English Prepositions

A preposition is a word which governs, and normally is positioned in front of a noun or pronoun. It expresses a relation to another word or element.

Here are some examples.

• She left after the meeting.
• What are you looking for? (The preposition is generally placed at the end of the English question.)

English Preposition Rule

There is an easy rule about prepositions in sentences.
A preposition is always followed by a "noun". It is never followed by a verb.

Examples of nouns are:

• noun (cat, honey, life)
• proper noun (name) (Berlin, Michelle)
• pronoun (you, him, us)
• noun group (His first kiss)
• gerund (skating)

A preposition cannot be followed by a verb. If we want to follow a preposition by a verb, we must use the "-ing" form which is really a gerund or verb in noun form. An example is:

After eating all that ice-cream, he felt sick.

Look at these examples of simple sentences with prepositions.

Subject + verb	Preposition	Noun
Breakfast is ready	in	the kitchen.
John has moved	to	India.
Jane is waiting	for	you.
Your keys are	under	your jacket.
I’m not used	to	spicy food.
Brian can’t get used	to	working late.

In this post we look at three common prepositions of place: at, in, on

In general, we use:

• at for a point
• in for an enclosed space
• on for a surface

Look at some examples.

at	in	on
POINT	ENCLOSED SPACE	SURFACE
at the corner	in the yard	on the wall
at the meeting point	in New York	on the roof
at the door	in Africa	on the door
at the top of the page	in a bag	on the cover
at the end of the street	in my suitcase	on the floor
at the exit	in my wallet	on the rug
at the roundabout	in an office	on the list
at the hotel reception	in a taxi	on a page

Now it is time to practise. Choose at, in or on to complete the sentences.

1. Stella is waiting for you __ the bus stop.
2. How long have you lived __ Mexico?
3. What time do you usually arrive __ the office?
4. I have a casting __ Hollywood.
5. The post office is __ the end of this street.
6. I have an apartment __ the top floor __ 121 Park Lane __ London.
7. Do you work __ a factory?
8. The photo is __ the cover of the CD.
9. Venus is __ the Solar System.
10. There are some nice dishes __ this menu.
11. There was a lot of graffiti __ the wall.
12. Our flight was delayed __ Heathrow airport and we arrived __ Barcelona two hours late.

Answers

1. at 2. in 3. at 4. in 5. at 6.on/at/in

7. in 8. on 9. in 10. on 11. on 12. at/in