SIMPLE PREPOSITIONS

English Grammar Tutorials

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Definition Of Simple Prepositions:

Simple Prepositions are “short” or “little” words that express relationships including those of space, time, and degree.

Examples Of Simple Prepositions

Simple Prepositions
at	by	for
from	in	into
of	off	on
out	over	till
to	up	upon
with	under	down

Definitions of some important simple prepositions

At (near, close to, with a purpose)

At is a common preposition with two main meanings. 1.At indicates a position in space. 2. at indeicates a point in time.

1. » ‘at a position in space’

At is used for place or location, when we cannot use ON or IN.

Examples

My son is sitting at the table, doing their homework

There’s someone at the front door: I heard the bell ring.

at the beginning	at the end	at the front
at the back	at the bottom	at the entrance

In some common phrases, the is omitted.

at home

at school

at work

2. » ‘at a position or point in time or stages’

At is used with expressions of clock time.

Examples

The concert starts at 6.30 on Staturday evening

at the moment

at lunch time

at midday

3. At with Numbers

Examples In Numbers

Now a days most people retire at the age of 60

She lives at 244, North Street, England.

The police arrested him for driving a car at 120 Kmph

4. At for towards (a goal of the action)

Examples In Action

Aim at the tiger

Point at the lion

Throw a stone at the dog

By (Place, Means, After a Passive, and Time)

By as a word indicating place

By (preposition) referring to position means ‘near’ or ‘besite’ or ‘next to’

Examples

There’s a policeman standing by my car

Who’s been parking by a ‘No Parking ’ sign?

We drove by your house

The bus was going by the supermarket as I came out

Way of doing something

By as a preposition indicating means, method

Examples

You start the car by turning this sky

The thief must have left the building by the back door

We drove by your house

In taking of means of transport in general, we use by + noun without a or the

Examples

Tom goes to school by bus / train

I came home by bicycle / air

More Examples

done by a carpenter	made by
by the storm	by the side of
by begging	by airmail
by Route 55	by the rules
by six P.M.	by now
by the time	by mine

For (only, particular)

For indicates : a recipient of beneficiary

Examples

We have a present for you

I have news for you

She sang a song for me

For indicates : a special purpose

Examples

You need a coat for winter

He has a bicycle for transportation

We need room for ten people for our party

This pills are for headache

For indicates : the intended result of an action

Examples For Preposition “For”

The boys were screaming for help

What are you looking for?

We need room for ten people for our party

From

For indicates :s a source, point of departure, separation, motion or movement

Examples For Preposition “From”

I hear from him every week

Keep away from the crowd

I come from London

Three from nine equals six

Please start from the beginning

I had an excellent flight from Delhi to London

In

In indicates : location inside, place, time, within, membership of group

Examples For Preposition “In”

The pens are in the box / cupboard

He sat down in the chair and read his novel

Is your brother in? (at home)

There is a boy in the river

Please fill in this form

We went in the car, but they went in a helicopter

He can’t come to the phone because he’s in bed

She was born in the 1800s

Into

In indicates : motion, entrance, forced contact, division, conversion

Examples For Preposition “Into”

He went into the room

I got to go into hospital

They went into business together in 1979

She cut the pie into eight wedges

He always gets into trouble at school

I have translated the language English into French

Of (link of meaning)

Of indicates : belonging or connection

Examples For Preposition “Of”

The pages of the book	belonging
A book of mine	belonging
A guest of my father	belonging
The heart of a lion	belonging
The owner of the car	belonging
The top of the hill	part to whole
A member of Parliament	member to its group
A liter of oil	expression of amount
A group of student	crowd, group, bunch
Much of his advice	crowd, group, bunch
A bowel of fruit	container or units
A bottle of milk	container or units
The roar of the lion	relationship between
The difficulty of learning English	link of the verb be
The art of painting	refer to the same person or thing
The job of being president	refer to the same person or thing
The game of football	linking two nouns
I am afraid of snakes	linking adjectives or verbs
You must be tired of watching T.V.	linking adjectives or verbs
A guest of my father	belonging

Off

Off indicates : place or movement, separate, connected, behaviour

Examples For Preposition “Off”

The car ran off the road	movement
They shoveled the snow off the driveway	movement
She cut off her beautiful long hair	separation
Our street is off Main Street	connected
The children are off school today	behavior
She went off her diet again	behavior

On

On indicates : place, movement, means of travel or time, higher than something and touching it, on the top of

Examples For Preposition “On”

Please sign your name on the dotted line	place
Let’s have a barbecue on the balcony	place
She rides her bicycle on the sidewalk	place
That is the only place on earth where she feels safe	place
The child pasted the picture on the page	place
The porch is on the side of the house	place
The cat is sitting on the floor	place
The cat jumped on the table / window	movement
I go to work on the bus	travel
On Saturday we stayed at home	time
How is going on?	happening
What’s on at the movies?	happening
I heard it on the radio	through the medium of
Would you mind putting a tape on?	through the medium of
Are you going to watch anything on T.V.?	through the medium of
Watch on Star Movies	through the medium of

Out (Adverb of place or motion)

Out indicates : removal, distribution, movement from inside, absence, a distance from, no longer in supply, position

Examples For Preposition “Out”

He pulled out a sharp knife	movement from inside
The fist player to go out loses the game	removal
Please take the trash out	removal
The teacher told me to hand these papers out	distribution
He was freezing when he got out of the water	movement from inside
She took the cake out of the oven	movement from inside
The boss is out of the office	absence
My neighbors are out of the country this month	absence
The restaurant is about three miles out of town	a distance from
They had to walk to the gas station because they ran out of gas	no longer in supply

Over

Over indicates : motion, above, higher than, more than, to the other side, covering, during

Examples For Preposition “Over”

The dog jumped over the fence	movement above
He ran over the bridge	movement above
There is a picture of my father over my bed	above
We can see the tree over the tree	above
We often walk over the fields	to the other side, across
I hurt my knee when I fell over	movement
The child is always running over the floor with muddy feet	covering
I stayed with my aunt over the weekend	during
We are driving at a speed of over a hundred Kmph.	more than
I have gained over five pounds this month	more than
I can do simple math, but that problem is way over my head	more than
She is over there, by the doctor	the other side

Till

Till indicates : a particular time

Examples

I waited till 10 o’clock	at the end of time
The boys studied till midnight	at the end of time

To

To indicates : destination, movement and direction, time, receiver, idioms

Examples For Preposition “To”

Are you coming to the party in this evening	destination of a verb
How are you getting to the Airport tomorrow	destination of a verb
They ride to school on the bus	destination of a verb
Count from one to hundred	movement
The traffic lights changed from red to green	destination
The train is to New York	destination of a noun
The normal working week is from Monday to Friday	time
Mr. David gave a present to her girl friend Sarah	receiver
He delivers the mail to the office	receiver or transfer

Some verb + to (Preposition)

Examples

come to	get to	go to
bring to	walk to	move to
sink to	run to	return to

Up

Up indicates : movement to a higher place, motion towards the sky, next

Examples For Preposition “Up”

He always walks up the steps to the sixth floor	movement
Come up here	adverbs of motion
Coming up next	motion towards
He will be getting up late today	motion towards
The balloon is up	motion towards the sky
She lives two blocks up the street	location further along
Their farm is three miles up the road	location further along
She is going to travel up Route 55	movement along a way
They swam up the river for exercise	against a current of water

With

With indicates : in the company of, instrument, having

Examples For With

We are going out for dinner. Are you come with us?	together
She danced with me	together
She left her children with the babysitter	in the same place as
She always drinks her coffee with sugar	having or adding
The man with gray hari	having
I have an article with pictures for my presentation	having
She sang with great skill	having
He hit me with a stick	instrument
I opened it with this key	instrument
I write with pen	instrument

Under

Under indicates : motion, place, control

Examples Of Under

Children under the trees	in a lower position
The children hid under the table	covered by something else
He has three children under age ten	less than
She stores all her jewellery under the bed	covered by something else
You are under attest	control
She is under the care of a doctor	control
I paid under TEN Dollars for this camera	less than
This game is only for under 19	less than

Down

Down indicates : movement

Examples Of Down

The road runs down into a valley	movement from a higher place
The old man went down the road on foot	covered by something else
The intruder broke the door down	destruction