Prepositions - smerchbn.com

Introduction

Prepositions are small words that show relationships between words in a sentence. They indicate time, place, direction, cause, and possession. English prepositions can be challenging because their usage often does not follow strict rules. This guide covers the most common prepositions with clear explanations and examples.

Prepositions of Time

Preposition	Usage	Example
At	Specific times, holidays, points	at 3 PM, at midnight, at Christmas
In	Months, years, seasons, longer periods	in June, in 2024, in summer, in the morning
On	Days, dates, specific days	on Monday, on June 5th, on my birthday
Since	Starting point in the past	since 2019, since last week
For	Duration of time	for 3 years, for 2 hours
By	Deadline or before a time	by Friday, by 5 PM
Until	Up to a point in time	until tomorrow, until 6 PM

Prepositions of Place

Preposition	Usage	Example
At	Specific point or location	at the bus stop, at the door, at work
In	Enclosed space or area	in the room, in London, in a box
On	Surface or line	on the table, on the wall, on the page
Under	Below something	under the bed, under water
Next to	Beside something	next to the bank, next to me
Between	In the middle of two things	between the two buildings
Behind	At the back of something	behind the house, behind the door

Common Collocations:arrive in a city / arrive at a place
look at / listen to / wait for
depend on / belong to / apply for

Memory Trick: Think of at as a point, in as an enclosed space, and on as a surface. At the corner (point), in the corner (enclosed room), on the corner (street surface).

Prepositions of Movement

Preposition	Example
To	Go to the store, walk to school
Into	Walk into the room, jump into the pool
Onto	Climb onto the roof, jump onto the bed
Through	Walk through the park, drive through the tunnel
Across	Swim across the river, walk across the street
Along	Walk along the beach, drive along the coast
Around	Travel around the world, walk around the park