Preposition

Preposition

Meaning of Preposition

What is the preposition in English?

The simple meaning of the preposition is a position of the word in a sentence we use before the other word. The name preposition itself tells that the position of a word is before another word showing the relationship of words that are nearby.

Definition of Preposition

A preposition is a word that we use before noun, pronoun, or noun phrase. Such a word shows the relation of nouns, pronouns, noun phrases with other words in the sentence.

So, the proposition is defined as a word showing the relation of nouns, pronouns, or noun phrases with other words in a sentence.

Use of prepositions

When do we use prepositions in English?

We use prepositions in English when we have to show the relationship between more places, things, or people.

Here are some examples.

• A rabbit slept under a tree.
• The boys are playing on the ground.

In the above sentences the prepositions ‘under’ and ‘on’ are showing relation to the nouns ‘tree’ and ‘ground’ respectively.

How do you use prepositions correctly?

There is no particular rule to use the preposition. Sometimes there might be confusion as in the native language, there might be several meanings of prepositions used in the sentences according to their uses.

We use a preposition to show-

• position
• direction
• time
• to introduce an object.

Prepositions- place (position)

We can use a preposition to show the position of an object that is where it is placed– on the surface, inside something, or another position.

We can see some common prepositions of position in the sentences given below.

• In front of: She stood in front of a hardware store.
• In: I kept my lunch box in the kitchen.
• On: Your book is on the table.

Prepositions- place (direction)

• To: The driver drove to the parking area.
• Next to: Jim purchased a house next to the garden.
• Beside: She is waiting for you beside the car.

Prepositions- time

• At: We have our lunch at noon.
• In: She cleans her house in the evening every day.
• On: There is a bank holiday on Monday.

Prepositions- to introduce an object

We use the prepositions near, among, between, by, opposite to refer to an object close to the place.

• The D-mart is near our house.
• There are red roses among the large trees.
• There was a quarrel between two best friends.
• The market is by the railway station.
• The park is opposite the cloth market.

We use prepositions ‘above’ and ‘over’ to refer to the object that is higher than the place.

• The dairy is on the shelf above the books.
• The aeroplane flew over the jungle.

We use the prepositions underneath, under, beneath, and below to refer to the object lower than the place.

• Her kitchen is right underneath ours.
• The doctor put the thermometer under my arms.
• The water was 30 meters beneath the ground.
• The links are always given below the article.

Preposition List

Here is a list of some common and mostly used prepositions.

Let’s have a look-

• about
• above
• across
• after
• against
• along
• among
• as
• around
• at
• before
• behind
• below
• beneath
• beside
• between
• beyond
• by
• concerning
• despite
• down
• during
• except
• for
• from
• in
• inside
• into
• like
• near
• next
• of
• off
• on
• onto
• out
• outside
• over
• past
• regarding
• round
• since
• through
• throughout
• till
• to
• toward
• under
• underneath
• unlike
• until
• up
• upon
• with
• within
• without

You may like the links given below.

Noun Adverb Pronoun Conjunction Verb Prepositions ‘on’, ‘in’, ‘at’ Adjective Interjection