Prepositions

Prepositions are very common words. Seven of them are in the top 20 words in English. Prepositions link a word to another part of the sentence and tell us what the relationship is, for example in space or time.

What is a Preposition?

preposition (noun): a part-of-speech usually coming BEFORE a noun phrase and connecting it to another part of the sentence

A preposition is one of the nine parts of speech.

The name preposition (pre + position) means "place BEFORE". A preposition typically comes BEFORE another word—usually a noun phrase. It tells us about the relationship between the noun phrase and another part of the sentence. Some very common prepositions are: in, of, on, for, with, at, by

Look at these example sentences:

• The book is on the round table. (relationship in space)
• We will meet in November. (relationship in time)
• I sent the information by email. (relationship of method)

Several other relationships are expressed by prepositions. In addition, more metaphorical ideas can be expressed such as: in love, beyond doubt, under investigation

If a preposition does not come BEFORE another word, it is still closely linked to another word:

• Who did you talk to?
• To whom did you talk?
• I talked to Jane.

Form

Prepositions have no particular form. The majority of prepositions are single words, but some are two- or three-word phrases:

• one-word prepositions (before, into, on)
• complex prepositions (according to, but for, in spite of)

When we say that a preposition comes before a noun phrase, we include:

• noun phrase (the tall man)
• noun (rice)
• pronoun (them)
• gerund (verb in -ing form: fishing)

Preposition List

There are about 150 prepositions in English. Yet this is a very small number when you think of the thousands of other words (nouns, verbs etc). Prepositions are important words. We use individual prepositions more frequently than other individual words. In fact, the prepositions of, to and in are among the ten most frequent words in English. Here is a short list of 70 of the more common one-word prepositions. Many of these prepositions have more than one meaning. Please refer to a dictionary for precise meaning and usage. You can also see the long preposition list (with examples) in our vocabulary section.

• aboard
• about
• above
• across
• after
• against
• along
• amid
• among
• anti
• around
• as
• at

• before
• behind
• below
• beneath
• beside
• besides
• between
• beyond
• but
• by

• concerning
• considering

• despite
• down
• during

• except
• excepting
• excluding

• following
• for
• from

• in
• inside
• into

• like

• minus

• near

• of
• off
• on
• onto
• opposite
• outside
• over

• past
• per
• plus

• regarding
• round

• save
• since

• than
• through
• to
• toward
• towards

• under
• underneath
• unlike
• until
• up
• upon

• versus
• via

• with
• within
• without

Preposition Rule

There is one very simple rule about prepositions. And, unlike most rules, this rule has no exceptions.

Rule: A preposition is followed by a "noun". It is never followed by a verb.

By "noun" we include:

• noun (dog, money, love)
• proper noun (name) (Bangkok, Mary)
• pronoun (you, him, us)
• noun group (my first job)
• gerund (swimming)

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.

Quick Quiz: In the following sentences, why is the preposition "to" followed by a verb? That should be impossible, according to the rule that you have just read.

• I would like to go now.
• She used to smoke.

See answer The answer is that in "I would like to go now" and "She used to smoke", the word "to" is not a preposition. It is part of the infinitive ("to go", "to smoke").

Here are some examples:

subject + verb	preposition	"noun"	note
The food is	on	the table.	noun
She lives	in	Japan.	proper noun
Tara is looking	for	you.	pronoun
The letter is	under	your blue book.	noun group
Pascal is used	to	English people.
She isn't used	to	working.	gerund
I ate	before	coming.

Six Preposition Rules

Prepositions form a small but very important word class. We use prepositions very frequently used. In fact, the prepositions to, of, in, for, on, with, at, by, from are all in the top 25 words in English. If you can understand and correctly use prepositions, it will greatly improve your fluency. And remember, there are not very many prepositions. There are only 150 prepositions and we only use about 70 of these commonly. The following rules will help you understand and use prepositions correctly.

1. 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. Look at these 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)

2. pre-position means place before

The name “preposition” indicates that a preposition (usually) comes before something (its object):

• I put it in the box.

But even when a preposition does not come before its object, it is still closely related to its object:

• Who did you talk to? / I talked to Jane.

3. 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.

4. 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)

5. 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

• I look forward to lunch
  I look forward to seeing you
  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.

to as infinitive particle

• They used to live in Moscow.
• They love to sing.

6. The golden preposition rule

A preposition is followed by a "noun". It is NEVER followed by a verb.

Prepositions of Place

Prepositions of place describe the position of a person or thing in relation to another person or thing.

Look at this picture:

Now look at these example sentences based on the prepositions in the picture:

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 and rang the bell.
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.

Prepositions of Time - at, in, on

We use:

• at for a PRECISE TIME
• in for MONTHS, YEARS, CENTURIES and LONG PERIODS
• on for DAYS and DATES

at PRECISE TIME	in MONTHS, YEARS, CENTURIES and LONG PERIODS	on DAYS and DATES
at 3 o'clock	in May	on Sunday
at 10.30am	in summer	on Tuesdays
at noon	in the summer	on 6 March
at dinnertime	in 1990	on 25 Dec. 2010
at bedtime	in the 1990s	on Christmas Day
at sunrise	in the next century	on Independence Day
at sunset	in the Ice Age	on my birthday
at the moment	in the past/future	on New Year's Eve

Look at these examples:

• I have a meeting at 9am.
• The shop closes at midnight.
• Jane went home at lunchtime.
• In England, it often snows in December.
• Do you think we will go to Jupiter in the future?
• There should be a lot of progress in the next century.
• Do you work on Mondays?
• Her birthday is on 20 November.
• Where will you be on New Year's Day?

Notice the use of the preposition of time at in the following standard expressions:

Expression	Example
at night	The stars shine at night.
at the weekend*	I don't usually work at the weekend.
at Christmas*/Easter	I stay with my family at Christmas.
at the same time	We finished the test at the same time.
at present	He's not home at present. Try later.

*Note that in some varieties of English people say "on the weekend" and "on Christmas".

Notice the use of the prepositions of time in and on in these common expressions:

in	on
in the morning	on Tuesday morning
in the mornings	on Saturday mornings
in the afternoon(s)	on Sunday afternoon(s)
in the evening(s)	on Monday evening(s)

When we say last, next, every, this we do not also use at, in, on.

• I went to London last June. (not in last June)
• He's coming back next Tuesday. (not on next Tuesday)
• I go home every Easter. (not at every Easter)
• We'll call you this evening. (not in this evening)

8 Ways to Use the Preposition “by”

The word “by” is very common in English. It can be used in lots of different situations and contexts. It is mostly used as a preposition but it can also in fact be used as an adverb. In this article, I explain the common uses of “by” as a preposition.

“by” + place

The meaning is: beside, at the side of, next to, close to

examples:

• The house is by a river.
• David lives by a train station.
• I would love to live in a house by the sea.

“by” + method of transport

This structure describes how you travel somewhere.

by + train

     car

     boat

     plane

     taxi

     bus

     coach

examples:

• David went to Manchester by train.
• I go to work by car.
• My parents often go to France by boat.
• Our children have never travelled by plane before.

“by” + method of communication

This structure describes how you communicate with someone.

by + telephone

     post

     email

     fax

examples:

• I spoke to her by telephone.
• I will send you the invoice by post.
• Please confirm the order by email.

“by” + method of payment

This structure describes how you pay for something.

by + credit card

     cheque

examples:

• We paid for the computer by cheque.
• Can I pay by credit card?

Note that we do not use “by” for cash payments. We use the preposition “in”:

• David paid in cash for the newspaper.

It is also possible to omit the preposition completely, particularly in spoken English:

• David paid cash for the newspaper.

“by” and the passive

In the passive voice, “by” indicates WHO is doing the action.

First, let’s look at a sentence using the active voice:

• David is cleaning the kitchen.

In the above sentence, “David” is the person doing the action. When we convert this sentence to the passive voice, we say:

• The kitchen is being cleaned by David.

Here are some more examples. These are in the past tense:

• Sarah wrote the book. (active)
  The book was written by Sarah. (passive)
• Our school organised the concert. (active)
  The concert was organised by our school. (passive)

“by” + reflexive pronoun

by + myself

     yourself

     himself, herself, itself

     ourselves

     yourselves

     themselves

This structure means to do something alone.

examples:

• I enjoy reading by myself.
• Sarah is studying by herself.
• Let’s do something by ourselves.
• My parents often go on holiday by themselves.

“by” + -ING verb

This structure describes how to do something. It gives us more information about how to achieve a particular result.

example:

• You can turn on the radio by pressing that button.

question:
How can I turn on the radio?

answer:
by pressing the button

The phrase “pressing the button” describes how to do something (how to turn on the radio).

“by” + time expression

The meaning of this structure is:  not later than; before or at a particular time

We use this structure for deadlines. A deadline is the time before which something must be done.

examples:

• Guests must vacate their hotel rooms by 11 am.
• Please send us the payment by tomorrow.
• Students must enrol by the end of June.