Prepositions in English: in, on, at and more, with examples

Prepositions are the small words that show how things relate to each other. They tell you where something is (in the box), when something happens (at six), and which way something moves (to the door). There are only a few dozen of them, but they appear in almost every sentence, and they are some of the hardest words in English to get right.

The reason is simple and worth stating early: prepositions almost never translate one-to-one between languages. The preposition your own language would use is very often not the one English uses. So the trick is not to translate but to learn the English pattern directly.

What prepositions do

Most prepositions sit before a noun and link it to the rest of the sentence:

• Place: The cat is under the chair.
• Time: We met after lunch.
• Direction: She walked towards the river.

The first three sections below cover these three jobs: place, time and movement.

Prepositions of place: in, on, at

These three do most of the work, and they follow a clear logic. In is for spaces with boundaries, on is for surfaces and lines, at is for points.

A few of these are worth memorising as fixed phrases: at home, at work, at school. With streets, British English also often uses in: a shop in Oxford Street is as normal as on Oxford Street. Note also the transport split: you are in a car or in a taxi (small, enclosed) but on a bus, on a train or on a plane (you can stand up and walk about).

Prepositions of time: in, on, at

The same three words run the timetable, and the logic mirrors place: in for long stretches, on for single days, at for exact points.

Watch the exceptions. We say in the morning, in the afternoon and in the evening, but at night. And in British English it is at the weekend, not on the weekend (more on that below).

Prepositions of movement and direction

These show motion from one place to another. They answer the question "which way?" rather than "where?".

The pair to watch is to versus into. Use to for the destination (go to bed, go to work) and into when you focus on entering an enclosed space (go into the bedroom).

One word breaks the pattern: home takes no preposition after a verb of movement (go home, come home, get home). Never say go to home.

Other common prepositions

Beyond place, time and movement, a handful of prepositions turn up constantly. They carry several meanings each, so learn them through examples rather than a single definition.

Two of these cause trouble. By and with both answer "how?", but by is for the method (by car, by email) and with is for the tool you hold (with a pen, with a hammer). And for with a length of time means duration (for two hours), which is different from the during you might reach for by instinct (during the film).

Dependent prepositions

Some verbs and adjectives are always followed by a particular preposition, and there is no rule that predicts which one. These are called dependent prepositions, and the honest truth is that you have to memorise them. Learn the verb or adjective and its preposition together, as one unit. When a verb follows a preposition, it takes the -ing form: interested in learning, good at cooking. The gerund and infinitive page has more on that rule.

Arrive deserves a note: use arrive at for a specific place or point (arrive at the airport, arrive at work) and arrive in for a town or country (arrive in Spain). It is never arrive to.

Why prepositions resist translation

This is the heart of the difficulty. A French speaker who says I am thinking of you in French uses a preposition that maps onto to or at, not of. A Spanish speaker depends of something rather than on it, because that is the Spanish pattern. Each language has its own logic, and these logics rarely line up.

So do not ask "what is the translation of this preposition?" Ask "which preposition does English use here?" and learn the whole phrase. Listen to, depend on and good at are vocabulary items, not grammar puzzles to solve.

Do not confuse a dependent preposition with a phrasal verb. In listen to music, the preposition just links the verb to its object and the meaning of listen does not change. In look after a child, look after is a new verb with a new meaning (take care of). Some verbs have both parts, like look forward to and put up with: those are phrasal-prepositional verbs.

British vs American usage

A few prepositions differ between the two main varieties. Both are correct within their own variety.

British English drops the article in in hospital and at university when you mean the institution rather than the building. American English says in the hospital and usually in college. Both varieties say at school. More differences between the two varieties are in British vs American grammar.

Common mistakes

The ones that turn up most.

1. Dropping to after listen. I listen the music is wrong. It is listen to music. Before an object, listen always needs to.
2. Saying depend of. It is depend on, every time. It depends of the weather should be It depends on the weather.
3. Using arrive to. Wrong in all cases. Say arrive at (a point) or arrive in (a town or country): arrive at the office, arrive in Tokyo.
4. The wrong time word: in Monday. Days take on, not in. It is on Monday.
5. Saying good in something. The fixed phrase is good at. She is good in maths should be She is good at maths.

Practice

Choose the correct preposition. Answers are below.

1. The keys are ___ the kitchen table.
2. My birthday is ___ 12 March.
3. I am not very good ___ drawing.
4. We arrived ___ the airport two hours early.
5. She got ___ the bus and sat down near the back.

Answers: 1. on (a surface) 2. on (a date) 3. at (the fixed phrase is "good at") 4. at (a specific point; "arrive at") 5. on (you get "on" a bus, not "in" it)