Syed Ahtesham Ali

Correct Use of Prepositions

Preposition is a word placed before a noun or a pronoun to show in what relation the person or
thing denoted by it stands in regards to something else. OR
Preposition shows a relationship between a noun and a pronoun. OR
Preposition shows a relationship between noun expressions and other elements in a
sentence.

Example:
i. The book is in the bag.
ii. He is coming into the classroom.
iii. She left before breakfast.
iv. What did you come for? (For what did you come?)

RULE
There is one very simple rule about prepositions and unlike most rules, this rule has no exceptions
i.e., a preposition is followed by a “Noun”.
Noun includes:
Common nouns, such as, dog, money, love
Proper nouns, such as, Ali, Pakistan, Bangkok
Noun groups, such as, my first job
Gerunds, such as, swimming, teaching, cooking
And Pronouns which are used in place of nouns such as, you, him, us
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 a verbal noun. But here are some examples where
we can use preposition before a verb.

Examples:
i. I would like to go now.
ii. He used to smoke.

Examples:

Subject + verb Preposition Noun

The food is On the table.
She lives In Japan.
Tara is looking for you.
The letter is Under your blue book.
I ate before Coming here.

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List of Prepositions
There are about 150 prepositions in English language. 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.

Some Standard Expressions

Expressions Examples
at night The stars shine at night.
at the week end 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.

Some Common Expressions

IN ON
in the morning on Tuesday morning
in the mornings on Saturday mornings
In the afternoon(s) on Sunday afternoons
In the evening(s) on Monday evening

Here is a short list of common one-word prepositions. Many of these prepositions have more than
one meaning.

Aboard About Above Across After Against

Along Amid Among Anti Around As
At Before Behind Below Beneath Beside
Besides Between Beyond But By Despite
Down During Except For From In
Inside Into Of On Onto Outside
Over Past Per Save Since Than
Through Toward Under Unlike Until Underneath
Up Upon Versus Via With Within

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Preposition of Time
It allows discussing a specific time period, such as, day, date or the calendar, one of the days of
the week or the actual time something takes place such as, on, in, at, for, ago, before, past, from,
till, until, by.

At In On
Months, Years, Centuries &
Precise Time Days & Dates
Long periods
at 3 o’clock in May on Sunday
at 10:30 am in Summers on Tuesday
at noon in the summer on 6 March
at dinner time in 1990 on 25 Dec. 2010
at bed time in the 1990s on Pakistan 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

Examples:
i. I have a meeting at 9 am.
ii. The shop closes at midnight.
iii. Jaweria went home at lunchtime.
iv. In England, it often snows in December.
v. Do you think we will go to Jupiter in the future?
vi. There should be a lot of progress in the next century.
vii. Do you work on Mondays?
viii. Her birthday is on 20th November.
ix. Where will you be on New Year’s Eve?

Preposition of Movement or Direction

It shows movement from one place to another place, such as, above, across, after, against, along,
around, behind, below, beside, between, from, inside, into, near, next to, onto, out of, outside, etc.

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Prepositions of Place “at, in, on”

In general, we use at for a point, in for an enclosed space, on for a surface.

AT IN ON
POINT ENCLOSED SPACE SURFACE
at the corner in the garden on the wall
at the bus stop in London on the ceiling
at the door in France on the door
at the top of the page in a box on the cover
at the end of the road in my pocket on the floor
at the entrance in my wallet on the carpet
at the crossroads in a building on the menu
at the turn in a car on a page

Examples:
i. Jane is waiting for you at the bus stop.
ii. The shop is at the end of the street.
iii. My plane stopped at Dubai and Hanoi.
iv. When will you arrive at the office?
v. Do you work in an office?
vi. I have a meeting in New York.
vii. Do you live in Japan?
viii. Jupiter is in the solar system.
ix. The author’s name is on the cover of the book.
x. There are no prices on this menu.

AT IN ON
at home in a car on a bus
at work in a taxi on a train
at school in a helicopter on a plane
at university in a boat on a ship
at college in a lift (elevator) on a bicycle, on a motorbike
at the top in the newspaper on a horse, on an elephant
at the bottom in the sky on the radio, on television
at the side in row on the left, on the right

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Mr. X to

House from
In
to into Park

Towards

Surroundings

When we say “last, next, every, this”, we do not also use “at, in, on”.
i. I went to London last June. (Not in last June)
ii. He’s coming back next Tuesday. (Not on next Tuesday)
iii. I go home every Easter. (Not at every Easter)
iv. We’ll call you this evening. (Not in this evening)

Beside (Next to) He is sitting beside Ali.

Besides (In addition to) Besides Lubna who was present in the party?
For Particular period of time
Since Particular point of time
By (Near) Pen is on the table by the computer.
Opposite There is NED University opposite to BFC.
Out I came out of dig.
In front of There is a door in front of me.
Behind An uneducated man leaves behind.
Under the greenwood tree, who loves to lie with
Under
me?
Between Distribute the candies between Arsam and Hamid.
Amongst She is the most intelligent girl amongst her sisters.

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The Use of Since & For

1. Since (singular time)

9 am/pm, 2 o’clock, Monday, August, 1979, Parts of a day (Morning, Afternoon)
2. For (plural time)
Minutes, Hours, Days, Weeks, Months, Years, Decades, Centuries

We use Since & For in Perfect Continuous Tenses.