What are prepositions in English?

Prepositions are words like in, at, to, or for that we use before a noun to show how that noun is related to the rest of the sentence. For example, the preposition can help you decide if a noun is the location of an object, the time of an event, the reason for the action, the direction of movement, or something else.

In this post, we’ll talk about what a prepositional phrase is and how to use them with verbs and nouns. Then, we’ll introduce you to the most important types of prepositional phrases. Along the way, we’ll give you some tips about where you can learn more about English prepositions and their uses.

Let’s jump in and get started!

Did you know that there are about 150 prepositions in English!? We won’t cover all of them in this post, but here is some basic information about prepositions:

• ✅Most prepositions are single words, and they’re usually short. Here are some of the most common prepositions in English: in, at, to, of, from, by, about, with, before, after, and into.

• ✅Some prepositions are more than one word! Here are a few of the most common multi-word prepositions: in front of, next to, on top of, close to, across from, ahead of, due to, along with, and in regard to.

• ✅Some English participles like given, regarding, including, and following, can also be used as prepositions, especially in formal writing.

A prepositional phrase is a group of words that is made of a preposition followed by a noun phrase or a pronoun:

The noun phrase or pronoun that follows a preposition is called the object of the preposition. If the object of the preposition is a personal pronoun, then you use the object pronoun:

• ✅ The person behind me is wearing strong perfume.
• ❌ The person behind I is wearing strong perfume.

A prepositional phrase can act as an adjective and modify a noun:

A prepositional phrase can also act as an adverb and modify a verb.

We can also use a prepositional phrase as the subject in a sentence (like a noun), but this is a less common way to use prepositional phrases:

• Under the bed is where I store my winter clothes.
• Before the movie is the best time to buy snacks.

Usually prepositional phrases go after the word or phrase they’re modifying:

However, the prepositional phrase doesn’t always go directly after the verb or noun:

• If the verb has an object, the prepositional phrase will follow the verb and the object, not just the verb:

  verbobjectprepositional phrase

  ❌Marie practiced for an hour the violin.

  ✅Marie practiced the violin for an hour.

  In English, we never put the prepositional phrase between the verb and its object!

• You can put adverbs between a verb and the prepositional phrase:

  magentaadverbprepositional phrase

  ✅We walked quickly across the crowded street.

• Just like an adjective, sometimes a prepositional phrase that describes the subject can follow the verb be:

  nounprepositional phrase

  ✅The meeting is in the conference room.

  But prepositional phrases do not usually follow other linking verbs like seem or look:

  • ❌The meeting seems at 2 p.m.
  • ❌Marianne looks with her friend.

• Some kinds of prepositional phrases can be moved to the beginning of a sentence. Here, the prepositional phrase is followed by a comma:

  Behind me, a girl was talking on her phone.

  You can do this to avoid repetitive sentence structures, to sound more literary, or sometimes to emphasize the prepositional phrase.

The main kinds of prepositional phrases in English are:

• Prepositional phrases of time describe when something happened:

  • I like to take walks at night.
  • Sarah has a dentist appointment on Tuesday.
  • My parents were born in the 1950s.
  • Can you meet next Wednesday?

  Prepositions used to create prepositional phrases of time are called the English prepositions of time. Some common ones include: in, at, on, from, to, until, since, next, last, during, for, before, over, and by.

• Prepositional phrases of direction or movement describe the destination, goal, or source of movement:

  • I put the books in the box.
  • Michael likes to walk along the river.
  • The car drove through the tunnel.
  • I drove to the store.
  • Let’s walk through the park.
  • She threw the ball over the fence.
  • He put the box under the table.
  • Can you put your coat inside the closet?
  • Uh oh, I think we just drove past the exit.

  Prepositions used to create prepositional phrases of direction are called English prepositions of direction or sometimes prepositions of movement. Some common ones are: in, along, through, to, over, under, inside, past, and from.

• Prepositional phrases of place describe where something is or where it happens:

  • Let’s meet at the library.
  • My house is on River Street.
  • I live in Ohio.
  • My garage is behind my house.
  • I hung a painting above the couch.
  • The apples are inside the house.

  Prepositions used to create prepositional phrases of place are called English prepositions of place. Some common ones include: in, on, at, behind, above, over, inside, outside, in front of, under, and more!

• Prepositional phrases of manner describe how something happened:

  • The boy saw the moon using a telescope.
  • Sandra gave the instructions in English.
  • Marcus traveled by train.
  • The kids greeted their aunt with excitement.

  Prepositions used to create prepositional phrases of manner are called prepositions of manner. Some common ones include: with, using, by, by means of, or in.

But there are also a couple of smaller groups of prepositions, including:

• Prepositional phrases of purpose introduce the goal or beneficiary of an action:

  I made cookies for Paul’s party.

  Follow the link to learn more about prepositions of purpose in English!

• Prepositional phrases of reason introduce something that caused the action:

  We went home because of the rain.

  Follow the link to learn more about prepositions of reason in English!

• By-phrases introduce the agent (do-er) of a passive verb:

  The mouse was caught by the cat.

  To learn more about by-phrases, have a look at our post on passive verbs in English!

• Of-phrases are used in possessive constructions, phrases that describe a part of a whole, or the object of an action (though there are some other uses as well!):

  • the owner of this dog

    possessive construction
  • a piece of the pie

    part of a whole
  • many of the children

    part of a whole
  • the driver of a car

    object of the action “drive”

In this post, we’ve taken a look at prepositions and prepositional phrases in English. Here are the main points to remember:

• Use a preposition before a noun, noun phrase, or pronoun to form a prepositional phrase. Use object pronouns after prepositions.

• Prepositional phrases can describe nouns or verbs. Usually the prepositional phrase comes after the word it describes, but there are some exceptions:

  • Prepositional phrases come after the object of a verb.

  • Adverbs can come between the prepositional phrase and the verb.

  • Prepositional phrases can follow the verb be when they describe the subject.

  • Some prepositional phrases can go to the beginning of a sentence for emphasis.

• Finally, we went over some of the the most important kinds of prepositional phrases: time, direction, and location.

Now, have a look at these activities to practice using prepositions and prepositional phrases in English! Happy learning!