ENGLISH GRAMMAR · LESSON 9 · BEGINNER

Prepositions in English Grammar: Rules and Examples

Look at these sentences: “The book is on the table.” “We meet at six o’clock.” “She walked towards the gate.” The words on, at and towards show relationships involving place, time or direction. These words are called prepositions.

Prepositions help explain where, when and how people or things are related.

1. What is a preposition?

A preposition is a word that shows a relationship between a noun or pronoun (or a noun phrase) and another part of the sentence. Prepositions often tell us about place, time, movement, direction, cause or manner.

The keys are under the cushion.

We will meet after lunch.

She travelled by bus.

In these examples, the prepositions connect the other words and make their relationship clear.

A preposition is often followed by a noun or pronoun called its object: under the cushion, after lunch, with her.

2. Prepositions of place: Where?

These prepositions explain where something is located.

Preposition	Typical meaning	Example
in	Inside an area or container	The milk is in the fridge.
on	On a surface	Your notebook is on the desk.
under	Below something	The cat is under the chair.
above	At a higher level	The fan is above us.
between	In the space separating two or more clearly identified things	The shop is between the bank and the clinic.
behind	At the back of something	The car is behind the bus.
near	Close to something	We live near the park.
in front of	Before or at the front of something	The taxi stopped in front of the gate.

3. Prepositions of time: When?

At, on and in are especially useful for talking about time.

Preposition	Common use	Examples
at	Exact times and certain fixed expressions	at 7:30, at noon, at night
on	Days and dates	on Monday, on 15 August, on my birthday
in	Months, years, seasons and longer periods	in October, in 2026, in winter
before	Earlier than a time or event	Finish it before dinner.
after	Later than a time or event	We played after school.
during	Within a period or event	Please stay quiet during the lesson.
since	Starting point continuing to a later time	I have lived here since 2020.
for	Length of time	She waited for two hours.

Easy memory tip: at 6 o’clock, on Tuesday, in October. These are common patterns, though English also has fixed expressions such as “at the weekend” in some varieties and “on the weekend” in others.

4. Prepositions of movement and direction

These prepositions describe movement from one place to another or the direction of movement.

The children ran into the classroom.
We walked through the tunnel.
The bird flew over the wall.
He went across the road carefully.
They travelled from Jaipur to Delhi.
She walked towards the bus stop.

Notice the difference: in often describes a position (“The child is in the room”), while into often describes movement to the inside (“The child went into the room”). Similarly, on describes a position and onto can describe movement to a surface.

5. Prepositions showing method, agent or reason

Preposition	Use	Example
by	Transport, method or the doer in a passive sentence	We came by train. The poem was written by Tagore.
with	Instrument or accompaniment	She cut the paper with scissors. I came with my brother.
because of	Reason or cause	The match was delayed because of rain.
for	Purpose or intended recipient	This gift is for you.
about	Topic or subject	We talked about the exam.

6. Common preposition combinations

Some words are commonly used with particular prepositions. It is helpful to learn the whole phrase instead of memorising the preposition alone.

Combination	Example
good at	Rina is good at mathematics.
interested in	I am interested in science.
afraid of	The child is afraid of spiders.
depend on	The result may depend on your effort.
listen to	Please listen to the instructions.
wait for	We are waiting for the bus.
belong to	This book belongs to Meena.
proud of	Her parents are proud of her.

7. Common mistakes with prepositions

Incorrect	Correct
We discussed about the plan.	We discussed the plan.
She is good in mathematics.	She is good at mathematics.
He entered into the room.	He entered the room. (In many contexts, entered into is used for agreements or discussions.)
I have been here since two hours.	I have been here for two hours.
She arrived to the station.	She arrived at the station.
We reached at home late.	We reached home late.

Prepositions are often part of fixed expressions, so learn them through examples and reading. Some expressions vary by context or regional variety of English.

8. Prepositional phrases

A prepositional phrase is a group of words that begins with a preposition and includes its object, often with other describing words.

The keys are under the blue cushion.
We went for a walk after dinner.
The student with the red bag is my cousin.

In these examples, the complete phrases give extra information about place, time or which student we mean.

9. Practice questions

Fill in the blank: The book is ______ the table. (on / at)
Choose the correct preposition: We have a test ______ Monday. (in / on)
Fill in the blank: My birthday is ______ November. (at / in)
Choose: She is interested ______ music. (in / on)
Correct the sentence: “I have been waiting since one hour.”
Choose the right word: The cat jumped ______ the box. (into / at)
Identify the preposition: “The children played after lunch.”
Complete: This letter is ______ my friend. (for / by)

Show answers and explanations

on — the book is on a surface.
on — use on with days.
in — use in with months.
in — the usual combination is interested in.
“I have been waiting for one hour.” Use for for a duration.
into — it describes movement to the inside.
after.
for — it identifies the intended recipient.

Quick revision

Purpose	Useful prepositions	Example
Place	in, on, under, behind, near	The shoes are under the bed.
Time	at, on, in, before, after, since, for	We start at nine.
Movement	into, through, across, from, to, towards	They walked across the bridge.
Method or instrument	by, with	We travelled by bus.
Common combinations	good at, interested in, listen to	Listen to your teacher.