What is Preposition ? Commonly used Prepositions with Examples.

What are Prepositions?

Prepositions are short words (on, in, to) which are usually placed before nouns (sometimes also in front of gerund verbs) .

Prepositions show the relationship between a noun or a pronoun with the other words in the sentence. 

For example, in the sentence,

 

“The water in the glass is cold.” 

            The preposition “in” shows the relationship between ‘water’ and ‘glass’. 

Now, look at the following sentence.

            "He jumped in the water."

            Now when we say, ‘in what?’ there is an answer, ‘water”, so ‘in’ here is a preposition.

The relationship includes direction,place,time, cause, manner and amount.

Prepositions tell us where something is or when something happened at that point of time.

They are also known as Position Words. 

Some examples of preposition sentences are given below. Each sentence will show you the type of relationship. 

• In the sentence, She went to the store, “To” is a preposition which shows direction.
• In the sentence, He came by bus, “By” is a preposition which shows manner. 
• In the sentence, They will be here at three o’clock, “At” is a preposition which shows time.
• In the sentence, It is under the table, “Under” is a preposition which shows place.
  

 The picture given below shows an easy way to remember about how to describe the position of something at that particular time using Prepositions.

Let us look at some more examples

Example of Preposition + Noun

I gave a book to Tina.

Example of Preposition + Pronoun

I gave a book to her

Example of Preposition + Gerund

I devote my time to reading.

A preposition is always used with a noun or a pronoun. The noun or pronoun it is used with is called the object of the preposition. 

For example, “You may go with your brother.”
Here the preposition ‘with’ relates its object ‘brother’ to ‘may go’.

When you find a word that you think is a preposition, look for the object. Say the preposition and then say, ‘what?’. If there is a ‘what’ or ‘when’ you have a preposition. For example, “He jumped  in.” In what? there is no answer; therefore, ‘in’ is not a preposition.

The following table contains rules for some of the most frequently used prepositions in English.

Preposition of Time

English	Usage	Example
on	days of the week	on Sunday
in	months / seasons time of day year after a certain period of time (when?)	in August / in winter in the morning in 2022 in an hour
at	for night for weekend a certain point of time (when?)	at night at the weekend at half past nine
since	from a certain point of time (past till now)	since 1986
for	over a certain period of time (past till now)	for 12 years
ago	a certain time in the past	15 years ago
before	earlier than a certain point of time	before 2010
to	telling the time	ten to six (5:50)
past	telling the time	ten past six (6:10)
to / till / until	marking the beginning and end of a period of time	from Monday to/till Friday
till / until	in the sense of how long something is going to last	He is on holiday until Friday.
by	in the sense of at the latest up to a certain time	I will be back by 6 o’clock. By 11 o'clock, I had read five pages.

 Preposition of Place (Position and Direction)

English	Usage	Example
in	room, building, street, town, country book, paper etc. car, taxi picture, world	in the kitchen, in Mumbai in the book in the car, in a taxi in the picture, in the world
at	meaning next to, by an object for table for events place where you are to do something typical (watch a film, study, work)	at the door, at the station at the table at a concert, at the party at the cinema, at school, at work
on	attached for a place with a river being on a surface for a certain side (left, right) for a floor in a house for public transport for television, radio	the picture on the wall London lies on the Thames. on the table on the left on the first floor on the bus, on a plane on TV, on the radio
by, next to, beside	left or right of somebody or something	Tina is standing by / next to / beside the car.
under	on the ground, lower than (or covered by) something else	the bag is under the table
below	lower than something else but above ground	the fish are below the surface
over	covered by something else meaning more than getting to the other side (also across) overcoming an obstacle	put a jacket over your shirt over 16 years of age walk over the bridge climb over the wall
above	higher than something else, but not directly over it	a path above the lake
across	getting to the other side (also over) getting to the other side	walk across the bridge swim across the lake
through	something with limits on top, bottom and the sides	drive through the tunnel
to	movement to person or building movement to a place or country for bed	go to the cinema go to Jaipur/ India go to bed
into	enter a room / a building	go into the kitchen / the house
towards	movement in the direction of something (but not directly to it)	go 5 steps towards the house
onto	movement to the top of something	jump onto the table
from	in the sense of where from	a flower from the garden

 Some Other important Prepositions

English	Usage	Example
from	who gave it	a present from Mom
of	who/what does it belong to what does it show	a page of the book the picture of a palace
by	who made it	a book by Mark Twain
on	walking or riding on horseback entering a public transport vehicle	on foot, on horseback get on the bus
in	entering a car  / Taxi	get in the car
off	leaving a public transport vehicle	get off the train
out of	leaving a car  / Taxi	get out of the taxi
by	rise or fall of something travelling (other than walking or horseriding)	prices have risen by 7 percent by car, by bus
at	for age	she learned Sanskrit at 72
about	for topics, meaning what about	we were talking about you