Prepositions are short words (on, in, to, etc.) that usually stand in front of nouns (sometimes also in front of gerund verbs). A number of my students sometimes have difficulties selecting the correct prepositions but, don’t worry, even advanced learners of English find prepositions difficult, as a 1:1 translation is usually not possible. One preposition in your native language might have several translations depending on the situation. For example, although students are taught at a very early age that the English translation for the French ‘à‘ is ‘to‘, ‘at‘ or ‘in‘, it isn’t always easy to know which preposition to use in which situation. Many students say, incorrectly, ‘I am going in Paris‘ because, understandably, they are taught that ‘‘à Paris‘ means ‘in Paris‘. This is correct, but the addition of the verb of movement ‘to go‘ changes the preposition, so it becomes ‘I am going to Paris‘.
There are hardly any rules as to when to use which preposition. The only way to learn prepositions is looking them up in a dictionary, reading a lot in English (literature) and learning useful phrases off by heart.
The following table contains rules for some of the most frequently used prepositions in English:
Prepositions – Time
| English | Usage | Example |
| · on | days of the week | on Monday |
| · in | months / seasons
time of day year after a certain period of time (when?) |
in August / in winter
in the morning in 2006 in an hour |
| · at | for night
for weekend a certain point of time (when?) |
at night
at the weekend at half past nine |
| · since | from a certain point of time (past till now) | since 1980 |
| · for | over a certain period of time (past till now) | for 2 years |
| · ago | a certain time in the past | 2 years ago |
| · before | earlier than a certain point of time | before 2004 |
| · to | telling the time | ten to six (5:50) |
| · past | telling the time | ten past six (6:10) |
| · to / till / until | marking the beginning and end of a period of time | from Monday to/till Friday |
| · till / until | in the sense of how long something is going to last | He is on holiday until Friday. |
| · by | in the sense of at the latest
up to a certain time |
I will be back by 6 o’clock.
By 11 o’clock, I had read five pages. |
Prepositions – Place (Position and Direction)
| English | Usage | Example |
| · in | room, building, street, town, country
book, paper etc. car, taxi picture, world |
in the kitchen, in London
in the book in the car, in a taxi in the picture, in the world |
| · at | meaning next to, by an object
for table for events place where you are to do something typical (watch a film, study, work) |
at the door, at the station
at the table at a concert, at the party at the cinema, at school, at work |
| · on | attached
for a place with a river being on a surface for a certain side (left, right) for a floor in a house for public transport for television, radio |
the picture on the wall
London lies on the Thames. on the table on the left on the first floor on the bus, on a plane on TV, on the radio |
| · by, next to, beside | left or right of somebody or something | Jane is standing by / next to / beside the car. |
| · under | on the ground, lower than (or covered by) something else | the bag is under the table |
| · below | lower than something else but above ground | the fish are below the surface |
| · over | covered by something else
meaning more than getting to the other side (also across) overcoming an obstacle |
put a jacket over your shirt
over 16 years of age walk over the bridge climb over the wall |
| · above | higher than something else, but not directly over it | a path above the lake |
| · across | getting to the other side (also over)
getting to the other side |
walk across the bridge
swim across the lake |
| · through | something with limits on top, bottom and the sides | drive through the tunnel |
| · to | movement to person or building
movement to a place or country for bed |
go to the cinema
go to London / Ireland go to bed |
| · into | enter a room / a building | go into the kitchen / the house |
| · towards | movement in the direction of something (but not directly to it) | go 5 steps towards the house |
| · onto | movement to the top of something | jump onto the table |
| · from | in the sense of where from | a flower from the garden |
Other important Prepositions
| English | Usage | Example |
| · from | who gave it | a present from Jane |
| · of | who/what does it belong to
what does it show |
a page of the book
the picture of a palace |
| · by | who made it | a book by Mark Twain |
| · on | walking or riding on horseback
entering a public transport vehicle |
on foot, on horseback
get on the bus |
| · in | § entering a car / Taxi | get in the car |
| · off | leaving a public transport vehicle | get off the train |
| · out of | leaving a car / Taxi | get out of the taxi |
| · by | rise or fall of something
travelling (other than walking or horseriding) |
prices have risen by 10 percent
by car, by bus |
| · at | for age | she learned Russian at 45 |
| · about | for topics, meaning what about | we were talking about you |
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