PREPOSITIONS

A preposition is a word placed before a noun or pronoun to show its relation to some
other word in the sentence.

Ex:- The pen is on the table.

She is in the house.

KINDS OF PREPOSITIONS:- Prepositions are broadly divided into 3 kinds.

1. Simple Prepositions.
2. Compound Prepositions.
3. Complex / Phrase Prepositions.

1. Simple Prepositions: - at, by, for, from, in, of, off, on, out, till, up, with. through etc.
2. Compound Prepositions:- above, about, across, along, amidst, among, around,
before, behind, below, beneath, between, beyond, inside,
within, without etc.
3. Complex / Phrase Prepositions:- according to, for the sake of, in order to, along
with, except for, in favour, apart form, in
accordance with, inspite of , on behalf of, with a
view to , in comparison to, with regard to, by virtue
of, in case OF etc.
CLASSIFICATION: Prepositions express a wide range of meaning and the same preposition
performs quite a few functions. But we can define some of the relations indicated by them.
a. Time
b. Place
c. Agency and Instrumentality
d. Motion and Direction
e. Possession
f. Cause, Reason and Purpose
Preposition of Time
AT - He gets up at 5’0 clock.
ON - I will come on Sunday.
IN - You can meet me in the department.
During - Boys are happy during holidays.
FOR - He has been teaching English for 8 years.
BY - Submit your application by next Monday.
BEFORE - Post this letter before 5’0 Clock.
WITHIN - You must pay the fees within a week.
SINCE - He has been waiting since morning.
 TILL - You have time till Tuesday.
AFTER - He left for Madras after the exam

Prepositions of Place
At - I met him at the market.
IN - John lived in New York.
ON - London is on the Thames.
BESIDE - She sat beside me.
BY - He stood by the temple.
AGAINST - He was leaning against the wall.
BETWEEN - Gopi stood between Hari and Ramu.
UP - He climbed up the ladder.
TOWARDS - He travelled towards Chennai.
OVER - He held the umbrella over his head.

Prepositions of Agency and Instrumentality

BY - The thief was arrested by the police.
WITH - He cut the tree with an axe.
THROUGH - He heard the news though a friend.

Prepositions of Motion and Direction

INTO - She came into the room.
OUT OF - He walked out of the room.
ABOUT - The tourist went about the city.
ROUND - The earth moves round the sun.
TO - He is going to Madras.

Prepositions of Possession
BY - There was no money by her.
WITH - I saw a boy with red hair.
OF - He is the king of Persia.

Prepositions of Cause, Reason and Purpose

 FOR - He worked for the good of humanity.
FROM - She suffers from fever.
OF - He died of Cholera.
THROUGH - He lost his money through negligence.
Use of Prepositions:
AT is used
 For a certain point of time
 For festivals which mark a point in the year
 For age
 For rate, price
 For activity
 For a place
 For a particular house or place or residence
 For villages and smaller towns
 For a particular place of work
 For expressing motion towards something
 In certain expressions
IN is used
 To indicate a period of time
 To show the total length of time taken
for the completion of an activity
 To indicate the kind of place when the reference
is general and no specific place is named.
 For names of countries, continents, large areas,
Capital cities and large towns.
 For residence when no specific place is mentioned.
 For places of work (if it is a building)
 For dress
 For circumstances, surroundings, conditions
 Is used in the following expressions
at 12 noon, at sunset, at midnight, at
the end of the play .
at Diwali, at Easter, at the New year.
at sixteen, at seventeen.
at a loss, at 10 Rs, at cost
at work, at play, at dinner
at the market, at college, at the hotel.
at Apsara Hotel, at Nama Residency.
at Anantapur, at Kadapa, at Narpala.
at SRIT, at Public Library,
shoot at the birds rush, at the enemy.
good at chess, at all times, at last.
in 1994, in summer, in the morning.
The horse ran the distance in two
minutes.
He spent the summer in the country.
They live in America.
Thomas lives in London.
In a bungalow, in a modern house.
John works in a bank.
She was dressed in silk.
go out in the rain, in sorrow, in tears.
write in ink, in any case, be in a
hurry, in truth, speak in English,, in
addition to.
ON is used
 For a specific day, date, day of the week, special day I will come on Monday, on
Ramzan day.
 For a specific part of any day on Friday afternoon, on the night .
 To indicate position in relation to another object on the table, on the bench.
 To indicate membership on the committee.
 For cause of something on printed books, on my advice.
 Condition He is on duty, on foot.
 With the sense “about”, “concerning” Write on Milton.

Note:- If a noun giving a time preceded by an adjective, the preposition is not used.
She met me last Sunday. (not on last Sunday)
She will be sixteen next December (not in next December)
I will meet you tomorrow (not on tomorrow)

BY is used
 To mean near, at the side of come and sit by me.
 In the passive voice The snake was killed by him.
 In the sense of “during” He travels by night.
 To denote the latest time by which something is to be done You must be at home by 8’O
clock.
 For mode of travel by bus, by train.
 In the sense of past (passing by) she goes by my college daily.
 To mean instrument by the collar, by hook or
crook.
 In the sense of , because of By his rash actions he invites
many troubles.
 Through the means of / in the manner/method of an engine driven by
 electricity,
making living by teaching.

OF is used

 To express cause She died of fever.

 To indicate relief or deprivation He was cured of fever.
 To express partition or measure One of my friends is in Bombay.
  To express relation or possession
 To form adjectival phrases
 With the sense “called”
 To denote a subjective relation
 With the meaning “about”, “concerning”
 In such constructions as
fear of war, writer of books, the
death of the leader.
an man of ability, a deed of
courage, a story of adventure.
The city of Bombay, The
Nightingale of India.
The death of Gandhi, the works
of Milton.
News of success, tell someone
of an event.
How stupid of me to forget it.

FOR is used

 To show the period of time It rained for three hours.

 To express purpose/aim He shouted for help.
 To indicate direction/destination They started for Chennai.
 To express cause It is for this reason he came
here.
 After anxious, fit, inclined, ready He is anxious for promotion.
 In the sense of (in place of) He will act for you.
 “For” has various other uses He asked for twenty rupees.

I left it for you.

 In the sense “inspite of” For all her wealth, she is

unhappy.
 In some expressions Trust for knowledge, good for
your health.

TO is used

 To express motion Come to me

 To indicate direction He turned his chair to the
sun.
 To indicate extent The national debt runs to
thousands of crores of rupees.
 To express the ideas of comparision and reference Ten to one he will get
success.
India won by six goals to
three.
  To indicate time Five to ten, two minutes to
five.

FROM is used

 The starting point (place) From the top, From Delhi to

Goa.
 The starting of a period of time From her childhood, from
beginning to end.
 The giver of the sender From my brother.
 The source from the well, from Milton.
 Reason / Cause From starvation, from what we
Hear.

AFTER is used

 Resemblance after his mother.

 Next after the hare.
 Time after 5 PM.

TOWARDS – in the direction of but not necessarily reaching a place. He walked towards
the bus stop

ALONG – in the direction of or the length of . He walked along the road.

AGAINST – denotes opposition of some kind. One should not act against the orders.

BEYOND – Out of This is beyond my understanding.

THROUGH – denotes across the interior of anything. She has passed through many troubles.

ACROSS – movement from one side of a line or surface to the other. We walked across the
road.

WITHIN – Before the end of a certain period. You complete your work within 2
weeks.

TILL - To mark the end of a period. I shall be here till 8 A.M.

DURING – from beginning to the end. A noise during the night.

ABOUT – related to the subject matter of We are happy about the result.

OVER – used in the sense of about,above. The plane flew over the building.

ABOVE – used in the sense of higher than/more than She is above all in her career.
AGAINST – used to indicate opposition, support I am against the proposal.

AMIDST – in the middle of He entered the town amidst great

joy.

AROUND – used in the sense of “on every side” He is around in the college.

BEFORE – used in the sense of earlier than, in front of Come before Monday.
April comes before May.

BEHIND – in the sense of hidden, not having much progress Do not stand behind your
friends.

Prepositions often Confused:

AT/IN

AT -Small villages, inside or outside. She lives at Anantapur.

IN - Cities and countries, inside only. She is lives in Andhra Pradesh.

ON/UPON

ON - things at rest. He sat on a chair.

UPON – things in motion. The tiger jumped upon the deer.

BETWEEN / AMONG

BETWEEN - refers to two. The two brothers quarreled between themselves.

AMONG – refers to “more than two” The four brothers quarreled among themselves.

BESIDE / BESIDES

BESIDE - means next to, at the side of My house is beside the post office.
BESIDES - in addition to My father takes bread besides the biscuits.

FOR / SINCE

FOR - Period of time She has been teaching English for 8 months.
SINCE - Point of time She has been teaching English since June.

FROM / SINCE

FROM - Used for both time and place in both past and future. He came from the
college.
SINCE – indicate time from the past, till now. I have known him
since 1970.
AT / ON / IN

AT – Is used with a definite point of time. At this movement, at present, at

noon.
ON – Is used for days and dates. On her birthday, on 6th June.
IN – with parts of the day, months, years and seasons. In the morning, in 60
seconds, in May.

Rehan was born at 9.53 pm in the night on Thursday on 5 th in January, in 2006 in

Winter.

IN / INTO

IN – things or persons in rest position. Sravani is in the bed.

INTO – Things or persons in motion position. She walked into the
classroom.

IN / WITHIN

IN – refers to “at the end of the time” Complete the work in ten days.
WITHIN – refers to “before the end of the time”. Complete the work within 10 days.

BY / WITH

BY – used for persons. Ravana was killed by Rama.

WITH – used for things, instruments with He was killed by his servant
which the action to be done. with an axe.
TO / TILL

TO – used for place. I went to the college.

TILL – used for time I waited for her till 5’0 clock.

Note the following points of Prepositional usage:

Suffer – from Start – for Listen – to Consist – of
Quick – at Good – at Clever – at Congratulate – on
Bad – at Left – for Agree – with Skillful – at
Fond – of Superior – to Prefer – to Agree – to
Senior – to Afraid – of Died – of Inferior – to
Aware – of Proud – of Tired – of Jealous – of
Grateful – for Start - for Fell – into Married – to
Listen – to On – foot Write in – ink Jump – into
Knock – at Operate – on Write with – pen By – bus
Sympathy - for Thank – for Shoot – at Vote – for
Wish – for Aims – at Translate – into Laugh – at
Beware - of Boast – of Appear – for Accuse – of
Jump – to Surprised – at Divide – into Angry - wih
Pray – to – for Arrive- at/in Slow – at Gratitude – for
Wait – for Good - for Sympathise - with Guilty - of

EXERCISE

Fill in the blanks with suitable prepositions:

1. He started ____ six ____ the morning.

2. The train arrives _____ five _____ the morning and departs ____ the station _____ noon.
3. She was born ______ a small ___ Andhra.
4. My son came _____ bus _____ Friday.
5. They were married ______ 1st January 1995 and divorce _____ April.
6. The money lender was shot dead _____ the thief ___ a pistol.
7. This portrait was painted ____ the Italian artist ___ fifteen century.
8. The thief hanged himself ___ a rope ___ the prison.
9. Students don’t go ____ school ____ Sundays.
10. My brother came ___ Tuesday.
11. He refused to give ___the idea of going for the higher studies.
12. The young lady had done her interview well, and was looking forward ____ receiving a
favourable reply from the Board.
13. He is planning to make _____ his loss with a new marketing venture.
14. As he has finished his exams he started to think _____ his future.
15. The time has come for Ramesh to pay _____ his past mistakes.
16. You must trust ___ yourself to achieve success.
17. The cook has a strong desire ____ delicious food.
18. Nehru was fond ___ children.
19. The leader has developed greed ____ money.
20. It was their interest ____ Indian culture that brought people from various countries here.
21. Developing countries have great need ____ economic reforms.
22. Participation _____ games and sports should be made compulsory in schools.
23. The reason ___ slow production of cotton is lack of irrigation.
24. One should have respect ____ one’s own parents.
25. I wish for your success ____ the examinations.
26. The team has an understanding ____ the plan to be executed in the next game.
27. Durga is fond ___ sweets.
28. Meena is jealous ____ Fatima’s fortune.
29. I am very happy ____ your success in business.
30. The carpet is made ___ expensive wool.
31. Lalitha is married ____ Mohan.
32. The president said that he was proud ____ the Indian scientists who made India self-
reliant in launching satellites.
33. He is feeling sorry ____his short comings.
34. The marketing manager is doubtly sure ___ making profits this year.
35. Uma is retired ___ requesting people; not to be late to the dance rehearsal.
36. Please comply _____ my request.
37. What are you dreaming ___?
38. The secret ___ success lies in hard work.
39. The moon moves ___ the earth.
40. Vikram is not afraid ____ anything.
41. Nani is very good ___ telling stories.
42. Medha is not interested ___ studies.
43. Rahul sit ____ me.
44. My college is _______ post office.
45. Don’t boast _____ your riches.
46. Preetham prefers milk __ tea.
47. Sheela goes ___ walk every day.
48. What do you know _____ your country?
49. The boy trembled ____ fear.
50. What do you know _____ your country?