Prepositions

Time, place and movement, fixed prepositions and common errors.

Prepositions of time

Preposition	Used for	Examples
at	Exact times, festivals, and fixed phrases	at 9 o'clock · at night · at Eid · at the weekend (BrE)
on	Days and dates	on Monday · on 14 August · on my birthday · on Independence Day
in	Months, years, seasons, centuries and parts of the day	in March · in 1947 · in winter · in the morning
since	A point in time when something began (with perfect tenses)	since 2010 · since Monday · since morning
for	A length of time	for two hours · for ten years · for a week
by	Not later than a time	by Friday · by 5 pm · by next year
until / till	Up to a time, and then stop	until midnight · till Monday
during	Throughout or at some point within a period	during the war · during the lecture

Prepositions of place

Preposition	Used for	Examples
at	A specific point or place	at the bus stop · at the door · at school
on	A surface	on the table · on the wall · on the floor
in	Inside an enclosed space or area	in the room · in Karachi · in a box
between	In the middle of two people or things	between the two houses · between you and me
among	In the middle of three or more	among the students · among friends
beside	Next to	She sat beside me.
besides	In addition to (not a place)	Besides English, he speaks Urdu and Punjabi.
above / over	Higher than (over can also mean covering)	above sea level · a bridge over the river
below / under	Lower than (under often means directly beneath)	below zero · under the bed

Prepositions of movement

Preposition	Used for	Examples
to	Movement towards a destination	go to Lahore · walk to school
into	Movement from outside to inside	He jumped into the river.
onto	Movement to a surface	The cat jumped onto the table.
across	From one side to the other (a surface)	walk across the road · swim across the lake
through	From one end to the other of something enclosed	through the tunnel · through the forest
along	Following a line	walk along the beach
towards	In the direction of	He ran towards the gate.

Fixed prepositions

Some words always take the same preposition. Learn them as pairs.

Phrase	Example
abide by	We must abide by the rules.
absorbed in	He was absorbed in his book.
accuse of	She was accused of theft.
accustomed to	I am accustomed to waking early.
afraid of	The child is afraid of dogs.
agree with (a person)	I agree with you.
agree to (a proposal)	He agreed to the plan.
angry with (a person)	She is angry with her brother.
angry at (a thing)	He was angry at the delay.
aware of	Are you aware of the risks?
beware of	Beware of pickpockets.
capable of	She is capable of leading the team.
comply with	All firms must comply with the law.
congratulate on	I congratulate you on your success.
consist of	The team consists of eleven players.
depend on	Success depends on hard work.

Common mistakes

He is senior than me.

He is senior to me.

senior, junior, superior, inferior, prior and prefer take 'to', not 'than'.

She is married with a doctor.

She is married to a doctor.

'married' takes 'to'.

I have been living here from 2015.

I have been living here since 2015.

Use 'since' for a starting point with perfect tenses.

He entered into the room.

He entered the room.

'enter' (go into a place) needs no preposition. 'Enter into' is used for agreements: enter into a contract.

Let us discuss about the problem.

Let us discuss the problem.

'discuss' takes a direct object, with no preposition.

The book is in the table.

The book is on the table.

'on' is used for surfaces.

Divide the sweets between the five children.

Divide the sweets among the five children.

'between' is for two; 'among' is for more than two.

He died from cholera.

He died of cholera.

'die of' a disease; 'die from' an injury or other cause.

I will meet you in Monday.

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