COMMON PREPOSITION USAGE

Below and Under

 

The prepositions below and under can both mean ‘lower than’. But there are some differences.

Below Below is preferred when one thing is not directly under another.

• When the sun sets, it sinks below the horizon.

Below is used in measurements of temperature and height, and in other cases where we think of a vertical scale.

• The temperature is 10 degrees below zero.
• The Dead Sea is below sea level.
• She is below average in intelligence.

Under

We prefer under when something is covered or hidden by what is over it.

• I think the cat is under the bed.
• The whole village was under water.

We usually use under, not below, to mean ‘less than’ or ‘younger than’.

• There were under fifty people at the meeting.
• You cannot see this film if you are under 18.

  Beside and Besides

   

  Beside is a preposition. It means ‘at the side of’, ‘close to’.
• She sat beside her mother.

Beside can also mean ‘compared with’.

• You are quite tall beside your sister.

Besides

Besides can be used as a preposition with a similar meaning to ‘as well as’.

• Besides physics, we have to study chemistry and mathematics.

Besides can also be used as a discourse marker meaning ‘also’, ‘as well’. In this case it goes at the beginning of a clause.

• It is too late to go out now. Besides, it is starting to rain.

  Between and Among

  We use between to say that somebody or something is between two or more clearly separate objects.
   
• The letter B comes between A and C.
• The Mediterranean Sea is between Europe and Africa. 
• He shared his money between his wife, his daughter and his son.

We use between, not among, after difference.

• What are the main differences between crows, rooks and pigeons?

Among

We use among when somebody/something is in a group or a mass of people or things which we do not see separately.

• The mother sat among her small children.
• The rich merchant divided his property among his sons.

Among can mean ‘one of’, ‘some of’ or ‘included in’.

• Among those present was the Mayor.
• The Amazon is among the longest rivers in the world.

  By and With

   

  By and with can both be used to say how somebody does something, but there is an important difference. By refers to the method; with refers to the tool.
  
• He killed the spider by hitting it. (method)
• He killed the spider with a stone. (tool)

In passive clauses, by introduces the agent – the person or thing that does the action.

• She was knocked down by a car.

  Use of from

   

    From indicates the starting points of actions, events or spaces. It says when things begin or began.
  
• The exhibition was held from Monday to Friday.
• I work from 10 to 6.

From is not normally used with a perfect tense.

• The shop was open from morning.
• I will be here from 3 o'clock onwards.

With a perfect tense we normally use since, not from.

I have been working since morning. (NOT I have been working from morning.)

During, in and for

 

During means from the beginning to the end of a particular period of time.

• It rained during the night.
• There was not even a whisper during the whole service.

During can also be used to talk about things that happened continuously or several times between the beginning and the end of a period of time.

• I used to visit him during my stay in Boston.
• The baby woke up several times during the night.

During and For

During is used to say when something happens; for is used to say how long it lasts.

• It rained for three hours.
• It rained during the night.
• I was sleeping during the service.
• The service lasted for more than three hours.
• I don't remember the exact date, but it was during the winter.

During and In

We use both during and in to say that something happens inside a particular period of time.

• I woke up during/in the night.
• It rained during/in the week.

We prefer during when we stress that we are talking about the whole of the period. In cannot be used like this.

• There was not even a whisper during the whole service. (NOT … in the whole service.)
• We were on holiday during the whole of May.

  Preposition - At

   

  At is a word used to show the place, direction, time or manner of something.
• He works at the market.
• We live at home.
• Throw the ball at the stumps.
• We have breakfast at eight.
• She ran at top speed.

After some verbs, at is used to indicate the target of a perception or non-verbal communication. Common examples are look, smile, wave, frown, point.

• The child looked at its mother.
• Why are you looking at her like that?
• She smiled at me.

At is also used after some verbs referring to attacks or aggressive behaviour. Common examples are shoot, laugh, throw and shout.

• Why are you shouting at me?
• Stop throwing stones at the cat.

Place

At is used to talk about position at a point.

• It is very hot at the centre of the earth.
• He works at the market.

Sometimes we use at with a larger place, if we think of this as a stage on a journey or a meeting place.

• The plane stops for an hour at Chennai.
• Let us meet at the club.

At is particularly common with proper names used for buildings or organizations.

• I first met your father at Harrods.
• She works at the State Bank of India.
• She was educated at Oxford.

We generally use at to talk about addresses.

• Are you still at the same address?
• She lives at 73 Albert Street.

At can be used with a possessive to mean ‘at somebody’s house or shop’.

• You are always at the hairdresser’s.

At is also used before the names of group activities.

At a party

At a meeting

At a concert

At a lecture

At a match

Time

We use at with clock times.

• I usually get up at six o’ clock.
• I will meet you at 4.15.
• We have breakfast at nine.
• Phone me at lunch time.

At night means during any night.

• I often work at night.

We use at to talk about the whole of the holidays at Christmas, New Year, Easter and Thanksgiving.

• We are having the roof repaired at Easter.

  Preposition - But

  The preposition but means except.
• They are all wrong but me.
• Who but he would do this?
• We should have enjoyed the journey but for the rain.
• We were all there but Peter.

• Preposition Down

   

  
  Down means from a higher part to a lower part of something.
• The rain came down heavily.
• We ran down the hill.

Down can mean at a lower part of.

• They live down the road.

Down can also mean along.

• She walked down the street. (= She walked along the street.)

  Preposition For

   

  This word has many meanings including the following: For: intended to belong to
  
• This letter is for you.
• Reserve a seat for me.

For: in place of

• I offer you new lamps for old.

For: in defence of; in favour of

• He fought for his country.
• Are you for or against the proposal?

For: as far as, as long as

• We walked for five kilometres.
• They waited for two hours.

For: towards; indicating destination

• They sailed for the pacific.
• A train for London

For: because of

• They could not see for smoke.

For: at a cost of

• You can buy this for $1.

For: indicating purpose

• Let us go for a walk.
• What is this tool for?
• They chose him for their leader.

For: indicating liking, suitability, skill etc.

• She has a good year for music.
• Junk food is bad for health.

  Preposition In

   

  In is used for position inside large areas, and in three-dimensional space.
• She grew up in Switzerland.
• He is in the office.
• Let us go for a walk in the woods.
• My father lives in Canada.
• I first met her in a shop.
• He works in an insurance company.
• When did you arrive in New Zealand?

We use in with street names.

• She lives in Albert Street.

In is also used to talk about the position of things which form part of a line.

• There is a misprint in line 6 on page 12.
• Who is the good-looking boy in the sixth row?

Time

We use in with parts of the day.

• I work best in the morning.
• We usually go out in the afternoon.

In the night means during one particular night.

• I had to get up in the night.

We also use in with longer periods.

• I was born in May.
• Kent is beautiful in spring.
• He died in 1995.

  English Grammar

  Of

   

  This word has many meanings including the following:
  Of: from
  
• He is a native of China. (= He is from China.)

Of: concerning

• Have you heard anything of them.
• News of Granny

Of: belonging to

• This the official residence of the Prime Minister.

Of: about

• I often think of you.

Of: by

• A man beloved of all his friends (= A man beloved by all his friends)

Of can indicate authorship and origin.

• The works of Shakespeare
• A man of humble birth

Of can also show cause.

• She died of grief.

  English Grammar

  Off

   

  This word has many meanings including the following:
  Off: not on, no longer on
  
• Her glasses fell off.
• He fell off the ladder.

Off: away

• They ran off when the police arrived.

Off: not working or operating

• The heating is off.
• Switch off the lights.

Off: away or down from

• Keep off the grass!
• The cat jumped off the table.

Off: near to but not on; leading from

• A house just off the main road
• A road off the high street
• An island off the coast

  English Grammar

  On

   

  On is used for position on a surface.
   
• There is a big spider on the ceiling.
• The cat is on the roof.
• That picture would look better on the other wall.

On can mean attached to.

• Why do you wear that ring on your first finger?
• There aren’t many apples on the tree this year.

On is also used to talk about position on a line (for example a road or a river).

• Stratford is on the river Avon.

We use on to talk about travel using buses, planes and trains, as well as motor cycles and horses.

• He is arriving on the 3.15 train.
• There is no room on the bus; let’s get off again.

We use on for the number of the floor.

• She lives in a flat on the third floor.

On: time

We use on with days.

• I will ring you on Monday.
• My birthday is on May 21st.
• We met on a cold afternoon in early spring.

We use on to talk about one day of the holiday.

• They are having a party on Christmas Day.
• What are you doing on Easter Monday?

  English Grammar

  Into and out of

  Into: a place inside
  
• We ran into the garden.

Into: to change into; to become

• The frog changed into a handsome prince.
• He got himself into serious trouble.

Out of

The opposite of the preposition into is out of.

• She ran out of the room.
• I took his letter out of my pocket.
• I walked out of the front door without looking back.
• He sat staring out of the window.

Out of can also be used to talk about position – the opposite of in.

• I am afraid Mr John is out of the country at the moment. He should be back next week.

English Grammar

In and into, on and onto

 

We use in and on to talk about the positions of objects – where they are. We use into and onto to talk about directions and destinations – where things are going.

• She is in the bedroom. (Position)
• She ran into the room. (Direction)
• She was walking in the garden.
• Then she walked into the house.
• The cat is on the roof again.
• How does it get onto the roof?

In and on for movement

After some verbs (e.g. throw, jump, push, put) we can use both in and into or on and onto to talk about directional movement.

• Go and jump in/into the river.
• Could you put the ham in/into the fridge?
• Throw another log on/onto the fire.

We always use in and on after sit down and arrive.

• He sat down in the armchair. (NOT He sat down into …)

Preposition Behind

 

Behind means at or in the rear of.

• The boy was hiding behind a bush.
• The driver sits behind the wheel.
• The old man lagged behind.
• We were left behind when the bus went. (= The bus went without us.)

Behind can also mean not making good progress, late and similar ideas.

• John is behind other boys of the same age.
• He is behind with his rent.

Preposition - Beyond

Beyond means on the far side of.

• The house is beyond the bridge.
• We will be safe when we get beyond the river.

Beyond can also mean exceeding, out of reach of and similar ideas.

• Your work is beyond all praise. (= too good to describe adequately)
• He is living beyond his income. (= He spends more than he earns.)
• This problem is beyond me. (= I can’t solve this problem.)

When beyond refers to time it means after.

• I cannot stay with you beyond Tuesday.

Preposition - Against

 

Against means not in favour of

• There were twenty votes against the proposal and only fourteen in favour of it, so it was abandoned.
• We rowed hard against the current, but made little progress.

Against can also mean hitting or touching.

• I hit my head against a wall and hurt myself.
• I left the ladder leaning against a wall.
• The waves beat against the cliffs.
• The piano stood against the wall.