Prepositions Review

Common Mistakes
Assistants vs Attendants
To assist vs. To attend

Think vs. Thing

Phrasal verbs (reason for, claim that, think about)

His/Her, She/Him

Peter and Paul were best friends until he betrayed him. (Who betrayed who?)
What are prepositions?
● prepositions show relationships:
○ in time
○ space
○ logical relationships between ideas
● A preposition in a prepositional phrase is always followed by a noun, pronoun,
or another word that can replace a noun (i.e. gerund).
○ Robert went with her.
○ Subject + verb + preposition + object pronoun
○ With training, the dog learned to obey.
○ Preposition + gerund + noun
At, In, and On
At
● A preposition of place which is used to discuss a certain point
● Guidelines from “at” as a preposition of place:
○ usually used to talk about the position of someone or something inside small and specific
places
■ I’ll meet you at the store.
○ used with proper names of buildings and organizations
■ She works at Juan Valdez
○ used to indicate an email address: “please email me at abd@gmail.com”
In
● A preposition of place which is used to discuss an enclosed space
● Guidelines for using “in” as a preposition of place:
○ usually used to talk about the position of someone or something inside large places such as
countries, continents, big cities
■ She grew up in Colombia.
○ used for enclosed spaces
■ Put the wrapper in the trash can.
On
● Used to express a surface of something
● Guidelines for using on as preposition of place
○ Used to tell us that a noun is located on a surface
■ Your cellphone is on the table
○ Usually the noun is touching the thing it is on top of
Prepositions: Speaking of Places
We use “in” with: a specific room or apartment, city, a state or province, country,
region or section
I live in New York City.
The plane landed in Chicago.
The cheese is made in the Southwest.

We use “at” with: a street with a number, destinations

The plane landed at O’Hare Airport.

We use “on” when referring to a street without a number , or when something on

the surface of another thing.
Differences between at, in, and on
I live in Manizales My friend lives in Canada The plane landed at the airport

in Caldas at home on the tarmac

on 34th street in a house in the hills

at 2154 34th street on a farm on the beach

in apartment 302 in a suburb on the river

in the desert
 Harriet lives 1 235 Greene Street,
Phoenix, Arizona. She took a plane to
Little Rock, Arkansas. The plane landed

2 Clinton National Airport. She went to

visit her cousin 3 Maumelle (city). She
 Harriet lives at 235 Greene Street,
Phoenix, Arizona. She took a plane to
Little Rock, Arkansas. The plane landed
at Clinton National Airport. She went to
visit her cousin in Maumelle. She lives
on Cardinal Lane.
More prepositions
By, Next to, Beside:

● not far away in distance: The girl is next to the house

Under vs. below:

● Under usually means that something is covering something else. Below is

something that is lower than another thing.

Over:

● higher than something else: The photo hung over the fireplace.
● more than: The phone costs over $100.
● across from one side to the other: She walked over to him.
● overcoming an obstacle: The horse jumped over the gate.
More prepositions
Across: from one side to the other side of something with clear limits: He sailed
across the Atlantic

Through: from one end or side of something to the other: They walked slowly
through the woods

To vs. towards: To-used with a verb showing movement and shows the result of
the movement. Towards-the direction of the movement is shown, but not the
result. A <====== to ======> B

(B traveled to A)

X? A <==== toward ==== B

(B is moving toward A)
More Prepositions
Into: the inside or middle of something and about to be enclosed by it

● We went into the garden

Onto: used to show movement on a particular place

● We stepped onto the platform

From: used to show the place where someone or something starts

● What time does the flight from Amsterdam arrive?

More prepositions of place, space, and movement

● above ● down ● outside

● across ● far (away) from ● over
● against ● from ● past
● along ● as (far) as ● through
● among ● in ● to
● around ● in front of ● towards
● away from ● inside ● under
● before ● inside of ● up
● below ● into
● beneath ● near
● beside ● next to
● between ● off
● beyond ● opposite
● by ● out
Other set phrases with prepositions
He is:
-in college/university (to be a student)
-at the university (location)
We are going:
-across the mountains
-across the river
-across the desert
Their house is located:
-on the beach
-on the ocean
-in the ocean
-in the desert
ACTIVITY TIME!
I have just bought an AMAZING home.
However, I am having trouble decorating my
BEDROOM and COMMON ROOM. I have hired
you and your partner to help me decorate these
two rooms. Please include:

-The location (address, what street it is located

on, the city, the state, etc.)

-The items in the rooms and where they are in

relation to one another. (ex., the tv will be above
the fireplace)