Prepositions of place and direction

Prepositions of place and direction

               A preposition may be defined as connecting word showing the

relation of a noun or a noun substitute to some other word in the

sentence (the squirrel in the tree; the preposition in shows the

relationship between the squirrel and the tree.).

               Prepositions cause problems because sometimes they can be used

interchangeably (He sat on the chair: He sat in the chair), because

prepositions are often combined with verbs to create phrasal verbs

(to look after someone; to look down on someone), and because a

single preposition can be used to express several different ideas

(He is tall for his age; I swam for an hour).

               The most efficient method of study is to familiarize yourself

with prepositions and prepositional phrases through practice and

memorization.  This is particularly helpful for the bilingual

student, who often seems to find preposition usage one of the most

difficult parts of the English language.

Preposition	Use	Examples
above	higher than sth.	The picture hangs above my bed.
across	from one side to the other side	You mustn't go across this road here. There isn't a bridge across the river.
after	one follows the other	The cat ran after the dog. After you.
against	directed towards sth.	The bird flew against the window.
along	in a line; from one point to another	They're walking along the beach.
among	in a group	I like being among people.
around	in a circular way	We're sitting around the campfire.
behind	at the back of	Our house is behind the supermarket.
below	lower than sth.	Death Valley is 86 metres below sea level.
beside	next to	Our house is beside the supermarket.
between	sth./sb. is on each side	Our house is between the supermarket and the school.
by	near	He lives in the house by the river.
close to	near	Our house is close to the supermarket.
down	from high to low	He came down the hill.
from	the place where it starts	Do you come from Tokyo?
in front of	the part that is in the direction it faces	Our house is in front of the supermarket.
inside	opposite of outside	You shouldn't stay inside the castle.
into	entering sth.	You shouldn't go into the castle.
near	close to	Our house is near the supermarket.
next to	beside	Our house is next to the supermarket.
off	away from sth.	The cat jumped off the roof.
onto	moving to a place	The cat jumped onto the roof.
opposite	on the other side	Our house is opposite the supermarket.
out of	leaving sth.	The cat jumped out of the window.
outside	opposite of inside	Can you wait outside?
over	above sth./sb.	The cat jumped over the wall.
past	going near sth./sb.	Go past the post office.
round	in a circle	We're sitting round the campfire.
through	going from one point to the other point	You shouldn't walk through the forest.
to	towards sth./sb.	I like going to Australia. Can you come to me? I've never been to Africa.
towards	in the direction of sth.	We ran towards the castle.
under	below sth.	The cat is under the table.
up	from low to high	He went up the hill.