Prepositions
The small words that change everything
“On Monday at 5 pm in the morning”… why do these tiny words trip up everyone learning English? Because they’re tiny, frequent, idiomatic, and they don’t translate. This page sorts them out: place, time, movement, common mistakes, and a corpus-ranked top 50 you can actually memorise.
No. 01 — Foundations
What is a preposition?
A preposition is a small word that connects a noun (or pronoun) to the rest of the sentence. It usually answers where, when, how, with what, or by whom. There are only about 150 in the whole language — and the top ten alone do most of the work.
Two textbook definitions
“A word governing, and usually preceding, a noun or pronoun and expressing a relation to another word or element in the clause — the man on the platform, she arrived after dinner.”— Oxford
“A word that connects a noun, a noun phrase, or a pronoun to another word — especially to a verb, another noun, or an adjective.”— Cambridge
Example one
“The duck floated on the surface of the pond.”
on connects floated to the surface (location). of connects the surface to the pond (which surface? the pond’s).Example two
“The dog ran across the yard and hid between the bushes.”
across tells us the route (movement). between tells us the position (place).Why prepositions are hard
Three reasons. One: they almost never translate — English’s on Monday is German’s am Montag, French’s lundi (no preposition), Spanish’s el lunes. Two: they’re idiomatic — “interested in“, not “interested about“, with no rule to predict it. Three: they’re tiny, so students under-attend to them. Yet swap one preposition and the meaning changes: I’m thinking about you (my mind is on you) is different from I’m thinking of you (a flicker, a kindness).
No. 02 — Place
Where? In, on, at.
For location, three prepositions cover most of what you need. Get these three solid before you worry about the rest.
in
Inside something- in the box
- in the room
- in London
- in the world
- in the photo
on
Touching a surface- on the table
- on the wall
- on the floor
- on the bus / train / plane
- on page 12
at
A specific point- at the door
- at the corner
- at the bus stop
- at home / work / school
- at the back
Click to see where the ball goes.
Spatial prepositions, animated.between
One thing in the middle of two. “Between you and me.” “Between Monday and Friday.”
among
One thing surrounded by three or more. “Among friends.” “Among the trees.”
opposite
Facing — on the other side. “The bank is opposite the post office.”
next to / beside
Right next to. “Sit next to me.” “She walked beside him.”
near
Close, but not exact. “I live near the station.”
inside / outside
“Inside the building.” “Outside the window.” Stronger than in / out.
No. 03 — Time
When? Same three prepositions, different rules.
In, on and at do double duty — they cover both place and time. The trick is the scale: in for long periods, on for days, at for clock times.
in
Long periods- in the morning / afternoon
- in January
- in 2026
- in the 21st century
- in five minutes
on
Days & dates- on Monday
- on 15 May
- on my birthday
- on Christmas Day
- on Sunday morning
at
Clock times & fixed expressions- at 5 pm
- at midnight
- at night
- at the weekend (BrE)
- at Christmas (the period)
since
A starting point. “I’ve lived here since 2020.”
for
A duration. “I’ve lived here for five years.”
during
Within a period. “He called during the meeting.”
by
A deadline. “Finish it by Friday.”
until / till
Up to a point. “Open until 9 pm.”
from … to
A range. “From Monday to Friday.”
No. 04 — Movement
Going where?
Movement prepositions describe direction or path. Many of them double as place prepositions; the difference is that movement prepositions answer where to? rather than where?
to
destination
from
origin
into
entering
out of
exiting
onto
onto a surface
off
away from a surface
through
through a space
across
side to side
along
following a line
around
in a circle
toward(s)
in the direction of
past
going by
over
above and across
up
upwards
down
downwards
No. 05 — Other relationships
The other things prepositions show.
Beyond place, time and movement, prepositions can also mark how something is done, who did it, where it came from, and what it belongs to.
She works as a teacher. Why is he behaving like a child?
The window was broken by the storm. The book was written by Hemingway.
She’s from Poland. The recipe is from my grandmother.
The door of Keith’s car has been repaired. The colour of the sky.
The S&P 500 increases by about 7% a year. Tomatoes are sold by the kilo.
He gave a talk about climate change. A book on Roman history.
No. 06 — Types
Five kinds of preposition.
Most teachers and grammars sort prepositions by their shape — one word, two words, fixed expressions, or words borrowed from verb forms.
Simple preposition
A single word. The vast majority of common prepositions are simple.
“He sat on the chair.”
Double preposition
Two simple prepositions used together as a unit. (Note: onto and into were once considered double; they’re now usually treated as single words.)
“He came out of the house.” Also: up to, off of, in between.
Compound preposition
A multi-word fixed expression that functions like a single preposition.
“We were in the middle of the storm.” Also: according to, in spite of, on top of, instead of.
Participle preposition
A word that came from a verb form (a participle) but now works as a preposition.
“Considering the weather, we cancelled.” Also: given, regarding, following, concerning, including, notwithstanding.
Prepositional phrase
Not a type of preposition itself, but a structure: a preposition + (modifiers) + noun. Almost every preposition you meet sits inside one.
“We hiked through the dense forest.”
No. 07 — Dependent prepositions
The preposition the word demands.
Some words come with a fixed preposition attached. Depend goes with on. Interested goes with in. There’s no rule — you have to notice and remember. Type any word in the search box to find its preposition.
Verb & preposition
Adjective & preposition
Noun & preposition
No. 08 — Common mistakes
The traps — and how to avoid them.
Most preposition errors come from one of three places: a missing preposition where English doesn’t need one, a translated preposition that English doesn’t use, or a mismatch between British and American conventions. Here are the ones that catch B1+ learners most.
discuss about the issue
discuss the issue
“Discuss” takes no preposition in English. The “about” is built into the verb.
marry with her
marry her
You marry someone, not with them. (Same for “phone”, “tell”, “ask”.)
depend of the weather
depend on the weather
“Depend” always takes on. Always.
listen me
listen to me
“Listen” always takes to when it has an object.
explain me the answer
explain the answer to me
“Explain”, “describe”, “say” go to someone, not directly to them.
in the morning of Sunday
on Sunday morning
When a day attaches, the whole expression takes on.
in last year
last year
No preposition with last / this / next / every + time word.
arrive to the airport
arrive at the airport
“Arrive” takes at for places, in for cities and countries.
British vs American splits
Worth memorising: idiomatic chunks
Some preposition combinations don’t translate to other languages and can’t be predicted. Memorise them as units, the same way you’d memorise a word.
in the dark
without information
on the ball
alert, capable
out of the blue
unexpectedly
by heart
memorised
on purpose
intentionally
at last
finally
in time / on time
early enough / punctual
under the weather
slightly ill
over the moon
very happy
in charge of
responsible for
by mistake
accidentally
on the whole
generally
“Never end a sentence with a preposition.”
You’ll hear this from someone who learnt it from someone who learnt it from a 17th-century grammarian trying to make English behave like Latin. It is not a real rule. “Who did you go with?” “What is this for?” Both are perfectly correct, and rewriting them (“With whom did you go?”, “For what is this?”) sounds stilted.
Churchill is supposed to have mocked the rule with: “This is the sort of nonsense up with which I will not put.” Whether he actually said it or not, the point holds. End sentences with prepositions whenever it sounds natural.
No. 09 — The reference list
The top 50, by frequency.
Combined from the Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA) and the British National Corpus (BNC). Numbers indicate approximate rank in everyday English. Hover any word to highlight it.
If you can use the top 10 confidently — of, in, to, for, with, on, at, by, from, about — you handle roughly 90% of all preposition use in English. Master those before you worry about the rest.
Tier 1 · Master these
Tier 2 · Good to know
Tier 3 · For completeness
A note on contested entries. Than and but are usually classified as conjunctions, but some modern grammarians (Huddleston & Pullum, Pinker) treat them as prepositions in certain contexts. Besides works as both a preposition and an adverb. None made the top 50 by frequency in their preposition senses alone, so they’re omitted here.
Prepositions don’t yield to rules — they yield to noticing. Read with them in mind for a week, and you’ll start to feel which one belongs. That’s how every fluent speaker actually does it.
No. 10 — Practice
Now try ten. By level.
Ten controlled-practice worksheets — two for every CEFR level. Pick your level, choose place & time or dependent prepositions, fill the gaps, then check your answers. Right answers go green; wrong go red.