Prepositions of time, place and movement, and fixed combinations

Prepositions of time

Preposition	Use	Examples
at	clock times, noon, night, holidays	at 0800, at noon, at night, at Christmas
on	days and dates	on Monday, on July 4th, on my birthday, on Friday morning, on the weekend
in	months, years, seasons, parts of the day, long periods	in May, in 2026, in winter, in the morning, in the 1990s
for	a length of time	for three hours, for ten years
since	a starting point (present perfect)	since 2019, since Monday
during	within a period (+ noun)	during the flight, during the war
by	not later than (a deadline)	Finish the report by Friday.
until, till	up to that time (the action continues)	We waited until midnight.
in + a period	after a period of time from now	The bus leaves in ten minutes.

ECL tipIn time means early enough: "We arrived in time for the briefing." On time means at the planned time: "The train left on time."

Common mistakes

Wrong: I'll see you in Monday.Right: I'll see you on Monday.
Wrong: He has lived here since five years.Right: He has lived here for five years.

Preposition	Use	Examples
at	a point, an address, an event	at the gate, at 25 Main Street, at a meeting, at the airport
in	inside a space, cities, countries	in the room, in the truck, in Texas, in Morocco
on	a surface, a line, floors, streets	on the table, on the wall, on the second floor, on Main Street
above, over	higher than	The helicopter flew over the base.
below, under	lower than	The cat is under the bed.
between (two, or separate items) · among (a group)	in a group	between the two trucks · among the soldiers
next to, beside, by	at the side of	The PX is next to the gym.
in front of, behind, across from (opposite)	position	The jeep is parked behind the building. · The PX is across from the bank.

Transportation: in a car or a taxi; on a bus, a train, a plane or a ship; by car, by bus; on foot.

Preposition	Example
to	We drove to the airport.
into, out of	He jumped into the water. · She ran out of the building.
onto, off	The cat jumped onto the roof. · Get off the bus at the next stop.
across: from one side to the other of a surface	They swam across the river.
through: inside something, from one end to the other	The train went through the tunnel.
along	We walked along the beach.
up, down	He climbed up the ladder.
toward, past	She walked toward the gate. · We drove past the hospital.

Common mistakes

Preposition	Adjectives
of	afraid of, aware of, capable of, full of, proud of, tired of, jealous of, fond of, short of, sure of
in	interested in, involved in, experienced in
at	good at, bad at, skilled at, surprised at
about	worried about, excited about, sorry about, upset about, angry about (a thing)
with	angry with (a person), satisfied with, familiar with, busy with, pleased with, fed up with, crowded with
for	responsible for, famous for, ready for, late for, qualified for, eligible for
to	similar to, married to, used to, close to, kind to, polite to, equal to, accustomed to, related to
from	different from, absent from, far from, safe from

Preposition	Verbs
on	depend on, rely on, count on, insist on, concentrate on, congratulate someone on, comment on
for	apply for, ask for, wait for, pay for, search for, apologize for, blame someone for, thank someone for, prepare for
to	belong to, listen to, reply to, report to, object to, refer to, apologize to someone, explain something to someone, happen to
of	consist of, approve of, think of, accuse someone of, remind someone of, take care of, get rid of
in	believe in, participate in, succeed in, specialize in, result in, arrive in (a city, a country)
from	suffer from, recover from, prevent someone from, protect someone from, differ from, graduate from, retire from
with	deal with, agree with (a person), cope with, provide someone with, supply someone with, fill something with, comply with
about	think about, worry about, complain about, talk about, dream about, care about
at	look at, stare at, aim at, arrive at (a building, an airport)

Common mistakes

Preposition	Nouns
for	reason for, need for, demand for, request for, respect for, responsibility for
of	cause of, example of, lack of, knowledge of, advantage of, member of
to	answer to, solution to, invitation to, key to, reaction to, damage to, access to
in	increase in, decrease in, rise in, fall in, change in, interest in
with	problem with, relationship with, contact with
on	effect on, influence on, attack on, ban on, tax on
between	difference between, relationship between

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Practice 128 questions

All 128 questions on this topic, in a new order each time.