Prepositions
1. Time
| Preposition | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| at | clock time, night, a point | at 10 o'clock, at night |
| on | days, dates, a particular day's part | on Monday, on 15th August, on Sunday morning |
| in | months, years, seasons, parts of day | in 1995, in winter, in the morning |
| since | point of time, with perfect tense | ill since Monday |
| for | length of time | for three days |
| from | starting point, non-perfect tense | from tomorrow; from 10 to 5 |
| by | not later than | by Friday |
| till / until | up to a time (action continues) | waited till 6 |
| during | within an event/period | during the lecture |
| in / within | at the end of / before the end of | in an hour / within a week |
in time = early enough; on time = punctually.
2. Place and movement
- in (cities, inside), at (exact point, small locality), on (surface, floor).
- into / onto / out of = movement. in / on = rest.
- across (side to side of a surface), through (inside a space), along (length).
- over (covering/movement above) vs above (higher position, scale); under (directly beneath) vs below (lower level).
- beside = next to; besides = in addition to.
- between = two; among = more than two.
- to = direction (went to school); till = time; to = place (walked to the end).
- by = agent (by Ravi), means of transport (by bus); with = instrument (with a knife); on foot.
- upon for motion (sprang upon), on for rest.
3. Fixed prepositions (learn as pairs)
- of: afraid, fond, aware, capable, proud, jealous, sure, accused, cured, deprived, in charge, in the habit, consist (= made of), die (disease).
- to: addicted, married, senior, junior, prefer A to B, belong, entitled, accustomed, objection, sentenced, beneficial, equal (capable), agree to a proposal, responsible to a person.
- in: interested, weak (subject), confidence, take pride, consist (= lies in), deaf in one ear.
- at: good (skill), laugh, look.
- with: angry (person), charged, agree (person), busy, quarrel, overwhelmed, ill with.
- for: famous, responsible (thing), eager, fit, cure (noun), apologise for.
- from: prevent, refrain, absent, different, suffer, die (cause, not disease).
- on: insist, congratulate, agree (a matter to settle).
- Others: abide by, command over, famous as (role), come of (family).
- Phrasal: look after (care), look into (investigate), look for (search), look up (dictionary), look up to (respect), look down upon (despise), look forward to + -ing.
4. No preposition after these verbs
enter the room, discuss the matter, reach the station, marry someone, resemble his father, order tea, go/come/reach home.
5. compare to / compare with
compare to = show likeness (Life is compared to a journey); compare with = examine likeness and difference (compare the copy with the original).