Prepositions । Sahil Hasan । 1 of the important concept । LovHind
Prepositions । Sahil Hasan । 1 of the important concept । LovHind

Prepositions । Sahil Hasan । 1 of the important concept

Prepositions

What is a preposition?

Prepositions are used to express the relationship of a noun or pronoun (or another grammatical element functioning as a noun) to the rest of the sentence. The noun or pronoun that is connected by the preposition is known as the object of the preposition.

A preposition is a word that connects one thing with another, showing how they are related.
Some prepositions tell you about position or place.

  • Some common prepositions are in, on, for, to, of, with, and about, though, there are many others.

Types of Prepositions

Based on, the different uses and functions of prepositions, they can be divided into four main types. They are as follows:

Prepositions of Time

A preposition of time describes when or for how long something occurred or will occur.

Examples: at, in, on, for, during, since, by, until, before, after, to, past.

at: specific and short times of day

Examples of at:

  • I get up at 7 o’clock.
  • Let’s meet at noon.
  • My English class starts at 11 am.
  • She finishes work at 7:00 pm.
  • Suhel arrived at one o’clock.
  • Sunita left the party at midnight.

in: months, years, and specific times of day

Examples of in:

  • It snowed in the night.
  • Sachin starts school in August.
  • In 2022, India held a presidential election.
  • We’re going to Delhi in two weeks.
  • would rather work on the project in the afternoon.

on: days and dates

Examples of on:

  • On Wednesday, Raju went to the grocery store.
  • Valentine’s Day is on February 14.
  • We will be meeting on Friday.

for: durations of time

Examples of for:

  • He lived abroad for many years.
  • We’re going to Haridwar for two weeks.
  • It snowed for three hours.

during: simultaneous events

Examples of during:

  • We’re not supposed to study during class.
  • It snowed during the night.
  • The whole country was asked to stay home during the pandemic to ensure safety and well-being.

since: a continuous event originating from a specific point in the past

Examples of since:

  • She’s been waiting to hear back from the office since yesterday.
  • I’ve been waiting since eight o’clock.
  • We’ve lived here since 2008.
  • She’s been working there since she graduated from college.

by: a specific point in the future before which an event must be completed

Examples of by:

  • You must wake up by six o’clock tomorrow morning.
  • I will complete the assignment by Sunday.
  • He will return by 6 PM.
  • I will submit the list by 11 AM.

until: a continuous event that will terminate at a specific point in the future

Examples of until:

  • Rohit can’t sneak out of the house until his parents go to bed.
  • We have been asked to work from home until the end of May.
  • They will not return until Friday.
  • Wait for me until I return.
  • I do not give up until I have succeeded.
  • I will be there until Monday.

before: something prior to a specific time or event

Examples of before:

  • Nidhi was very nervous before the interview.
  • The moon rose before sunset.
  • I want to leave before lunch.
  • Before going, close all the windows.

after: something following a specific time or event 

Examples of after:

  • Nidhi felt confident after the interview.
  • I want to leave after lunch.
  • Sunita made a promise to help out after work today.
  • Can you come after some time?
  • After playing football, we went home.

to: time in relation to the next hour of the day

Examples of to:

  • My watch says it’s 10 minutes to three right now.
  • Razia worked to five and then left.
  • We’re going to Kushinagar next week.
  • We’re going to wait another three weeks until the end of the month.

past: time in relation to the previous hour of the day

Examples of past:

  • Ideally, the party would start no later than a quarter past eight.
  • The office is two blocks past the intersection.
  • It’s past 7:00. We’re late.
  • It’s past his bedtime.
  • He is past seventy, but he is in good shape for his age.

Prepositions of Place

A preposition of place describes where something is located in reference to something else, or where something occurred or will occur. Like prepositions of time, the most common prepositions of place are also at, in, and on.

at: specific points or locations

Examples of at:

  • Sunil is planning on staying the night at a hotel.
  • He is at school.
  • We first met at a party.

in: enclosed spaces

Examples of in:

  • The rice is in the cabinet.
  • My shirt is in the almirah.

on: surfaces or tops of things

Examples of on:

  • Leave the towel on the counter.
  • Put the box on the table.

by, near, close to: lack of distance

Examples of by, near, close to:

  • The library is by/near/close to the bus stand.
  • The market is by/near/close to the main road.

next to, beside: adjacency

Examples of next to, beside:

  • Many people consider it rude to sit next to/beside a stranger in a movie theater.
  • The river runs beside our house.

between: something in the middle of two people or things

Examples of between:

  • To make a sandwich, simply put something between two slices of bread.
  • Sunil was sitting between Sunita and Raju.

behind: something at the back of something

Examples of behind:

  • I stood behind my sister while we waited in line.
  • The child was hiding behind the tree.

in front of: something situated before something

Examples of in front of:

  • Let’s put the dresser in front of the window.
  • She was rubbing ice on her face in front of her mother.

above, over: something higher than something

Examples: above, over:

  • The arch above/over the hallway reminded Natalie of a castle she’d visited.

Note: Over and above both describe something higher than something else, but over can also describe something directly in contact with and covering something beneath it. For example: “I draped my jacket over the couch” is correct, whereas “I draped my jacket above the couch” is incorrect.

below, under: something lower than something

Examples of below, under:

  • All children fear the monsters below/under their beds.
  • All children hide under their beds.
  • The cat is under the table.
  • His shoes were under his bed.

Note: Under and below can both describe something lower than something else, but under can also describe something that is directly in contact with something on top of it. For example: “The puppy hid under the blanket” is correct, whereas “The puppy hid below the blanket” is incorrect.

Prepositions of direction or movement

A preposition of direction or movement describes how, where, or in what way something moves.

to: movement with a specific aim, direction, or destination

Examples of to:

  • My brother went to Europe with his friends.
  • Suresh went to the market.
  • Sunita is going to her friend.
  • I’m flying to New Delhi on Thursday for a meeting.
  • We thought we should walk to the bakery for breakfast because it is such a beautiful day.

from: movement with a specific point of origin

Examples of from:

  • She told stories about the time she walked to Spain from France.
  • She began to walk away from him.
  • I’m from India.
  • We flew from India to London.
  • The police took my driving license from me.

over: movement higher than and across something else

Examples of over:

  • The bird flew over the trees.
  • We are flying over the mountains.
  • The cat jumped over the wall.

above: movement to a point higher than something else

Examples of above:

  • He shot his arrow above the target.
  • He was flying the drone above the buildings.
  • I am flying my kite above Suresh’s kite.

under/beneath: movement lower than something

Examples of under/beneath:

  • That large worm went under/beneath the dirt.
  • The mouse ran under the chair.
  • Submarines can travel under water.

along: movement on a straight line or edge

Examples of along:

  • The childhood friends rode their bicycles along the road.
  • There were lots of shops along the main street.
  • I saw three different boats along the bank of the river.
  • She walked along the footpath.
  • I saw a dark figure moving along the road.

around: movement in a circular direction

Examples of around:

  • The couple held hands and skated around the rink.
  • A big dog was sleeping on the floor, so she had to walk around it.
  • They walked around the town for an hour.

across: movement from one end to the other

Examples of across:

  • I walked across the flimsy bridge.
  • It took us three days to drive across the desert.
  • The dog ran across the road and nearly got hit by a car.

through: movement from one side of an enclosed space and out of the other

Examples of through:

  • The burglar entered the house through the basement window.
  • The train goes through a tunnel under the hill.
  • Hey! You just went thru a red light!

into: movement ending inside something

Examples of into:

  • If you jump into the water like this, you can make a big splash.
  • He got into the car and closed the door.
  • The car crashed into the wall.

out of: movement ending outside something

Examples of out of:

  • Get out of that cave before the bear comes back!
  • Take your hands out of your pockets and help me!
  • He went out of the room to smoke a cigarette.

toward(s): movement closer to something

Examples of toward(s):

  • Laughing, she threw up her hands and ran toward(s) the park.
  • The night sky got brighter as they drove toward the city.
  • At last, she could recognize the person coming towards her.

Note: Toward and towards are interchangeable. In formal American English, “toward” is preferred.

away from: movement farther from something

Examples of away from:

  • Get away from the fire before you get burned.
  • The mouse ran away from the cat and escaped.

onto: movement ending on top of something

Examples of onto:

  • Be careful climbing onto that ledge.
  • They went up onto the stage.
  • Move the kettle onto the counter.

off: movement down or away from something

Examples of off:

  • Parents are always yelling at their kids to get off the furniture.
  • Please take your papers off my desk.
  • The wineglass fell off the table and shattered on the floor.

up: movement heading up

Examples of up:

  • When you use a fireplace, smoke goes up the chimney.
  • Sunil and Anil ran up the hill.
  • The boat takes two hours to go up the river and one hour to come down.

down: movement heading down

Examples of down:

  • He jumped down and hurt his knee.
  • They ran down the hill to the stream below.
  • He climbed down the ladder to the bottom of the well.

Prepositions of Location

Prepositions of location are words that are used to describe the place where a certain object is at a certain time.

For you to achieve in identification of prepositions of direction, then you have to ensure that you answer the question where.

There are three main prepositions of location, i.e., on, in, and at.

at: Prepositions in this group indicate that the noun that follows them is treated as a point in relation to which another object is positioned.

Examples of at:

  • The police officers are waiting at the junction. (This indicates the exact position where the police are waiting)
  • Sandeep works at the bank. (the location where Joshua works is the bank)

in: Prepositions in this group indicate that an object lies within the boundaries of an area or within the confines of a volume.

Examples of in:

  • The ball is in the box. (the ball is enclosed by the box hence its position is in the box)
  • The manager is driving in his car. (the manager is enclosed in the car while driving)

on: Prepositions in this group indicate that the position of an object is defined with respect to a surface on which it rests.

Examples of on:

  • The phone is on the table. (here we see that the position of the phone is on the surface of the table and the two are in contact)
  • The shoes are on the floor. (the floor is the surface and the shoe is on it)

Prepositions of Spatial Relationship

Prepositions of spatial relationships deal with “where” the subject of the sentence is or “where” the action is taking place.

above

Examples of above:

  • Write your name above the line.
  • We are flying above the clouds.

across

Examples of across:

  • Draw a line across the page.
  • The dog ran across the road.

against

Examples of against:

  • She leans against the tree.
  • He put his bicycle against the wall.

ahead of

Examples of ahead of:

  • The girl is ahead of the boy.

along

Examples of along:

  • There is lace along the edge of the cloth.
  • There are trees along the road.

among

Examples of among:

  • He is among the trees.
  • Is there a doctor among us?

around

Examples of around:

  • Draw a circle around the important point.
  • They all sat around the campfire.

Prepositional Phrase

A prepositional phrase is a combination of a preposition, a modifier, and its object. A prepositional phrase can be placed at the beginning, middle, or end of a sentence based on its role in that particular sentence. Prepositional phrases are just a part of the sentence it modifies and cannot stand alone.

Using Prepositional Phrases in the Beginning of the Sentence

  • After trying multiple times, Ritika finally cleared the equation.
  • Before we start class, I would like to talk to you about something.
  • According to the weather forecast, the next two days are expected to be very sultry.

Using Prepositional Phrases in the Middle of the Sentence

  • The girl in the second row is the one who has recently joined.
  • The cafe on the fourth street has really good muffins.
  • The man with the big moustache had come to the store today morning.

Using Prepositional Phrases in the End of the Sentence

  • The box was kept under the table.
  • We were planning to order food during the break.
  • I went to the grocery store across the street.

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Prepositions | What are prepositions | prepositions | How to use prepositions | Important use of the prepositions | Why prepositions are important

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