Prepositions Place (Position and Direction)

English Usage Example

in room, building, street, town, country in the kitchen, in London

book, paper etc. in the book
car, taxi in the car, in a taxi
picture, world in the picture, in the world

at meaning next to, by an object at the door, at the station

for table at the table
for events at a concert, at the party
place where you are to do something typical (watch a film, at the cinema, at school, at work
study, work)

on attached the picture on the wall

for a place with a river London lies on the Thames.
being on a surface on the table
for a certain side (left, right) on the left
for a floor in a house on the first floor
for public transport on the bus, on a plane
for television, radio on TV, on the radio

by, next to, left or right of somebody or something Jane is standing by / next to /
beside 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 put a jacket over your shirt

meaning more than over 16 years of age
getting to the other side (also across) walk over the bridge
overcoming an obstacle 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) walk across the bridge
getting to the other side swim across the lake
 English Usage Example

through something with limits on top, bottom and the sides drive through the tunnel

to movement to person or building go to the cinema

movement to a place or country go to London / Ireland
for bed 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 go 5 steps towards the house
it)

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 a page of the book

what does it show the picture of a palace

by who made it a book by Mark Twain

on walking or riding on horseback on foot, on horseback

entering a public transport vehicle 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 prices have risen by 10 percent

travelling (other than walking or horseriding) by car, by bus

at for age she learned Russian at 45

about for topics, meaning what about we were talking about you
 EXERCISE 1
Prepositions of Time
In, at, on and no preposition with time words:
Prepositions of time - here's a list of the time words that need 'on', 'in', 'at' and some that don't
need any preposition. Be careful - many students of English use 'on' with months (it should be
'in'), or put a preposition before 'next' when we don't need one.

times: at 8pm, at midnight, at 6:30

holiday periods: at Christmas, at Easter
at night
a
at the weekend
t
at lunchtime, at dinnertime, at breakfas
t time

days: on Monday, on my
birthday, on Christmas Day
o days + morning / afternoon / evening /
n night: on Tuesday morning
dates: on the 20th of June

years: in 1992, in 2006

months: in December, in June
decades: in the sixties, in the 1790s
i centuries: in the 19th century
n seasons: in winter, in summer
in the morning, in the afternoon, in the
evening.

Second, they are used to show where something or someone is:

The plate is on the table.

 Julie is in the garden.
The picture is on the wall.

Third, they are used after some adjectives:

She is good at tennis.

Scotland is famous for whisky
I'm worried about my new job.

Here are some of the most common ones:

famous for
France is famous for its food.
proud of
He is very proud of his new car.
interested in
Julie is very interested in sport.
pleased with
John is very pleased with his new suit.
bad at
They are very bad at maths.
good at
Einstein was very good at physics.
married to
My mother has been married to my father for 20 years.
excited about
I'm very excited about my holiday.
different from / to
Coffee is different from tea.
afraid of
I'm afraid of spiders.

Fourth, they are used after some verbs:

I'm listening to music.

 She is waiting for her friend.
He borrows money from his sister.
arrive at / in somewhere
We arrived at the airport.
We arrived in London.
belong to somebody
This book belongs to me.
borrow something from somebody
I borrowed a book from my classmate.
concentrate on something / doing something
I concentrated on studying at the weekend.
depend on something / somebody
It depends on the weather.
explain something to somebody
The teacher explained the exercise to the students.
listen to something / somebody
I listened to music.
pay somebody for something
I paid the waiter for the coffee.
wait for somebody / something
Wait for me!
worry about somebody / something
Don't worry about a thing!

Fifth, they are used after some nouns:

She has trouble with remembering new vocabulary.

Finally, they are used in certain phrases:

The bus arrived in the end.

She arrived just in time for the film.