Prepositions
Prepositions of Time, Place and Movement.
Prepositions don not stand alone, but rather act with other elements of the sentence to create the main sense. We use prepositions of time to locate an event in a specific moment or period, prepositions of place to express the location of something or someone and prepositions of movement to show movement from one place to another.
Prepositions of Time
The prepositions are small words that connect elements in a sentence. Prepositions of time are used to locate the event in a time context.
The main prepositions of time are:
- At: for exact times, special holiday periods and weekend;
- On: days of the week, dates and specific part of the day;
- In: months, years, seasons, centuries, the morning, the afternoon and the evening;
- By: time-limited actions, projects with deadline and time of someone´s return.
For example:
— “I will go to my grandparents’ house at Christmas.”
— “I will go to my grandparents’ house on 25th of December.”
— “I will go to my grandparents’ house in December.”
— “I will return from my grandparent´s house by December.”
NOTE: In American English you can find Christmas and weekend with on instead of at.
Prepositions of Place
Prepositions of place are used to locate an event in a space frame.
The main prepositions of place are:
- At: exact position at a point, before the name of group activities, with some words;
- On: position on a surface, on a line, public transport, directions;
- In: position inside large areas, three-dimensional space and areas surrounded on all sides, continents, buildings;
- By: left or right of somebody or something, next to somebody or something, not far away in distance.
For example:
— “I work at home today.” = We use at to express a specific point or place.
— “I work on the left of the corner”.” = We use on to express directions.
— “I work in this building.” = We use in to express the position inside a 3-dimensional place.
— “I work by this building.” = We use by to express that a place is near to the other.
Prepositions of Movement
The prepositions are small words that connect elements in a sentence. Prepositions of movement are used to express movements or directions:
- Movement to or from a place: to, from, down, up, away from…;
- Movement from one side to another: across, along…;
- Changing position: in/into, on/onto, out of, off, over, under…
For example:
— “I go to Ibiza every summer.” = We use to to express a change of position made to reach a specific destination.
— “Be careful when you go across the streets.” = We use across to express a change of position from a side to another through a path.
— “My grandfather walks in/into the living room.” = We use in/into to express a change of position to enter a 3-dimensional place.
