PREPOSITIONS OF MOVEMENT, PLACE AND TIME

Prepositions are words – in, on, at, behind, under etc. – that usually stand in front of nouns. There are hardly any rules as to when to use a particular preposition so you must learn them slowly over time. You do this by reading English books, learning common phrases and looking them up in a dictionary.

PREPOSITIONS OF MOVEMENT: We use prepositions of movement to show movement from one place to another. We usually use them with verbs of motion. For example “How do you go to work?”

1. I looked……………the window and saw people in the street.
2. Do you know how to put a film …………… the camera?
3. How far is it ………….. here ………….. the airport
4. The museum was very big. It took us an hour………..walk ……….the museum.
5. You can put your coat ……………the back of the chair.

PREPOSITIONS OF PLACE: We use prepositions of place to say where things are. They describe the position of a person or thing in relation to something else. For example: on the desk, behind the door, under the carpet.

1. My cat is ……….the sofa.
2. The newspaper is ……….the table.
3. Where are the apples? They’re ………. the fridge ………..the milk and the eggs.
4. The clock is ………..the wall ……….television.
5. I sat……….my brother in the cinema.

PREPOSITIONS OF TIME: these include in, at, on, and for days, weeks, months, seasons, morning, afternoon, evening and night etc.

1. I’ll meet you ………..the morning

2. The meeting starts……….three o’clock ………..the afternoon.

3. She was born………..the morning……….Christmas Day.

4. She went ……….holiday ……….the summer.

5. ………the moment I’m working on my homework

ANSWERS

Prepositions of movement

1. from/out
2. in
3. from to
4. to around
5. on

Prepositions of place

1. on
2. under
3. In between
4. on over
5. next to

Prepositions of time

1. in
2. at in
3. in on
4. on in
5. At