Prepositions

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

Prepositions of time

The table below lists the time expressions that require 'on', 'in' or 'at', together with those that take no preposition at all. Two errors are especially common: using 'on' with months, where 'in' is correct, and placing a preposition before 'next', where none is needed.

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 cause considerable difficulty. What follows sets out the use of 'at', 'in' and 'on' in describing where things are.

Something contained within an enclosed space, or within a broad flat area, takes '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

Something resting on a line, or on a horizontal or vertical surface, takes '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

Something located at a point, which may well be a building, takes '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

A number of common expressions fall outside these patterns:

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

Prepositions after verbs

Some verbs require a preposition before an object or before another verb. The preposition is purely grammatical and does not alter the meaning of the verb.

The most common are listed below:

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 require a preposition before their object. No underlying rule governs the choice, so these combinations have to be learned individually.

The most common are listed below:

famous for
France is famous for its food.
proud of
He is very proud of his new car.
interested in
Marina is very interested in sport.
pleased with
Daniel 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.