A Brief Explanation of Prepositions with Examples and Quiz

Prepositions are words which show the relationship between a noun or a pronoun object and some other words in the sentence. They are always followed by nouns or pronouns. They are called "the biggest little words” in English because they have very important functions.

Three Groups of Prepositions:

a. Prepositions of place, position and direction.
b. Prepositions of time.
c. Prepositions for other relationships.

SOME COMMON PREPOSITIONS
PLACE	POSITION	DIRECTION	TIME	OTHER
above across along among at away from behind below beside between	beyond by down from in in front of inside into near off	on opposite out (of) outside over around through to towards under up	after before at by for during from in	except as like about with without by for

Although prepositions are hard to generalize with separate rules, there is one simple rule about them. And, unlike most rules, this rule has no exceptions.  
 

Rule:  They are always followed by a "noun", never followed by a verb.
By "noun" we include: 

• Noun (dog, money, love) 
• Proper Noun (name) (London, Mary) 
• Pronoun (you, him, us)
• Noun Group (my first car)
• Gerund (swimming)

If we want to follow with a verb, we must use the "-ing" form which is really a gerund or verb in noun form.

Subject + Verb	Preposition	"noun"
The pen is	on	the table.
He lives	in	England.
Henry is looking	for	you.
The newspaper is	under	your green book.
Pascal is used	to	English people.
She isn't used	to	working.
We ate	before	coming.

Prepositions of Time / Place at, in, on

• At for a PRECISE TIME 
• In for MONTHS, YEARS, CENTURIES and LONG PERIODS 
• On for DAYS and Dates

At	In	On
At 4:30 pm	in March	on Monday
At 3 o'clock	In Winter	On 6 March
At noon	In the summer	On 22 Dec.2012
At dinnertime	In 1990	On Christmas Day
At bedtime	In the next century	On your birthday
At the moment	In the future	On New Year's Eve

Notice that use of the prepositions of time in and on in these common expressions: 

• In the morning /On Monday morning
• In the mornings / On Sunday mornings
• In the afternoon(s) / On Sunday afternoons
• In the evening(s) / On Friday evenings

When we say next, last, this, every we do not use at, in, on. 

I went to New York last June (not in last June)
She is coming back next Monday. (not on next Monday)
I go home every Easter . (not at every Easter) 

We'll call you this afternoon. (not in this afternoon)  

Place: at, in, on
In General: 

• At for a POINT (dog, money, love) 
• In for an ENCLOSED SPACE 
• On for a SURFACE 

At	In	On
At the bus stop	In London	On the wall
At the corner	In the garden	On the ceiling
At the entrance	In a box	On the floor
At the crossroads	In a building	On the carpet
At the top of the page	In a car	On a page

Some other common uses of at / on / in  

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 an elevator	On a bicycle
At the top	In the sky	On the radio
At the bottom	In the street	On the left
At the side	In a row	On a horse
At reception	In a boat	On a boat

Notice how we can use on a boat or in a boat depending on the type and the size of the particular boat/ship.  

More Prepositions

Prepositions	use	Example
during	while in	during the movie, during the flight, during my stay
for		for two days, for an hour
from / to		from Saturday to Monday, from 5 to 9
between	the time period from one to another	between 1986 and 2012, between Saturday and Monday
until/till	before a certain time	until/till Sunday,5 o'clock
by	at the least	by Tuesday, by next month, by tomorrow
to	movement towards	to school, to work, to the station
into	movement towards inside something	into the cinema, into the car
out of	to leave a place/a thing	out of the theater, out of the car
by	near/next to/beside	LINK stand by me, by the lake
through		through the tunnel, through the room
across	opposite ends	across the river, across the street
against		against the wall, against the door
into	movement towards inside something	into the cinema, into the car

Error spotting on Prepositions: 

1.He knows very well (a) / what is expected from him (b) / but he is not able to fulfil all the expectations. (c) / No error (d).

2.My brother (a) / has ordered (b) / for a Laptop. (c) / No error (d)

3.I do not understand (a) / why she is (b) / so angry at me. (c) / No error (d)

4.I am hearing (a) / a lot about (b) / the problem of ragging these days. (c) / No error (d)

5.As the meeting was about to end (a) / he insisted to ask (b) / several questions. (c) / No error (d)

6.Man needs (a) / security and leisure (b) / of free thinking. (c) / No error (d)

7.They walked (a) / besides each other (b) / in silence. (c) / No error (d)

8.Our Physics teacher (a) / often emphasises on (b) / the end for a lot of practice. (c) / No error (d)

9.Please put away (a) / the candle (b) / before you leave. (c) No error (d)

10.Most of the Andhra Pradesh (a) / is an extremely fertile plain (b) / between which the river Krishna flows. (c) / No error (d)

11.On a holiday (a) / Sruthi prefers reading (b) / than going out visiting friends. (c) / No error (d)

12.After opening the door (a) / we entered into the room (b) / next to the kitchen. (c) / No error (d)

13.The students were (a) / awaiting for (b) / the arrival of the chief guest. (c) / No error (d)

14.I could not convince them (a) / because they persisted to suggest (b) / that I was lying. (c) / No error (d)

15.I was taken with surprise (a) / when I saw (b) / the glamorous Tamanna. (c) / No error (d)

Answers

1.Option :b. Replace ‘from’ by ‘of’

2. Option : c. Remove ‘for’

3. Option :c. The correct form is ‘angry with

4.  Option : b. Replace ‘about’ by ‘of’

5.  Option :b. The correct form is ‘he insisted on asking’

6.  Option : c.Replace ‘of’ by ‘for’

7.  Option :b. Replace ‘besides’ by ‘beside’

8.  Option : b. Remove ‘on’

9.  Option :a. The correct usage is ‘put out the candle’.

10. Option : c. Replace ‘between’ by ‘through’

11. Option :c. ‘to’.

12. Option : b. Remove ‘into’. ‘Enter’ does not take any proposition.

13. Option :b. Remove ‘for’

14. Option :b. Replace ‘to suggest’ by ‘in suggesting’

15. Option a. Replace ‘with’ by ‘by’