Prepositions

Prepositions define relationships in time, place, and movement. Common examples include 'in', 'on', and 'at'.

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Prepositions of Time

Prepositions of time - here's a list of the time words that need 'on', 'in', 'at' and some that don't need any preposition. Be careful - many students of English use 'on' with months (it should be 'in'), or put a preposition before 'next' when we don't need one.

at	times: at 8pm, at midnight, at 6:30 holiday periods: at Christmas, at Easter at night at the weekend at lunchtime, at dinnertime, at breakfast time
on	days: on Monday, on my birthday, on Christmas Day days + morning / afternoon / evening / night: on Tuesday morning dates: on the 20th of June
in	years: in 1992, in 2006 months: in December, in June decades: in the sixties, in the 1790s centuries: in the 19th century seasons: in winter, in summer in the morning, in the afternoon, in the evening
no preposition	next week, year, month etc last night, year etc this morning, month etc every day, night, years etc today, tomorrow, yesterday

Prepositions of Place

Prepositions of place can be difficult - here's some help about using 'at', 'in' and 'on' when you're talking about where things are.

If something is contained inside a box or a wide flat area, we use ‘in’:

in the newspaper	in a house
in a cup	in a drawer
in a bottle	in a bag
in bed	in a car
in London	in England
in a book	in a pub
in a field	in the sea

If something is on a line or a horizontal or vertical surface, we use ‘on’:

on the table	on the wall
on the floor	on the window
on my face	on a plate
on the page	on the sofa
on a chair	on a bag
on the river	on a t-shirt
on the ceiling	on a bottle
on a bike	on his foot

If something is at a point, (it could be a building) we use ‘at’:

at the airport	at the door
at the table	at the bus stop
at the cinema	at the top
at the bottom	at the pub
at the traffic lights	at the front
at the back	at school
at university	at the window
at the hospital	at the piano

Here are some more common ones that don't really fit:

on TV
on the bus
on a train
on a plane
on the radio
at home
at work

Prepositions after Verbs

Some verbs need a preposition before an object or another verb. The preposition is only grammatical, so it doesn't change the meaning of the verb.

Here are some of the most common ones:

arrive at / in somewhere
We arrived at the airport.
We arrived in London.
belong to somebody
This book belongs to me.
borrow something from somebody
I borrowed a book from my classmate.
concentrate on something / doing something
I concentrated on studying at the weekend.
depend on something / somebody
It depends on the weather.
explain something to somebody
The teacher explained the exercise to the students.
listen to something / somebody
I listened to music.
pay somebody for something
I paid the waiter for the coffee.
wait for somebody / something
Wait for me!
worry about somebody / something
Don't worry about a thing!

Prepositions after Adjectives

Some adjectives need a preposition before their object. There doesn't seem to be a logical rule, I'm afraid! We just need to learn them.

Here are some of the most common ones:

famous for
France is famous for its food.
proud of
He is very proud of his new car.
interested in
Julie is very interested in sport.
pleased with
John is very pleased with his new suit.
bad at
They are very bad at maths.
good at
Einstein was very good at physics.
married to
My mother has been married to my father for 20 years.
excited about
I'm very excited about my holiday.
different from / to
Coffee is different from tea.
afraid of
I'm afraid of spiders.