Preposition Definition AND Types

The preposition definition can be confusing. A preposition is a word that is used to link nouns, pronouns or phrases to other parts of a sentence. They express the relationship of time and space between different elements. Below we’ll explore preposition definition and types with examples.

Prepositions are always followed by a noun or a pronoun, never a verb.

Most prepositions are a single word, but a few are made up of 2 or 3 words.

TYPES OF PREPOSITIONS

There are a hundred or more prepositions in English, divided into categories:

prepositions of time
prepositions of place
preposition of direction / movement

NOTE – some prepositions appear in more than one category/p>

PREPOSITIONS OF TIME

Prepositions of time communicate when or for how long something happened.

They are used with hours, days, dates, seasons, celebrations, parts of the day and other indicators of time.


in	by	ago
at	within	until
on	before	from...to
for	after	to
since	during	past

USES

in – meaning ‘during the course of ‘
My birthday is in January.

at – refers to a specific time
We are meeting for dinner at 8pm.

on – refers to a specific day or date
Tony arrived on Friday.

for – used with a duration of time
I’ve lived here for six years

since – looks back to when something started
They’ve been married since 1985.

by – up to a point in time
It gets dark by about 4pm in winter in England.

within – sets a time limit for something
He should be here within an hour.

before – refers to a time prior
He learned to walk before he was one.

after – refers to a time past another time or event
We got home after midnight.

during – something happens while something else is happening
My phone rang during the meeting.

ago – refers to how far back something happened
We first went to Mexico twelve years ago.

until – up to a certain point in time
I read until I fell asleep.

from…to – for specifying a period of time with a start and end
I work from Mondays to Fridays.

to – used for telling the time
The train arrived at ten minutes to three.

past – used for telling the time
The train lest at five minutes past four.


in	months	in January
	years	in 1922
	centuries	in the 1800s / in the 19th century
	eras	in the Victorian era
	parts of the day	in the afternoon, in the evening
	seasons	in spring, in winter
at	clock times	at 11.15 p.m.
	times of day	at midnight
	night	at night
	holiday time	at Christmas*
	some expressions	at the weekend, at the beginning/end
on	days	on Monday, on Friday morning
	special days/ holiday days	on my birthday, on Christmas Day*
	dates	on the 17th

PREPOSITIONS OF PLACE

These prepositions express where something/someone is located in relation to something/someone else.


in	at the top	inside
at	behind	near
on	below	next to
above	beneath	on top of
among	beside	outside
at the bottom	between	over
across	by	through
against	far from	under
around	in front of	underneath

Generally the meaning is very literal, and easy to understand:

The dog is in his bed.
The cup is on the table.
My house is across the street from hers.
We lay beneath the tree.

USES


in	enclosed space	in the bathroom, in the cupboard, in the garden
	city, country , region	in Glasgow, in the Lake District
	forest / woods	in the New Forest
	the sky	in the sky
	some expressions	in bed, in hospital, in prison
at	specific place	at the station, at the doctor’s, at the door
	exact address	at 25 London Road
	company	at Tesco, at IBM
	event	at the races, at the cinema, at a meeting
	shop or counter	at the chemist, at the farm shop
	a stop on a journey	the train stops at Manchester*
	some expressions	at work, at school, at university
on	surface	on the table, on the wall, on the page
	transport	on the train, on the Titanic, on the bus
	street, road, avenue etc.	on Thames St.
	coastal areas	on the Thames, on the beach, on the river
	planets	on Mars, on Earth
	some expressions	on the left/right, on the second floor

*usually we use in with places. The exception is when talking about stops on a journey, then we use at

at or on with addresses?

at – with the exact address with the number
She lives at 25 London Road.

on – with approximate address
She lives on London Road.

Sometimes the meaning can be nuanced, and also easily swayed by context, for example:.


in hospital	in hospital as a patient
in the hospital	inside the hospital building
at the hospital	means visiting or an outpatient

on the corner	corner of a street
in the corner	corner of a room

on the mountain	at the top of the mountains
in the mountains	the mountain region

in school	in lessons or classes
at school	in the school grounds

in/on the bus	interchangeable - inside the bus

at the beach	in the area of the beach
on the beach	actually on the sand

PREPOSITIONS OF DIRECTION / MOVEMENT

These prepositions show movement from one place to another, and to indicate a direction


across	against	along
around	away from	by
beside	down	from
into	off of	onto
out of	over	past
round	through	to
toward(s)	under	up

She was cycling along the road.
He came running up the stairs.
He kicked the ball to me.
We drove around all night.

PRACTICE EXERCISES

1. Choose the correct preposition – in, at, on
_____ Monday
_____ January
_____ midnight
_____ foot
_____ the left
_____ Christmas Day
_____ Christmas
_____ 1922
_____ the weekend
_____ the sea

2. Find the incorrect use of a preposition
a. at the bus
b. in the car
c. up the steps
d. along the corridor

3. Which one is incorrect?
a. around the corner
b. in hospital
c. on the school
d. beside the fence

Answers
1. on, in, at, on, on, on, at, in, at/on, in
2. a 3. c