What are Prepositions?

What are Prepositions?

Prepositions are words that typically come before nouns, pronouns, or noun phrases and show the relationship between those words and other elements in a sentence. Prepositions usually indicate location, direction, time, manner, or possession. Here’s a more detailed explanation with examples:

Examples of prepositions

1. Location/ Place:

Prepositions indicate where something is located in relation to something else. Some common prepositions indicating location are: on, in, at, by, near, between, behind, above, under, over, besides, among, etc.

Example:

The book is on the table.

2. Time:

Prepositions indicate when something happens or the time frame of an action. Some common prepositions indicating time are: at, on, in, for, before, after, during, since, from, to, throughout, within, until, etc.

Example:

We’ll meet at 3 o’clock.

3. Movement/ direction:

Prepositions indicate movement or direction of something. Some common prepositions indicating movement are: to, from, into, through, along, across, onto, off, over, up, towards etc.

Example:

She walked across the bridge.

4. Manner:

Prepositions describe how something is done. Some common prepositions indicating manner: with, by, like, in, etc.

Example:

He painted the wall with a brush.

5. Possession:

Prepositions show ownership or possession. Some common prepositions indicating possession: of, for, belonging to, etc.

Example:

This book belongs to me.

6. Agent or Instrument:

Prepositions specify the agent or instrument performing an action. Some common prepositions indicating agent or instrument: by, with, from, etc.

Example:

The letter was written by John.

7. Source or Origin:

Prepositions specify the source or origin of something. Some common prepositions indicating source or origin: from, out of, off, etc.

Example:

The package came from China.

8. Cause or Reason:

Prepositions indicate the cause or reason for something. Some common prepositions indicating cause or reason: of, for, because of, due to, etc.

Example:

He died of a heart attack.

9. Comparison:

Prepositions show comparison between two things. Some common prepositions indicating comparison: than, as, like, etc.

Example:

She is taller than her sister.

What are the types of Prepositions?

There are five main types of prepositions. Here’s a  short overview of these simple basic types of prepositions:

Simple Preposition	These are single-word prepositions. Examples include: in, on, at, by, with, from, to, for, of, about, under, over, between, among, etc.	She is sitting on the chair.
Double Preposition	These are formed by joining two simple prepositions. Examples include: into, up to, within, out of etc.	The boy jumped out of a moving car.
Compound Preposition	These are prepositions formed by combining one preposition and a non-prepositional word. Examples include: because of, in spite of, according to, instead of, by means of, in front of, on top of, etc.	He won the game in spite of his injuries.
Participle Preposition	These are formed by using present participles (-ing) or past participles (-ed) of verbs as prepositions. Examples include: during, concerning, considering, pending, regarding, excluding, following, etc.	During the meeting, she took notes.
Phrasal Preposition	These are prepositional phrases that function as a single preposition. Examples include: by means of, in place of, in front of, on behalf of, as opposed to, etc.	We went to the park by means of the shortcut.

Where can we use different Prepositions?

Prepositions	Uses	Examples
In	Months, years, centuries or other long period of time, In relationship with 3D space, countries, cities	E.g. in 1998, in 1990’s, in summer, in January, in the bank, in a room, in bed, in the kitchen, in Canada, in the car, in the taxi etc.
On	Dates, specific days of the week, relationship to a surface, streets	E.g. on Sunday, on my birthday, on May 7, on Monday morning, on the ceiling, on the road, on the second floor, on bicycle, on Oxford road, on the bus, on the train, on a plane etc.
To	Indicates a destination	e.g. the boys go to school in groups.
At	Specific time or holiday period, single specific location	E.g. at night, at noon, at bedtime, at Christmas, at the weekend, at 9:00, at the office, at the top, at work, at the airport etc.
Towards	In direction of something or someone	e.g. She pushed her towards mirror.
Through	Movement from one side to another in something(long grass or forest)	e.g. He walked slowly through the woods.
Over	Movement  at a higher level than something else	e.g. He jumped over the wall.
Across	Movement from one side of something to other side(road or river)	e.g. He swam across the river.
Along	Movement of something in a line that follows a side of something long	e.g. The swans are eating along the river.
From	The place from where something starts	e.g. What time does the flight from Spain arrive?
Around	Movement in circles	e.g. They told stories around the campfire.
Onto	Movement to a position on a surface	e.g. The dog climbed onto the bed.
Into	Movement that enters a space from outside with a verb	e.g. She walked into the room.
By	On or before a time, up to a certain time	e.g. I have to finish my work by 8 pm.
Ago	A certain time in the past	e.g. I met her 4 years ago.
Before	Earlier than a certain point of time	e.g. They moved from here before 2014.
Since	From a certain point of time	e.g. Since 2016, since yesterday morning etc.
For	Over a certain period of time	e.g. For 3 years
Till/ until	How long something is going to last	e.g. He is on vacation until Sunday.
From….to/till/until	Marking the beginning and end of a period of time	e.g. From Monday till Friday
Between	Something in the middle of two things have separate identity	e.g. He was dancing in between Tom and Harry.
Among	Something is part of something that is not clearly separated or belongs to a group or crowd	e.g. She was walking among the stars.
Over	On something or covering it	e.g. Put the jacket over your shirt.
Above	Higher than something else, but not directly covering it	e.g. People in the apartment above us are noisy.
Next to/ beside	T the left or right of something or someone	e.g. We sit beside the pool. He is standing by/beside/next to the pool.
Under	Lower than something else on the ground	e.g. He is hiding under the table.
Below	Lower than something else above the ground	e.g. He dived below the surface of water.

 

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