Preposition and Its Types with Examples

Imagine a world without prepositions. No ‘in,’ ‘on,’ or ‘at’ to help us pinpoint location, no ‘from,’ ‘to,’ or ‘through’ to indicate direction. Prepositions may seem like small, unassuming words, but their impact on language is monumental.

In this article, we’ll embark on a journey through the fascinating world of prepositions and explore their various types with real-life examples. Get ready to discover how these seemingly insignificant words play a crucial role in shaping the structure and meaning of our sentences.

Definition of Preposition

A preposition is a word that links nouns, pronouns, or phrases to other words within a sentence. It typically indicates a relationship of direction, place, time, or method between its object and another part of the sentence.

Preposition and Its Types

A preposition is a part of speech that indicates the relationship between a noun or pronoun and other elements in a sentence. It often shows the direction, location, time, or method of something.

Types of Prepositions with Examples

Simple Prepositions

Definition: Simple prepositions are basic, single-word prepositions that are commonly used in English. They are fundamental to sentence construction.

Examples in Sentences:

1. The cat is on the table.
2. She lives in New York.
3. He arrived after
4. They walked through the park.
5. The painting is above the fireplace.
6. He sat beside
7. The book is under the pillow.
8. Flowers are in the vase.
9. She went into the store.
10. The bird flew over the lake.

Double Prepositions

Definition: Double prepositions are formed by combining two simple prepositions to make a single preposition. These offer a more specific direction or location.

Examples in Sentences:

1. She passed into the room.
2. The cat jumped out of the box.
3. They walked up to the door.
4. He looked down on the city.
5. She is working from within the organization.
6. He walked up to the edge.
7. She came out of
8. The bird flew out of the cage.
9. He is inside of the car.
10. They are moving towards the mountains.

Compound Prepositions

Definition: Compound prepositions consist of two or more words that function as a single preposition. They often express relationships of time, space, or direction.

Examples in Sentences:

1. The shop is across from the bank.
2. He worked in front of the audience.
3. She lives along with her friends.
4. The cat sat next to the dog.
5. They met despite the rain.
6. He is ahead of everyone else.
7. She went along with the plan.
8. The tree fell because of the storm.
9. He was due to the traffic.
10. It happened by the rules.

Participle Prepositions

Definition: Participle prepositions are participles (words derived from verbs) that function as prepositions. They often end in -ing, -ed, or -en.

Examples in Sentences:

1. He is tired considering the work.
2. They are excited regarding the trip.
3. The project is pending
4. She is worried owing to the delay.
5. The decision was made bearing in mind the costs.
6. They were successful notwithstanding the difficulties.
7. She is singing during the show.
8. He is busy working on the project.
9. The team is focusing on the goal.
10. She was crying following the news.

Phrase Prepositions (Prepositional Phrases)

Definition: Phrase prepositions, or prepositional phrases, are groups of words that act as a single preposition. They provide additional details like location, time, or method.

Examples in Sentences:

1. They met in front of the theater.
2. He waited at the end of the line.
3. The bird is on top of the tree.
4. She works according to the rules.
5. The picture is next to the window.
6. He arrived in the middle of the night.
7. She is studying in spite of being tired.
8. They left in case of an emergency.
9. The keys are on behalf of the owner.
10. He spoke because of his experience.

Must Learn About:

Nouns, Pronouns, Verbs, Adjectives, Adverbs, Interjections, Prepositions, Conjunctions

Time Prepositions

Definition: Time prepositions are used to specify when something happens. They can indicate points in time, durations, and relations to time.

Examples:

1. Before
2. After
3. During
4. Until
5. Since

Sentences:

1. We will meet before
2. The store opens after 8 AM.
3. She reads during her break.
4. Wait here until I return.
5. He has been there since

Place Prepositions

Definition: Place prepositions indicate the location or position of something. They describe where something is situated in relation to another object.

Examples:

1. On
2. In
3. At
4. Under
5. Between

Sentences:

1. The book is on the table.
2. She is waiting in the lobby.
3. Meet me at the entrance.
4. The cat is hiding under the bed.
5. The park is between the two buildings.

Direction Prepositions

Definition: Direction prepositions are used to show the direction in which something is moving or the direction towards something.

Examples:

1. To
2. Towards
3. Into
4. From
5. Through

Sentences:

1. He walked to the store.
2. She moved towards the door.
3. The bird flew into the window.
4. They traveled from Paris to
5. She drove through the tunnel.

Agency Prepositions

Definition: Agency prepositions are used to indicate a relationship of agency, usually showing who or what is performing an action. They are often used with passive verbs.

Examples:

1. By
2. With
3. Through

Sentences:

1. The novel was written by the famous author.
2. The cake was cut with a sharp knife.
3. The message was delivered through a courier.

Instrumental Prepositions

Definition: Instrumental prepositions indicate the instrument, tool, or means by or with which something is done or achieved.

Examples:

1. With
2. By
3. Using
4. Through
5. Via

Sentences:

1. He repaired the watch with tiny tools.
2. The photograph was taken by a drone.
3. She made the dress using silk fabric.
4. Information was sent through
5. The journey was made via

Examples of Prepositions in Sentences

1. The book is on the table.
2. She walked to the store.
3. He jumped over the fence.
4. The cat slept under the bed.
5. They traveled by
6. She looked at the painting.
7. He drove through the tunnel.
8. The bird flew above the trees.
9. They met in front of the library.
10. She is from
11. He works with
12. The letter is for
13. They played music during
14. He waited until
15. She lives near the school.
16. The flowers are beside the path.
17. She arrived after the show started.
18. The dog is between the chairs.
19. He swam across the river.
20. The picture hangs above the fireplace.
21. She ran towards the park.
22. They are traveling to
23. He leaned against the wall.
24. The keys are on top of the fridge.
25. They were talking about the movie.
26. She is sitting next to
27. The book belongs to
28. He is in front of the queue.
29. The hat is inside the box.
30. The story is based on true events.

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Preposition List

About	Above
Across	After
Against	Along
Amid	Among
Around	As
At	Before
Behind	Below
Beneath	Beside
Besides	Between
Beyond	But
By	Concerning
Considering	Despite
Down	During
Except	For
From	In
Inside	Into
Like	Near
Of	Off
On	Onto
Out	Outside
Over	Past
Regarding	Round
Since	Through
Throughout	To
Toward	Under
Underneath	Until
Up	Upon
With	Within
Without	According to
Alongside	Apart from
As for	As of
As per	As regards
Aside from	Back to
Because of	Close to
Due to	Except for
Far from	In front of
In lieu of	In place of
In spite of	Instead of
In view of	Next to
On account of	On behalf of
On top of	Opposite to
Out of	Outside of
Owing to	Prior to
Thanks to	Through to
Up to	Versus
Via	With regard to
With respect to	As well as
On to	On board
As against	Across from
Along with	In addition to
In accordance with	In answer to
In case of	In front of
In light of	In reaction to
In reference to	In relation to
In response to	In search of
On behalf of	On top of
In conjunction with	In contrast to
In excess of	In favor of
In need of	In order to
In place of	In regard to
In spite of	In terms of
In the event of	In the face of
In the hope of	In the light of
In the middle of	In the name of
In the wake of	On account of
On the basis of	On the edge of
On the grounds of	On the part of
On the side of	On the strength of
On the subject of	Out of respect for
Prior to	As opposed to
In keeping with	In lieu of
In line with	In the absence of
In the course of	In the interest of
In the process of	In the vicinity of
On the verge of	With a view to