When you’re learning how to speak English or any other language, it’s important to be as clear as possible. Parts of speech like prepositions tell readers and listeners where something is, when an event or action happened, and how two nouns are connected to each other. Explore this helpful guide to prepositions in English and sound more like a fluent English speaker today!
Table of Contents
What is a preposition?
Prepositions are parts of speech that show relationships in a sentence. You can use them to connect nouns with other words in a sentence. For example, in the sentence I am married to Jessica, the pronoun to connects the noun Jessica to the verb married.
If you only said I am married, someone might ask “Who are you married to?” Using the preposition to in the phrase to Jessica helps you provide the connecting information faster.
There are four main types of prepositions:
- Prepositions of location show where a person or object is.
- I am at the store.
- Prepositions of direction show where someone or an object is going.
- I went to the store.
- Temporal prepositions show when an action or event happened.
- I went to the store before lunch.
- Prepositions of manner or purpose show how nouns are connected to each other.
- I went to the store for ice cream.
Fluent English speakers use prepositions in their sentences to be as specific as possible. When you’re learning English, you can practice adding prepositions to sentences to make them easier to understand.
The most common English prepositions
So how many prepositions are there in English? Even though there are over 100 prepositions in the English language, you won’t use that many all the time. Here’s a list of English prepositions that beginning and intermediate English learners will want to know.
| Preposition | Pronunciation | Type of Preposition |
| aboard | uh-BOHRD | location |
| about | uh-BOUT | manner or purpose |
| above | uh-BUHV | location |
| across | uh-KRAWS | direction or location |
| after | AF-ter | time |
| against | uh-GENST | location, manner, or purpose |
| ago | uh-GOH | time |
| ahead of | uh-HED uhv | location, manner, or purpose |
| along | uh-LAWNG | direction |
| apart from | uh-PART fruhm | location, manner, or purpose |
| amid | uh-MID | location |
| among | uh-MUHNG | location |
| around | uh-ROUND | location, direction |
| as | az | manner or purpose |
| at | at | location, time |
| away | uh-WEY | direction |
| backward(s) | BAK-werd | direction |
| because of | bih-KUHZ uhv | manner or purpose |
| before | bih-FOHR | time |
| below | bih-LOH | location |
| beneath | bih-NEETH | location |
| beside | bih-SAHYD | location |
| between | bih-TWEEN | location, manner, or purpose |
| beyond | bee-OND | location, manner, or purpose |
| by | bahy | location, manner, or purpose |
| despite | dih-SPAHYT | manner or purpose |
| down | doun | direction or location |
| due to | doo too | manner or purpose |
| during | DOOR-ing | time |
| except | ik-SEPT | manner or purpose |
| following | FOL-oh-ing | time |
| for | fawr/fer | time, manner, or purpose |
| from | fruhm | direction, time, manner, or purpose |
| in | in | location, time |
| including | in-CLOOD-ing | manner or purpose |
| inside | in-SAHYD | location |
| into | IN-too | direction |
| like | lahyk | manner or purpose |
| near | neer | location |
| next to | nekst too | location |
| of | uhv | manner or purpose |
| off | awf | location, manner, direction, or purpose |
| on | awn | location, manner, time, or purpose |
| on top of | awn top uhv | location |
| onto | AWN-too | direction |
| opposite | OP-uh-sit | location |
| outside | out-SAHYD | location |
| over | OH-ver | location, direction |
| past | past | direction, time |
| since | sins | time |
| through | throo | direction, time |
| throughout | throo-OUT | direction, time |
| till | til | time |
| to | too | direction, manner, or purpose |
| toward(s) | tohrd | direction |
| under | UHN-der | location, direction |
| underneath | uhn-der-NEETH | location |
| unlike | uhn-LAHYK | manner or purpose |
| until | uhn-TIL | time |
| up | uhp | direction |
| upon | uh-PON | direction |
| via | VEE-uh or VAHY-uh | direction, manner, or purpose |
| with | with | manner or purpose |
| within | with-IN | location or time |
| without | with-OUT | manner or purpose |
Types of prepositions in English
When you know how to use prepositions, you can use them to describe different things in a sentence. Some prepositions can be used for a variety of meanings, like this:
- I made dinner for you.
- I made dinner for three hours.
- He danced around the table.
- He danced around 5:00.
- The movie was about polar bears.
- The movie was about two hours long.
It just depends how you’re using the preposition in a sentence and which words come after the preposition in a prepositional phrase. Learn more with these examples of prepositions and how they can add meaning to your sentences.
Use prepositions to describe location
The most common way to use prepositions in English is to show where something is. These are called prepositions of location or prepositions of place. The position part of the word preposition can tell you how it works.
A common way to think about prepositions in this way is by imagining a cat and a box. A cat can be above a box, or in a box, or near a box.
| Preposition of Location | Sentence |
| above | The dishes are above the sink. |
| at | John is at school. |
| beside | My dog sleeps beside the couch. |
| in | We live in a big city. |
| inside | The book is inside my backpack. |
| on | Your keys are on the table. |
| near | They live near the library. |
| under | My ball rolled under the fence. |
Use prepositions to show movement
You can also use English prepositions to show how something is moving. These are called prepositions of movement or direction. They come after a verb in English to add more information about the action.
For example, the sentence Hannah ran is not very specific. But if you add to the mailbox, you get the sentence Hannah ran to the mailbox. Now you have a lot more information about where Hannah is running.
| Preposition of Movement | Sentence |
| around | We walked around the city. |
| into | Melissa went into the house. |
| from | I came from another country. |
| through | My dog walked through the tunnel. |
| to | The children went to the playground. |
Use prepositions to identify time
When you use prepositions of time (also called temporal prepositions), you can show when something happened, or for how long. For example, in the sentence Hannah ran for five minutes, the prepositional phrase for five minutes tells you more specific information about how long Hannah ran.
| Preposition of Time | Sentence |
| after | We left after the show. |
| before | My mom arrived before 7:00. |
| during | He called during dinner. |
| for | They watched television for two hours. |
| since | Kelly has been home since 2:00. |
Use prepositions to make connections
Other examples of prepositions are helpful to connect more specific details about events, objects, or situations. These prepositions of manner or purpose tell us how or why an action happened.
For example, Hannah ran for a local charity tells us why she is running, but the sentence Hannah ran with her friends gives us more information about how she is running.
| Preposition of Connection | Sentence |
| about | My class learned about electricity. |
| by | The book was written by Mark Twain. |
| for | This gift is for my teacher. |
| of | I would love a cup of coffee. |
| with | We walked to school with our neighbors. |
How to use prepositions
English sentences only need a noun and a verb to be complete sentences, like I am or You eat. Prepositions and the words that come after them are extra parts of a sentence, so they’re not necessary to make a sentence complete. However, they do add important information to the noun and verb in your sentence.
Prepositions in English connect nouns or pronouns and other words in the sentence. They are the first words in prepositional phrases, which are usually made like this:
- (Noun + Verb + Preposition + Object of the preposition)
The object of the preposition is another noun. Let’s create an example sentence with a prepositional phrase.
- Noun: Matthew
- Verb: hid
- Preposition: under
- Object of the preposition: the bed
When you put these words together, you get:
- Matthew hid under the bed.
You can change the preposition and change the meaning of the sentence.
- Matthew hid near the bed.
- Matthew hid on the bed.
- Matthew hid in the bed.
These sentences all show Matthew hiding somewhere different just by changing the preposition. That’s why choosing the right preposition is so important!
Preposition or conjunction?
If you’ve already learned about English conjunctions, these lists of prepositions in English may be a little confusing. After all, aren’t words like after and since conjunctions?
It’s true that some prepositions also work as conjunctions to connect two clauses (noun + verb) in a sentence together. But they can also work as prepositions when they’re adding more information about a noun in the sentence.
For example:
- Preposition: I finished my work after school.
- Conjunction: I finished my work after I got home.
The word after works as a preposition when it connects with a direct object (which is the noun school) in this case. When after comes before a clause (which includes a noun and verb) then it’s acting as a conjunction.
Common ways English prepositions are confused
Some of the most common mistakes English learners make is mixing up English prepositions. If you can avoid these errors, you’ll sound even more like a native English speaker.
‘In’ ‘at’ and ‘on’
The prepositions in, at, and on are prepositions that describe location and time. But English speakers use them in different ways, so mixing them up can change the meaning of your sentence.
When you describe time, you use the word at for a specific time, while in indicates a period or length of time. On can be used to indicate a time frame.
- I’ll be there at 5:00.
- I’ll be there in ten minutes.
- I’ll be there on Sunday.
At also describes a specific location. In is used when talking about being in an enclosed space or area like a car or a field. On describes where a person or object is located, sometimes at a specific time.
- Alice is at the bus stop.
- Alice is in the car.
- Alice is on the way home.
If you said Alice is at the car, you would mean that Alice is standing near the car. And that might be correct, depending on what you’re talking about. But if she is sitting inside the car, you would use in.
‘On’ and ‘in’
English learners also mix up in with the preposition on, mostly because they sound similar to beginners. When you use them to describe locations, in means that a noun is inside an object or area, while on means it’s on top of an object or thing.
- The cat slept in the bed. (under the blankets)
- The cat slept on the bed. (on top of the blankets)
On can also be a preposition of manner when it describes what something is about. In isn’t used this way.
- The test is on English verbs.
- My report will be on famous inventions.
If you said The test is in English verbs, it sounds like the test is inside English verbs, which doesn’t make sense. Instead, you say that it’s on English verbs as another way to say that it’s about English verbs.
‘From’ and ‘for”
It’s easy to mix up from and for, especially when you’re talking about gifts. English speakers use from to describe the person giving the gift and for to describe the person receiving the gift.
- The new television is from Steve.
- The new television is for Kelly.
In both of these sentences, Steve gave the television to Kelly, so you would use from Steve and for Kelly.
‘In’ ‘inside’ and ‘into’
Even advanced English speakers mix up in, inside, and into sometimes! In and inside can show location, while into shows direction.
- Gina was in the store.
- Gina was inside the store.
- Gina went into the store.
These sentences may look nearly identical, but they’re a little different. In tells us about Gina’s location. Inside puts a stronger focus on Gina being inside the store instead of outside, but it still shows her location.
Into is a preposition of direction, so it tells us the action of Gina moving from the outside to the inside of the store.
Prepositions in English help us understand more
As you learn English, you’ll find that using the right words and phrases is very important. English prepositions are just one way to tell readers and listeners more about the nouns and verbs in a sentence, making English easier to learn.
There are many ways to learn a new language, including English. Find how Rosetta Stone works and why many English learners like to use its tools and methods to master the language. Once you’re a fluent English speaker, you’ll find that the work it took to learn English was worth it!
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