Prepositions

A quick review of our old friends - the prepositions!

Here we are interested in prepositions of place - where do things go...

The first exercise is for those prepositions that are static - where?

The second exercise is for those prepositions that involve some kind of movement - where is the object going?

Look at the diagrams. Try to think which preposition the diagram represents, then move your mouse over the letter to check your answer.

Exercise 1

N.B. The preposition ‘at’ is a bit different from the others because it doesn’t give you a fixed reference point.

Example: I’ll meet you at the cinema. This sentence does’t tell you exactly where! Compare this sentence with ‘I’ll meet you outside/inside/in front of/behind the cinema. In the second sentence you know exactly where to look for your friend.

Exercise 2

N. B. Learners of English generally make more mistakes with this second group than with the first. Common slips are ‘on’ instead of ‘onto’; ‘in’ instead of ‘into’; ‘over’ instead of ‘above’.

It is quite likely the prepositions ‘about’ and ‘along’ are new to you.

Think of the sentences:

• We walked about in the forest for half an hour.
• I walked along the corridor.
• I drove my car along the road.

There is a little bit more work to do about ‘where things are’. We will continue with ‘spatial awareness’ on the next page.