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Prepositions
Space
Geography
Means of transportation
Time
"To" with indirect objects
Related topics
Space
In their simplest f orm, prepositions are used to indicate position (in time or space) of one thing with respect to another:
I put the book on the table.
She arrived bef ore the others.
He came toward me.
There are many prepositions. Here is a partial list, with examples:
to -- He gave the book to his f riend.
at -- They arrived at his house at 5 o'clock.
of -- It was the third day of the month.
f rom -- That young women comes f rom Thailand.
on -- She put the plate on the table.
under -- The cat crawled under the bed.
over -- The boy threw the rock over the tree.
underneath -- The rabbit escaped underneath the f ence.
bef ore -- (time) She arrived bef ore the movie started.
af ter -- He called his mother af ter he f inished shopping.
in f ront of -- His mother parked her car in f ront of his apartment.
behind -- The dog ran behind the house.
f or -- He went to the store f or more milk.
toward -- The criminal walked toward him with a gun.
against -- Everyone was against that idea.
around -- The athletes ran around the track six times.
close to -- He placed the f ood close to the squirrel.
f ar f rom -- He placed the f ood f ar f rom the lion.
next to -- He was hot, so he sat down next to the air conditioning.
f acing -- She sat down on the other side of the table, f acing him.
in the midst of -- I don't know where to f ind any f ree time in the midst of these emergencies.
Usage of prepositions
The use of prepositions is one of the most complex aspects of English, and it is impossible to cover all cases. Some general guidelines,
however, may be helpf ul.
Geography
Movement toward a town, country, state, or continent is generally expressed by the preposition "to"; presence in a city, state, etc. is
expressed by "in"; movement away f rom a city, state, etc., is expressed by "from" (if the verb requires a pronoun):
When are you going to Canada.
He went to Asia last year.
I spent three years in London.
She was born in Normandy.
He comes f rom Mexico.
Transportation
As a general rule, the preposition "by" is used to describe how one has traveled. The prepositions "in" and "on" describe one's
presence inside a vehicle. In the case of small vehicles (a car, a helicopter...), the preposition "in" is required:
I came by bike.
Traveling by plane is my f avorite.
I was already on (in) the train when he arrived.
She is waiting f or me in the car.
Time
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To designate an hour the preposition "at" is used:
Let's meet at six o'clock.
They arrived at 4:45.
For dates and days of the week, one uses "on":
His birthday is on Monday.
It happened on March 3, 1997.
For months one uses "in":
My birthday is in September.
We will begin work in August.
To express duration, the preposition "for" is used; "in" can be used to express the time it will take to complete a task:
I am going away f or a f ew days.
He worked with them f or three years.
I can read that book in a day.

Indirect objects
The preposition "to", which generally precedes an indirect object, will disappear bef ore a noun (or pronoun) when the indirect object
precedes a direct object. ("To" will be retained when the indirect object f ollows a direct object.)
Examples :
She gave John the ticket.
Mais : She gave the ticket to John.
or:
He sent her a letter.
Mais : He sent a letter to her.
Ou : He sent it to her.
This can also be seen in certain phrases in which the direct object is implicit.
I already told it to him.
Mais : I already told him (the news).
Related topics
Verbs with prepositions
Prepositional verbs
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