before noon
• during class
• about a lady
• without a proof
Prepositional Phrase
Prepositional Phrase
A prepositional phrase is a group of words that begins with a
preposition and ends with a noun or pronoun, which is called object of
the preposition.

The boy near the window is a football player.

He went to the store.
After dinner, I will go out.
When it rains, it pours.
Around the corner is my house.
At 10 tonight, we will see fireworks.
The boy walked the dog down the busy street.
Rules in Using Prepositions
1. A preposition is followed by a "noun". It is
never followed by a verb.
• The food is on the table.
• She lives in Japan.
• Tara is looking for you.
2. A preposition cannot be followed by a verb.
If we want to follow a preposition by a verb, we must use the "-ing"
form which is really a gerund or verb in noun form.

She isn't used to working.

I ate before coming.
• I would like to go now.
• She used to smoke.
3. to preposition and to infinitive are not the
same
• Do not confuse the infinitive particle “to” (to
sing, to live) with the preposition “to” (to
London, to me).

to as preposition to as infinitive particle

• I look forward to lunch • They used to live in Moscow.
I look forward to seeing you • They love to sing.
I look forward to see you
• They are committed to the project.
They are committed to keeping the price
down.
They are committed to keep the price down.
• I am used to cars.
I am used to driving.
I am used to drive.
4. A preposition must have an object
All prepositions have objects. If a "preposition" does not have an object
it is not a preposition—it's probably an adverb. A preposition
always has an object. An adverb never has an object.
Example sentences:
• They are in the kitchen. (preposition in has object the kitchen)
Please come in. (adverb in has no object; it qualifies come)
• There was a doorway before me. (preposition before has object me)
I had never seen it before. (adverb before has no object; it
qualifies seen)
• I will call after work. (preposition after has object work)
He called soon after. (adverb after has no object; it qualifies called)
5. A pronoun following a preposition should
be in object form
The noun or pronoun that follows a preposition forms a
‘prepositional object’. If it is a pronoun, it should therefore be in
the objective form (me, her, them), not subjective form (I, she, they):

• This is from my wife and me.

• That’s between him and her.
• Mary gave it to them.
6. Preposition Forms
Prepositions have no particular form. The majority of prepositions are
one-word prepositions, but some are two- or three-word phrases
known as complex-prepositions:
• one-word prepositions (before, into, on)
• complex prepositions (according to, but for, in spite of, on account of)
References
• https://www.englishclub.com/grammar/prepositions.htm