Inkspire English – Learn English with Dipayan Sir

✅ What is a Preposition?

A preposition is a word that shows the relationship of a noun or pronoun to another word in the sentence. It usually refers to direction, location, time, or introduces an object.

📌 It always appears before a noun or pronoun (called the object of the preposition).

Examples:

The book is on the table.
He walked to the park.
She arrived after dinner.

✅ Types of Prepositions with Examples

1. Prepositions of Place/Position

Preposition	Example
in	The keys are in the drawer.
on	The clock is on the wall.
at	She is at the bus stop.
under	The ball is under the bed.
over	The painting hangs over the sofa.
between	The lamp is between the chairs.
among	The cat hid among the bushes.
beside/next to	She sat beside her friend.

2. Prepositions of Direction/Movement

Preposition	Example
to	He went to the market.
into	She went into the room.
onto	The cat jumped onto the bed.
from	I came from school.
out of	He got out of the car.
off	She got off the train.
towards	They walked towards the beach.
across	He ran across the street.

3. Prepositions of Time

Preposition	Example
at	The meeting is at 5 pm.
on	He was born on Monday.
in	I was born in December.
by	You must return by 6 pm.
before	Finish it before noon.
after	We’ll go after lunch.
during	No phones allowed during class.
since	I have been waiting since morning.
for	She lived in Delhi for 3 years.

4. Prepositions of Cause, Reason, Purpose

Preposition	Example
for	This gift is for you.
because of	The match was cancelled because of rain.
due to	She was late due to traffic.
owing to	Owing to his illness, he was absent.

5. Prepositions of Manner, Instrument, Agency

Preposition	Example
by	The book was written by Orwell.
with	He cut the paper with scissors.
like	She dances like a professional.
without	Don’t go without permission.

6. Prepositional Phrases

A group of words beginning with a preposition and ending with a noun/pronoun.

Examples:

In front of
In spite of
On behalf of
At the top of
With regard to

Usage:

He stood in front of the mirror.
In spite of the rain, we played.

✅ Special Uses of Prepositions

1. ‘At’, ‘On’, ‘In’ with Time

Time Expression	Preposition	Example
Exact time	at	at 6 pm, at midnight
Days/Dates	on	on Monday, on 5th June
Months/Years	in	in March, in 1990
Longer period	in	in the 18th century

2. ‘At’, ‘On’, ‘In’ with Place

Place Type	Preposition	Example
Point	at	at the station
Surface	on	on the floor
Enclosed space	in	in the room

3. ‘Since’ vs ‘For’

Use	Since	For
Point of time	since 5 pm, since Monday	❌
Duration	❌	for 3 hours, for 2 days

✅ Common Prepositional Idioms

Expression	Meaning
In charge of	responsible for
On time	punctual
At a loss	puzzled, unsure
In favour of	supporting
Out of order	not working
By all means	certainly
Under pressure	stressed

✅ Common Errors and Exceptions

❌ Wrong: He is good in English.

✔ Correct: He is good at English.

❌ Wrong: She is married with a doctor.

✔ Correct: She is married to a doctor.

❌ Wrong: I prefer coffee than tea.

✔ Correct: I prefer coffee to tea.

❌ Wrong: He is angry on me.

✔ Correct: He is angry with me.

❌ Wrong: He discussed about the issue.

✔ Correct: He discussed the issue. (No preposition needed)

✅ Exercises (For Practice)

He jumped ___ the pool.
She arrived ___ the airport at 6 am.
I’ve been here ___ morning.
We stayed there ___ a week.
This letter is ___ your sister.

(Answers: into, at, since, for, for)

✅ Summary Table

Function	Prepositions
Place/Position	in, on, at, under, over
Time	at, on, in, since, for
Direction	to, into, onto, towards, from
Cause/Reason	because of, due to, for
Manner/Instrument	with, by, like, without
Phrases	in front of, in spite of, etc.

Grammar, Intermediate

Preposition (Advance)