Prepositions in English Grammar

Prepositions are words in English that appear in front of the Nouns. Prepositions make the sentence more meaningful.

Examples -

I put the book on the table.
In above sentence, if we omit the preposition "on", sentence becomes incorrect or meaningless.

Commonly used prepositions

There are many preposition in English. We will see how to use each of them.

1.Time Related Prepositions.

1. at - used to tell accurate time
2. in - used to tell a specific month or year
3. on - used to tell a specific day
4. un till /till - used to tell a point in time
5. before - used to tell event sequence
6. after - used to tell event sequence
7. past - used to tell time
8. ago - used to specify duration in the past
9. for - used to specify the duration
10. since - used to specify the duration when we know exact time
11. upon - just like after
12. as soon as - used to tell that specific event happened immedietly after another
13. amid - in the middle of
14. to - used to tell time as well as travelling to certain destination
15. prior to - used to specify the sequence of events
16. afore - just like before

Examples - 

1. Let's meet at night.
2. I will reach there in the evening.
3. I will go home on Monday.
4. I will work till after noon.
5. He will finish his work before Saturday.
6. I will have a dinner after 9 PM.
7. It is quarter past 11.
8. He worked there 3 years ago.
9. Virat is a part of Indian Cricket Team since 2011.
10. Sachin served the Nation for 25 years.
11. I worked there for  4 years.
12. I have been working year since June 2013
13. 3 years ago, I worked there.
14. I will come home in the evening.
15. I will be applying for German Visa in May.
16. He cam to office at 11 AM due to traffic standstill on his route.
17. I will call you at night to discuss about the trip to London.
18. She will come back on Monday from her official trip.
19. What do you usually do on weekends?
20. I travelled from home to school by Bus. But I came back by train.
21. It was raining until I reached home.
22. I will be on vacation till Monday.
23. We switched off TV before going out to watch a cricket match.
24. We ate snacks during the match.
25. We left the stadium after India lost the match.
26. We enjoyed a music while travelling.
27. It is too cold to walk out

during and while are used to indicate the action in progress. Difference between them is that during is followed by noun and while is followed by verb or other sentence.

2.Place and Position Related Prepositions.

1. under/underneath/beneath - 3d context and something is covered
2. below - specify the position of objects
3. down - look down, down the line, go down stairs
4. over - specify the movement e.g. fly over, climb over, lean over
5. above - specify the position of objects
6. on - position of static objects
7. atop / on the top of  - We climbed atop the mountain
8. up - look up, go up stairs
9. around - walk around the city, park
10. through - I went through the crowd
11. across - The office is located across the road
12. in/into/ inside - He went inside the house.  I poured tea into the cup
13. out/outside - He came out of the house
14. towards - Go towards north
15. at - specify the location. We will meet at temple.
16. in - I will meet you in the city
17. from and to - I am going from Brisbane to India
18. among - I spotted him among the crowd
19. between - involving 2 parties. Canberra is situated between Sydney and Melbourne
20. opposite - Facing towards each other
21. next to - beside, adjacent, alongside - He was sitting next to me
22. aside - He pushed me aside
23. behind/ abaft  - at the back - There is park behind our house
24. ahead - forward, towards the front, frontwards
25. near - There is park near my house
26. beyond - to indicate limit. You can not go beyond this line.
27. within - You have to stay within your limits.

Examples - 

1. I kept the book on the table.
2. Toy was under the table.
3. The plane flew over the mountains.
4. I ran over the bridge.
5. He swam across the river.
6. My home is near a railway station.
7. He got up and switched on the TV.
8. She travelled from Mumbai to London.
9. We went outside and saw nothing.
10. The ball went up high in the sky.
11. I was sitting between Ramesh and Suresh.
12. Ramesh was sitting next to me.
13. in - Tony lives in Sydney
14. at - Lot of dignitaries were present at the felicitation ceremony.
15. on - He sat on a chair and looked down.
16. on - Obama went on a vacation to Hawaii Island.
17. Modi was reading a magazine when Sharif walked past him to address the summit.
18. There were hawkers selling tomatoes along the road.
19. See the paragraph below and answer the questions that follow.
20. How many men are visible in above image?
21. We went through the village and reached highway.
22. I fell in love with Munich due to its pleasant climate and clean surroundings.
23. CM convened a meeting to discuss about the upcoming international airport project in Sydney.
24. My wife is afraid of lizards.
25. Sachin is good at batting.
26. I listen to the CNN new channel everyday to keep abreast with latest information across world.
27. The boy fell off the bicycle and started crying.
28. Thieves snatched the golden chain of old lady and ran away.
29. I put on the shoes to check if it fits my feet size.
30. I kept the book under table
31. Bus that was coming from behind hit our cab suddenly.
32. The bank was located opposite railway station.
33. The hotel was situated next to our shop.
34. Vendor was selling vegetables in front of our shop.
35. Prices of tomato went up very high in October due to poor rain leading to less cultivation of the crop.
36. The plane flew over the Java sea for about 1 hour and then went missing.

3.Miscellaneous Prepositions

1. of - Where is the key of my car
2. off - Take a day off
3. by - done by, what do you mean by, by bus, by mistake, by chance, by monday, by minute
4. about - about city, boy, any topic
5. against - against wall, against crime, against his wish
6. along  - along the road, along with me
7. despite - in spite of
8. without
9. according to
10. due to
11. as well as
12. for the sake of
13. in order to
14. on behalf of
15. with respect to
16. at the behest of - on someone's command
17. on account of - because of
18. in lieu of - as a proxy or replacement
19. in addition to
20. as long as 
21. as far as
22. as per - as per the definition

Examples - 

1. Baby tore few pages of the book.
2. He apologized on behalf of his wife.
3. Despite knowing the risks, he took that decision.
4. He remained in bed all day due to sickness.
5. She told him that she could not live without him.
6. According to the article in the newspaper, India will become the No.1 economy in the world.
7. He stayed back at home for the sake of her.
8. Teacher told the story about Hitler.
9. I put on new shirt that was bought by wife for me,
10. She took off the shoes and washed the feet.
11. I turned on TV and watched a movie.
12. Before going out, we turned off all lights in the house.
13. The glass fell down so I picked it up and put it down on the table.
14. You can take my bike but bring it back in the same condition.
15. He got in the car and got out in few seconds.
16. I got on the bus at the railway station and got off near school.

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