In this blog post we are going to look at prepositions of place, state and movement in English. Prepositions are always quite challenging in any language and often it’s just about remembering when and where you use them. We hope this brief guide can help out!
Prepositions of place
These are part of speech that give information about the location of an event or action. Here are the main prepositions used:
in – I live in the UK
on – The cat is on the table
under – The pen is under the sofa
beside – The book was beside me on the bed
in front of – The post office is in front of my house
into – Put the pen into the box
out of – He took the gift out of the packaging
behind – Look behind you, someone is walking there!
through – I put the transaction through the machine
What are the most common prepositions of place?
In and at are the most common prepositions of place. Let’s see how they are used:
In
– When you refer to a place physically
I have an event in that hall
– For streets without an address
My office is in Dean Street
– For cities, countries and all geographical names
Alex lives in Birmingham
At
– When we talk about a place although when referring to an event taking place rather than the physical space
I was at work
– For exact addresses
I used to live at 25 Acacia Avenue
– When you make reference to a place although not physically only by its function
We will meet at the cinema
Prepositions of state
There are quite a lot of prepositions of state but here we will look at some of the main ones:
On – indicates being on top of something
The pen is on the table
Under – means below
The book is under the sofa
Over – indicates being above something else without touching
The helicopter is hovering over us
Above – this is the same as over but is more generic in its use
The town is above the valley
Between – indicates being in the middle of two
The cat is between the tree and the house
Among – means being part of many
He’s the best player among them
Opposite & in front of – indicate facing someone or something
The post office is opposite the bank
Behind – indicates at the back of
Jane is hiding behind the tree
Next to – indicates to be directly adjacent or beside
His girlfriend sat next to him on the bench
Near – indicates being close in a generic way
The petrol station is near the High Street
Around – expresses being close to, often in a circular or semi-circular shape
The players gathered around their captain
Prepositions of movement
There are fewer prepositions of movement to or from a place so it should be easier to remember them.
From – indicates an action that began in a certain place
I’m coming from work
I come from France
To – indicates an action going towards a place
I go to university
Into – this is very similar to ‘to’ but only refers to enclosed spaces
I’m going into the laboratory
Through – indicates crossing an enclosed space
She slowly walked through the tunnel
Across – indicates crossing an open space
He walked across the street to go to the post office
Just be careful when you use prepositions, translating can sometimes work but not always! Focus on the phrases that are different to your language, use them in context and after a while you will start to remember them.
An alternative to prepositions of place, state and movement in English – Phrasal verbs!
Phrasal verbs also use prepositions but the difference here is that the prepositions change the meaning of the main verb. Take a look at our blog on phrasal verbs for more of a detailed look.
