Prepositions

Words which show the relation between subject and the object in sentences are called prepositions. This relationship comprises location, time, movement and direction. Preposition is a basic part of speech.

The prepositions those are frequently used in English Grammar are:

All prepositions

on	after	in	for	at	via	with
into	off	by	to	on	at	since
after	upon	above	over	below	across	through
beside	from	past	round	about	beyond	opposite
down	underneath	with in	without	outside	in front	of
out of	towards	until	along	around	on to	around
up to	between

Use of few prepositions given above into sentences:

1. The book is on the table.
2. My best friend is sitting in front of me.
3. Punit will always be beside me.
4. The boy was standing across the river.
5. Since yesterday I haven’t eaten anything.

The word preposition means ‘placed before’ and they are mostly placed before noun, pronoun or gerund verb. Prepositions play a vital role in forming sentences. They are generally found in the form of phrases in sentences and are therefore called prepositional phrases.

Use of some prepositional phrases into sentences:

1. Student acted according to teacher’s instruction.
2. He pretended to love her for the sake of his children.
3. I couldn’t study because of domestic chores.
4. I always read newspaper with a view to improve my English.
5. I went to the market for the purpose of buying gift.

Prepositions can be mainly divided into three groups:

Preposition of time

Prepositions of time are those words which denote the time. They are mostly used before time phrases.

For example: At, on, in, by, since, and, for, from, within, before etc.

Use of prepositions of time into sentences:

1. Our exams start by Wednesday.
2. I have been cooking since morning.
3. The office will remain closed on Saturday.

Preposition of position

Words which tell us the actual location of objects are known as preposition of position. For example: at, in, between, among, on, upon, above, over, below etc.

Use of prepositions of position into sentences:

1. The cat is running behind me.
2. They went out through door.
3. She is the shortest girl among the class.

Preposition of movement and direction

Words which are used to express different ways towards where object move are known as preposition of movement and direction. For example: from, off, out of, to, towards, into, at, for etc.

Use of prepositions of movement and direction into sentences:

1. They went to the market.
2. Anita goes towards the school.
3. The leopard jumped onto the roof.