Tips on Using Prepositions

10 TIPS on USING PREPOSITIONS
Grammar Rules and Tips for using Prepositions

What is a Preposition?
A Preposition indicates relationships between two nearby words (between a noun or
pronoun and other parts of the sentence) in a sentence and usually appears before a
noun or a pronoun.
Example:
Let's meet near the shopping mall. (near is a preposition; shopping mall is its object)
Forms of Prepositions:
1. Prepositions of Place tell you where something happened. Example: We saw a
movie at the theater.
2. Prepositions of Time when something happened. Example: We saw the movie at
3.30 this afternoon.
3. Prepositions also indicate direction, spatial relationships, as well as other
abstract types of relationships. Example: Look to the left and you’ll see the
movie theater.
4. Some prepositions are two or three word phrases known as Complex Prepositions
or Prepositional Phrases. Example: He got the job in spite of his poor results.

Prepositions of Place
In: This is used to indicate a place inside a
room, house, town, city etc
I watch TV in the living room.
I live in New Delhi.
At: An exact position or place or event
She met him at the concert.
I met him at the door.
On: Above a surface, a particular side, a
floor in the house, for television etc
My apartment is on the third floor.
I watched the Mahabaratha on TV.
From: In the sense of ‘where from’
I bought dresses from the mall.
Under/ Below: Lower or above something
The birds are flying below the clouds.
By/ Near/ Beside/ Next to: Adjacent to
something
Dilip is waiting by the car.
Over: exceeding, overcoming an obstacle,
above
They climbed over the wall to flee.
He is over 70 years old.

Prepositions of Time
At: A certain point in time
I will meet you at lunch time.
On: Days, weekends.
What are you doing on Sunday?
In: Certain periods of time, months,
seasons, mornings etc.
It gets cold in winter.
Since/ For: From a certain point in time in
the past till now.
He has been living in Jaipur since 2010.
She has been sleeping for more than ten
hours.
Ago: A certain time in the past
He came to Jaipur two years ago.
Before: Earlier than a certain point in time
He goes for a walk before dawn.
From: The time when something starts
The shop remains open from 9:30 AM till
10:00 PM.
Till/ Until: upto a certain point in time
He waited until half past six.
By: Not later than; at or before
He returns from school by 5 o’clock.

Other Types of Prepositions
Off: Leaving a public transport vehicle
She got off the train.
Of: Expressing amount or ownership
She is a friend of mine.
Show her the picture of the palace.
Out of: Leaving a vehicle or a building
She got out of the lift in a hurry.
About: Dealing with a certain topic
We were talking about the movie.
By: a method of travelling; indicating the
creator; indicating a change/ progression
This book was written by Rushkin Bond.
Prices have risen by 2.5 percent.
At: Indicating age
She learned to drive at 65.
On: A method of travelling
He got there by foot.
Please get on the bus before it starts.
From: expressing origin or a change in state
It is a gift from Ashish.
The fever went from bad to worse.
In: Entering a car/ taxi
I asked her to get in the car.

Preposition is ALWAYS followed by:
•Noun: The coffee is on the table.
•Proper noun: He is going to Raipur.
•Pronoun: Mahesh gave it to them.
•Noun group: I took a drive with my new
car.
•Gerund: He went crazy on hearing the
news.
Preposition is NEVER followed by a verb:
If a Preposition is followed by a verb,
then it should be in ‘-ing’ form, which
means a gerund or verb in noun form.
I always dream about winning the
lottery.
Tip #1: What follows a
Preposition?
A. The object in interrogative pronoun is
understood:
That is something with which I cannot agree.
(incorrect)
That is something I cannot agree with. (correct)
B. The object of the preposition is relative
pronoun ‘that’:
This is the book of that he always talks.
(incorrect)
This is the book that he always talks of.
(correct)
C. Preposition is placed after the infinitive if
the infinitive qualifies the noun:
He gave me a pen to write. (incorrect)
He gave me a pen to write with. (correct)
Tip #2: Cases where a
Preposition is not followed
by an object

Preposition with Pronouns: If
object of the preposition is a
pronoun then it should be in
the objective form (me, her,
them), not subjective form (I, she,
they).
This is from my wife and I.
(Incorrect)
This is from my wife and me.
(Correct)
Tip #3: Preposition with
Pronouns
Tip #4: Omission of
Preposition
Await, Lack, Regret, Concern, Board, Ensure,
Affect, Sign, Join, Direct, Order, befall, Eschew,
Attack, Invade, Resist, Resign, Reach, Succeed,
Precede, Pervade, Resemble, Demand,
Consider, Violate, Accompany, Comprise,
Investigate, Discuss, Enter, Stress, Emphasize:
When these verbs are used in active form NO
Preposition is used after them.
She resembles with her sister.
I will discuss about the subject with the
teacher.
Omission of Preposition ‘to’: When verbs of
communication like ‘advise, tell, ask, beg,
command’ etc are used before an object, then
‘to’ should not be used with the verb.
I advised to him to go.

‘Since’ as a Preposition: is used to express
some definite time from the past till the
present .
The person is missing since last Monday.
‘Since’ as a Conjunction: joining two
sentence clauses
Many things have changed since I left the
city.
Since you will not work, you shall not eat.
(as conjunction meaning ‘because’)
‘Since’ as Adverb: is used to express ‘from a
time in the past till now’.
He left the city in 1998 and I have not seen
him since.
Tip #5: Since
‘To’ as a Preposition:
I am used to driving.
‘To’ as an Infinitive :
I love to drive. (here the verb ‘drive’ is in
its basic form and is not the main verb, so
it is an infinitive preceded by ‘to)
‘Beside’ and ‘Besides’:
She sat beside the table. (here ‘beside ‘
means near)
Besides Bharatnatyam she also learning
Kathak. (here ‘besides’ means in addition
to)
Tip #6: To & Beside

‘On’ and ‘In’: ‘In’ is used to refer to ‘by end of
the specified time’ whereas ‘On’ is used to
denote the exact time, neither before nor
after.
The train will leave in ten minutes.
The train is on time.
‘On’ and ‘Upon’: ‘On’ and ‘Upon’ are
prepositions that convey same meaning and
can be used interchangeably. However, in
some cases ‘on’ is used to denote position
where as ‘upon’ is used to denote some
movement.
The pillow is on the bed.
He threw the pillow upon the bed.
‘On’ as preposition of Time and Place:
The shop remains closed on Sunday. (time)
The shop is on the right. (place)
Tip #7: On Vs In, Upon,
Tip #8: In Vs Into, At,
Within
‘In’ and ‘At’: ‘In’ is used in wider and bigger
sense of town, cities, countries etc. But ‘At’ is
used to denote comparatively smaller places.
She lives at Laketown in Kolkata. (Kolkata is a
big city but ‘Laketown’ is a small locality.)
‘In’ and ‘Into’: ‘In’ is used to denote position
whereas ‘Into’ is used to express motion
toward something.
I live in this house. (‘in’ refers to the position
where I live.)
I walked into the house. (‘into’ refers to my
movement towards the house)
‘In’ and ‘Within’: ‘In’ is used to refer to the
end of a specific time, whereas ‘Within’ is used
to denote ‘before the end of specified time’.
He will return in five minutes.
He will return within five minutes.

Identify Preposition from
Adverb: A preposition always has
an object. An adverb never has an
object.
Please come in the
kitchen. (preposition ‘in’ has
object ‘the kitchen’)
Please come in. (adverb ‘in’ has
no object; it qualifies the verb
‘come’)
Tip #9: Preposition or
Adverb?
‘By’ and ‘With’:
He struck the bird with an arrow.
(‘with’ is used to denote
instrument, equipment)
The bird was struck by the
archer. (‘by’ is used for the ‘doer’
of the action)
Tip #10: By & With

Spot the Error
He ordered for the employee’s transfer.
I am concerned with your health.
Ravi is more concerned for getting the job done.
I left home at Monday morning to catch a flight for Bangalore.
He is one of the best players from India and he takes pride of it.

He ordered for the employee’s transfer.
He ordered the employee’s transfer.
I am concerned with your health.
I am concerned for your health.
Ravi is more concerned for getting the job done.
Ravi is more concerned with getting the job done.
I left home at Monday morning to catch a flight for Bangalore.
I left home on Monday morning to catch a flight to Bangalore.
He is one of the best players from India and he takes pride of it.
He is one of the best players in India and he takes pride in it.
Spot the Error

Spot the Error
I look forward to see you.
I dived in the water.
The road repair work disrupted the traffic from two days.
I informed to the police of the burglary.
The lion attacked on the deer.

I look forward to see you.
I look forward to seeing you.
I dived in the water.
I dived into the water.
The road repair work disrupted the traffic from two days.
The road repair work disrupted the traffic for two days.
Spot the Error

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