PREPOSITION

A.   PREPOSITION

Preposition is a word that shows relation between noun or pronoun and the other words in sentence.
                            e.g. in, on, at, to, with, under, above, into, by, of,  etc

Preposition is always used before a noun or pronoun and shows the relation of the noun or pronoun to the other words in sentence. The following examples will help in better understanding.

Example.

Subject + Verb	Preposition	Noun
The cat was sleeping	on	table
He lives	in	Paris
She looked	at	Stranger.
He will come	in	January.
Wedding ceremony will be held	on	20th December.
I was waiting	for	you
Someone is knocking	at	The door.
She came	by	bus.

Prepositions show many relations (for different nouns) in sentence. On the basis of relation they show, preposition may be divided into following categories.

1. Preposition for time e.g. in, on, at, etc.
2. Preposition for place e.g. in, on, at, etc
3. Preposition for direction e.g. to, towards, into, through etc.
4. Preposition for agent e.g. by
5. Preposition for device, instrument or machines. e.g. on, by, with, etc.
6. Prepositions used after verbs to make prepositional verb (prepositional phrase). e.g. look at, look after, laugh at

a.     Prepositions for Time. (in, on, at)

Prepositions used for time of different natures are in, on at etc.

Preposition	Time Nature
In	1. Month or Year. e.g. in January, in 1985 2. Particular time of day or month or year e.g. in morning, in evening, in first week of January, in summer, in winter 3. Century or specific time in past etc e.g. in 21st century, in stone age, in past, in future, in present
On	1. Day e.g. on Monday 2. Date e.g. on 5th of March, March 5 3. Particular day e.g. on Independence Day, on my birthday,
At	1. Time of clock e.g. at 5 O’clock, at 7:30 PM 2. Short and precise time e.g. at noon, at sunset, at lunch time, at bed time, at the moment, at the same time

Ø  He was born in 1945.

Ø   She will go to New York on 25th of March.

Ø  The concert will begin at 7 O’clock.

Ø   He gets up early in the morning.

Ø   We enjoyed a lot in the summer.

Ø   The president will deliver speech to public on Independence Day.

Ø    She received a lot gifts on her birthday.

Ø    Where were you at the lunchtime?

Ø   I will call you at 12 A.M

Ø  I brush my teeth in the morning and at night.

Ø  We’re going to the zoo on Saturday..

Ø  I visited my grandparents during the summer.

Ø  You must finish the work by Friday.

Ø  I’ll do my homework before dinner.

Ø  You’ll have to wait until this afternoon.”

b.    Preposition for Place. (in, on, at)

Prepositions “in, on or at” are usually used for different places.

• “In” is usually used for place which have some boundary (boundary may physical or virtual).
• “On” is  used for surface
• “At” is used for specific place.

Preposition	Place Nature
In	Place having some boundary (physical or virtual boundary) Examples. In hall In school In a building In a box In a car In library In garden In America In room In cupboard
On	Surface of something. Examples. On a table On blackboard On a page On the wall On the roof On a map
At	Specific Place. Examples. At the entrance At the bottom of glass At front of the chair At bus stop At the edge of roof

Examples

Ø   She lives in New York.

Ø   The wedding ceremony will be held in the hall.

Ø   There are some books on the table.

Ø  The teacher wrote a sentence on blackboard.

Ø   He was flying kite on the roof.

Ø  Her parents were waiting for her at the entrance of school

Ø   There was a huge gathering at bus stop.

Ø   His house is at the end of street.

Ø  Sally was sitting under a tree.

Ø  There’s a wooden floor underneath the carpet.

Ø  Some geese flew over their house.

Ø  John and Sarah were hiding inside the wardrobe.

Ø  There was a tree beside the river.

Ø  I have a friend who lives in Wyoming.

Ø  A big truck parked in front of their car.

Ø  The cat jumped on top of the cupboard.

Ø  One girl sits in the middle of the playground and the others dance round her.

c.     Preposition for Direction.
(to, toward, through, into)

Some prepositions show where something is going. They are called prepositions of direction. Prepositions like to, towards, through, into are used to describe the direction.

Following examples will help in better understanding.

Ø  She went to the library.

Ø  He jumped into the river.

Ø  He ran away when he felt that someone was coming toward him.

Ø  The boys chased after each other.

Ø  The football rolled down the hill.

Ø  A man was walking his dog along the riverbank.

Ø  The freeway goes right through the city.

Ø  We were travelling towards Miami.

Ø  A girl went past them on a bike.

Ø  This road leads away from the stadium.

Ø  They watched the train pull out of the station.

d.    Preposition for Agent. (by)

Preposition for agent is used for a thing which is cause of another thing in the sentence. Such prepositions are by, with etc. Following examples will help in better understanding.

Example :

Ø  This book is written by Shakespeare.

Ø    The work was completed by him.

Ø  The room was decorated by her.

Ø  The tub is filled with water.

Note : all the Passive Sentences, consist of the actors of the verb(the doers)  always have “Agent/by” preposition.

e.     Preposition for device, instrument or machine.

Different preposition are used by different devices, instruments or machines. e.g. by, with, on etc. Following examples will help in better understanding.
                                She comes by bus daily.
                                 He opened the lock with key.

B.   Prepositional Phrase

A prepositional phrase is a combination of a verb and a preposition. It is just a verb followed by a preposition.

Prepositional Phrase  =  Verb + Preposition

Some verbs need particular prepositions to be used after them in sentences having a direct object. Such a verb with its required preposition is called a prepositional phrase.

For example :     He knocks at the door.

In above sentence “knock at” is prepositional phrase which contains a verb “knock” and a preposition “at”. Without the use of correct preposition after a prepositional verb in a sentence, the sentence is considered to be grammatically wrong. For example if we say, “he knocks the door”, it is wrong because it lacks the required preposition “at”. So the correct sentence is “he knocks at the door”.

Prepositional Verbs are transitive and they have a direct object in sentence. Some of the frequently used preposition verb are, laugh at, knock at, listen to, look at, look for, look after, wait for, agree to, agree with, talk about, talked to

Ø   She is listening to music.

Ø   She looked at the blackboard.

Ø   We believe in God.

Ø    They were waiting for the teacher.

Ø   Do you agree with me?

Ø    Do you agree to my proposal?

Ø   Someone is knocking at the door.

Ø   You should not rely on her.

C.  PREPOSITION TABLE

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

I.                   Prepositions – Time

English	Usage	Example
on	days of the week	on Monday
in	months / seasons time of day year after a certain period of time (when?)	in August / in winter in the morning in 2006 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 1980
for	over a certain period of time (past till now)	for 2 years
ago	a certain time in the past	2 years ago
before	earlier than a certain point of time	before 2004
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.

II.               Prepositions – Place (Position and Direction)

English	Usage	Example
in	room, building, street, town, country book, paper etc. car, taxi picture, world	in the kitchen, in London 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	Jane 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 London / Ireland 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

 

III.            Other important Prepositions

English	Usage	Example
from	who gave it	a present from Jane
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 10 percent by car, by bus
at	for age	she learned Russian at 45
about	for topics, meaning what about	we were talking about you

D.   MORE about PREPOSITIONS

1. ABOUT : tentang, sekitar,pada, dengan, terhadap, karena

Ø  Mrs Brown is worried about his son’s health.

Ø  I dropped the key somewhere about here

Ø  Everybody has been warned about the dangers of smoking

2. ABOVE : digunakan untuk menyatakan posisi serta pangkat atau letak di atas sesuatu tetapi tidak bersentuhan langsung

Ø  He hung the picture on the wall above the desk

Ø  The water came above our knees

Ø  Ice melts at temperatures above freezing point

3. ACROSS :  digunakan untuk hal yang berhubungan dengan tempat yang berseberangan atau disebrangi.

Ø  My house is just across the street

Ø  He’ll sail across the ocean

4. AFTER : digunakan untuk menyatakan hal setelah melakukan sesuatu atau setelah peristiwa/waktu tertentu. Dapat pula berarti mrip dengan gaya lainnya. Juga mempunyai arti di belakang atau mengejar sesuatu/seseorang.

Ø  He usually reads a book after dinner

Ø  This is a painting after Rembrandt

5. AGAINST : pada, bertentangan, melawan, menentang, terhadap

Ø  He was leaning against the post

Ø  Stealing is against the tree

Ø  He had an injection against smallfox

6. ALONG : digunakan untuk menyatakan jarak yang ditempuh dari permulaan hingga akhir dengan menyelusuri

Ø  He was riding a bike along the street.

7. AMONG : digunakan untuk menyatakan letak/posisi atau kedudukan yang berada di antara yang lainnya.

Ø  They were hiding among the bushes

Ø  You must settle the matter among yourselves

8. ALONGSIDE : di sisi, di tepi, sejajar dengan

digunakan untuk menyatakan letak/posisi sesuatu yang berada di sisi, di tengah atau sejajar dengan jembatan kereta api itu.

Ø  The shelters are built alongside the river

Ø  We are walking alongside the railway

9. AS :   sebagai, sebagaimana,

sebagaimana mestinya digunakan untuk menyatakan status dan hal yang terjadi sesuai dengan harapan atau sebagaimana mestinya.

Ø  During the war this hotel was used as a hospital

Ø  Betty passed the test, as we expected

Ø  She is late as usual.

10. AT : di, pada, dalam, sedang

                digunakan untuk menyatakan tempat atau posisi

Ø  Alice is studying medicine at university

Ø  They put up a tent at the top of the hill

Ø  Carol was standing at the front. I was standing at the back.

11. AT :  digunakan untuk menyatakan kegiatan dan keadaan tertentu

Ø  That village is at rest at night (desa itu sepi pada malam hari)

Ø  The children are at play ( Anak-anak itu sedang bermain)

12. AT : digunakan untuk menyatakan waktu atau masa tertentu

Ø  They go to the farm at dawn (pada waktu fajar)

Ø  Martin visits us at times (kadang-kadang) 

Ø  We get paid at the end of the month (pada akhir bulan)

Penggunaan AT

At first, at last, at least, at fault, at best, at its best, at its worst, at full speed, at a distance, at the third attempt, at low prices, at high prices.

Ø  The picture looks better at a distance (Gambar itu kelihatan bagus dari kejauhan)

Ø  The operation will use   at  least five thousand dollars (minimal/paling sedikit)

13. BEFORE :    sebelum, di depan, ke hadapan

                                 digunakan untuk menyatakan posisi atau hal sebelum peristiwa lain terjadi

Ø  B comes before C

Ø  She stood before the students (dia berdiri di depan para siswa)

Ø  He was brought before the judge (dia dibawa ke hadapan hakim)

Ø  You must think over before making a decision ( kamu harus berpikir matang, sebelum membuat keputusan)

14. BEHIND  :  di belakang, terbelakang, terpencil, mendukung

Ø  The girl was hiding behind a tree

Ø  George is behind other boys of his age

Ø  ( George terbelakang di antara anak-anak sebayanya)

Ø  My grandfather lives in a country far behind its neighbours (terpencil)

Ø  If you become a candidate, we’ll be behind you (mendukung)

15. BELOW : di bawah

Ø  She was wearing a skirt that reached below the knees (di bawah lutut)

Ø  They camped below the peak (di bawah puncak gunung)

Ø  Water becomes ice below freezing point (di bawah titik beku)

16. BENEATH : di bawah, tak pantas untuk

Ø  The snake was beneath the leaves (di bawah tumpukan daun-daun)

Ø  His statement was beneath notice (tak pantas untuk diperhatikan)

17. BESIDE = di samping, dibandingkan dengan

Ø  I put the box beside the other. (di samping kotak lain)

Ø  I am beside myself with pen (Saya tak tahan lagi dengan rasa sakit ini)

18. BESIDES = selain (keberadaan hal lain selain yang dibicarakan)

Ø  Besides being good at chess, he is a good student

19. BETWEEN = di antara ( 2 hal)

Ø  Singapore lies between Malaysia and Indonesia

Ø  What’s the difference between a sheep and a goat ?

Ø  An army major ranks between a captain and a lieutenant colonel

Ø  Mayor tentara adalah pangkat antara kapten dan letnan kolonel

20. BEYOND = melebihi, di luar, sulit dimengerti (untuk menyatakan keadaan)

Ø  This case is beyond my ability (Masalah ini di luar kemampuan saya)

Ø  They stayed beyond the allotted time ( melebihi batas waktu)

21. BY = dengan, melalui, pada, dekat, secara, oleh

digunakan untuk menyatakan penggunaan atau melakukan sesuatu, posisi, waktu, hasil karya seseorang dan sebagainya.

Ø  John is going to Hongkong by plane

Ø  Danny has traveled by sea and land

Ø  Can I pay by check ?

Ø  I met them by chance/by accident (secara kebetulan)

Ø  He took my umbrella by mistake (dengan tidak sengaja)

Ø  He wants a painting by Rembrandt (Dia ingin lukisan karya Rembrandt)

22. DOWN  = ke bawah, turun, di ujung, sepanjang)

Ø  I fell down the stairs (saya jatuh ke bawah tangga)

Ø  Her hair is hanging down her back (air matanya mengalir ke bawah)

Ø  They live down the street (mereka tinggal di ujung jalan itu)

Ø  We were boating down the river (kami mengayuh perahu sepanjang jalan)

23. DURING = selama, sepanjang

Ø  The sun gives us light during the day (selama siang hari)

Ø  A plane passenger must not turn on the radio during the flight

24. FOR = untuk, atas, pada, selama

Ø  He closed his eyes for a moment (untuk sesaat)

Ø  They came to the café for a drink (untuk minum)

Ø  We use the machine for the time being (untuk sementara)

Ø  Rome is famous for its ancient buildings (terkenal dengan bangunan2 kuno)

Ø  Would you care for a cup of coffee ? (apakah anda mau secangkir kopi ?)

Ø  I feel sorry for him. (saya merasa kasihan padanya)

25. FROM = dari

Ø  They come from Japan (mereka datang dari Jepang)

Ø  A tiger has escaped from the zoo (sekor harimau telah lepas dari kebun binatang)

Ø  He feels confident that she will profit from her work

(dia merasa yakin bahwa dia akan memperoleh keuntungan dari pekerjaannya)

Ø  I’m completely free from all my worries (saya benar2 bebas dari segala kecemasan)

Ø  Peter  will return to this country a week from now

(Peter akan kembali ke negeri ini seminggu lagi dari sekarang)

26. IN = di, di dalam, pada, dalam

Ø  She is the richest man in the world (dia adalah orang terkaya di dunia)

Ø  The sun rises in the east and sets in the west.

Ø  They are ready for fighting in the air (mereka siap bertempur di udara)

Ø  We have to be silent in court (kita harus tenang di tempat sidang)

Ø  Helen is in front of row (Helen ada di barisan depan)

Ø  He has read this article in the newspaper (dia telah membaca artikel di koran)

Ø  You can look at yourself in a mirror

Ø  Who is the girl in the photograph ?

Ø  The well has no water in dry season.

Ø  We can see various flowers in spring

Ø  The plane will be landing in a few minutes

Ø  He didn’t enjoy the play. In the end he walked out of the theatre

27. INSIDE = di dalam

Ø  There is a bee inside the flower

Ø  Bob waited for me inside the restaurant

Ø  Please, put the equipments inside the box

28. INTO = ke dalam, menjadi

Ø  They came into the house

Ø  His books have been translated into several languages

Ø  I’ll translate this letter into Mandarin

Ø  The wind changed into storm

Ø  Cut the meat into small pieces

29. LIKE = seperti

Ø  Don’t talk like that (Jangan bicara seperti itu)

Ø  You look like a doctor  (Kamu tampak seperti dokter)

Ø  She cries likes crazy when things go wrong (dia menjerit seperti orang gila)

30. NEAR = dekat, hampir

Ø  They live near the river

Ø  Mr Brown is near death (hampir meninggal dunia)

31. OF = di antara, pada, dalam, karena, dari, oleh

Ø  He is capable of riding a horse

Ø  They are tired of doing the same thing (bosan melakukan pekerjaan itu-itu saja)

Ø  She is always envious of other people

Ø  Are you independent of help

Ø  He is short of money. (kekurangan uang)

Ø  We have good relations with the countries of Europe

Ø  She is a woman of noble birth (wanita keturunan ningrat)

Ø  Susan is wearing a dress of silk (pakaian sutra)

Ø  Loss of health is more serious than loss of money

(kehilangan kesehatan lebih serius daripada kehilangan uang)

Ø  Rasulullah is beloved of all

32. ON = di, pada, sedang, dalam

Ø  Jack likes to work on the farm

Ø  There is a dirty mark on the ceiling (di langit-langit)

Ø  The bird on the roof is a pigeon (burung di atap itu adalah merpati)

Ø  We have listened to the world news on the radio/television

Ø  Put the red book on the top of the others

Ø  Feti usually gets up late on Sundays.

Ø  He went to the lake on foot.

Ø  The taxi drivers are on strike today (supir2 taxi melakukan mogok kerja hari ini)

33. OPPOSITE =menghadap, di depan, berhadapan dengan

Ø  We’ll build a house opposite the hill (……….rumah menghadap bukit)

Ø  The car stopped opposite the house (……….di depan rumah)

34. OUTSIDE = di luar

Ø  The two boys were fighting outside the police station

(kedua anak laki-laki itu berkelahi di luar kantor polisi.

35. OVER  = di atas, lebih dari, melewati, seluruh, di seluruh

Ø  The sky is over the cloud (langit di atas awan)

Ø  Mr Green is over me in the office (Tuan Green adalah atasan saya di kantor)

Ø  He spoke for over an hour (dia bicara selama lebih dari satu jam)

Ø  She has traveled all over Europe/the world (seluruh Eropa / dunia)

Ø  He rules over a great tribe (dia memerintah kelompok suku yang besar)

36. PER = tiap

Ø  This car runs 30 miles per litre

Ø  The spoons are thirty thousand rupiahs per dozen

37. ROUND (AROUND) = keliling, sekeliling, di sekeliling, mengelilingi, melingkar, sekitar.

Ø  He had a scarf round his neck ( dia memakai syal melingkar di lehernya)

Ø  They were sitting round the table (mrk duduk di sekeliling meja)

Ø  We showed him round the house (kami mengantar dia keliling rumah)

Ø  I want to travel around the world (saya ingin bepergian keliling dunia)

38. THROUGH (melalui, menerobos, karena, hingga)

Ø  There is a path through the field (ada jalan kecil melalui tanah lapang itu)

Ø  He got into the house through the window (dia masuk ke rumah melalui jendela)

Ø  He became rich through hard work (Dia menjadi kaya karena kerja keras)

39. THROUGHOUT = di seluruh, sepanjang

Ø  We work on the farm throughout the year  (Kami bekerja di lading sepanjang tahun)  

40. TO = ke, pada, kepada, terhadap, dengan, bagi, daripada)

Ø  We were  invited to the wedding

Ø  Kania is rude to her job partner

Ø  The man is cruel to animals. We don’t like him

Ø  Shafa is married to a polite and wise man

E.    EXERCISES of PREPOSITIONS

Exercise 1:

Copy these sentences in your notebook and then underline the prepositions.

Draw a circle around the nouns or pronouns that complete the prepositional phrase.

1. Put your coats on the bed in the guest room.

2. Paula walked through the park and then turned towards home.

3. She hid the presents behind the desk and under the stairs.

4. The color of her dress was really flattering.

5. The books on airplanes were placed beside those on trains.

6. The chairs on the porch were painted white.

7. Guests with tickets entered first.

8. The sap from maple trees is boiled into a syrup.

9. We saw six pheasant on the road to Stanley.

10. The man with the long scarf just robbed the store in the mall.

Exercise 2:

Copy these sentences in your notebook. Underline the prepositions, circle the

nouns/pronouns that complete them, and then decide whether the prepositional

phrase is used as an adjective or an adverb.

1. My aunt in Sackville gave several of the antiques to Gene.

2. The camp beside ours was built in 1966 by John’s brother.

3. Since the crash, many of the survivors have received cash settlements.

4. In his new movie, Brad Pitt drives a car from Toronto to Los Angeles.

5. The time of day doesn’t matter.

6. The supervisor questioned the quality of her work.

7. A few of our friends from school arrived for supper at Julie’s.

8. None of the items on that page are available until July.

9. In 1992, most of the money disappeared.

10. The mine owners from Germany sold all of it to them.

Exercise 3.

Complete the following sentences with the correct preposition :
                        (Correction at the end of the page.)

1.        Mr. Martin is responsible ______ recruitment

2.        I'm sorry but I don't understand the reason ________ the increase ________ price.

3.         In this company, salaries depend ________ the level of responsibility.

4.        You have to pay ________ the tickets the day you order them.

5.        Our new Chairman reminds me ________ my old  history teacher.

6.        Do you think the report could be translated ________ English for the meeting tomorrow?

7.        Thank you for offering to help.  It's very kind ________ you.

8.        Look ________ the woman ________ the picture.  Who is she?

9.        The manager didn't take part ______ the discussion.  He didn't want to intervene.

10.       It's no use taking him to the Louvre.  He isn't interested _______ art.

11.       The food in Japan is very different ________ European food.

12.       I don't agree ________ you.    ________  my opinion you're wrong.

13.       John was late for the meeting as usual.  That's typical ________ him.

14.       We should invite Pete to the party.  He's very good ________ telling jokes.

15.       The car crashed ________ a fence ________ the other side of the road.

The Answers
1) for     2)for/in      3) on      4) for      5) of      6) into     7) of      8) at/in  

 9) in       10) in      11) from     12) with/in     13) of      14) at      15) into/on