1.

PREPOSIES DE TEMPO / LUGAR

Estas preposies tm um uso bastante definido. Veja o exemplo abaixo:
LUGAR
AT lugar especfico:

Hes at the bank.

He lives at 59 Park Ave.

ON rua, avenida (o que se parece com uma linha):

The bank is on Park Ave.

He lives on Park Avenue.

IN cidades, estados, pases:

He lives in New York.

TEMPO
AT horas:

Hes arriving at 5 pm.

ON datas, dias da semana:

Hes arriving on Monday.

His birthday is on Dec 2nd.

IN meses, anos:

It happened in 1989.

Como na figura, bank est inserido em Avenue, que por sua vez est dentro de New York; da
mesma forma que 5 pm faz parte de Monday, que est inserido em 1989. No deixe de
consultar o verbete Preposies: AT x IN x ON para ver mais exemplos de uso dessas trs
preposies.
Assim, as preposies abaixo tero uso fixo:

PREPOSITIONS OF TIME
AFTER depois de algo:

Were going to the movies after class.

AGO h quanto tempo, no passado:

He died 5 years ago.

AROUND por volta de; no exatamente:

Dinner is served around 7.

AT horrios especficos; datas comemorativas:

Come at 6.

At Christmas, theres an exchange of gifts.

BEFORE antes de algo:

Make sure its the right size before buying it.

BETWEEN indica dois pontos-limite:

Please hand in your papers between Monday and Wednesday.

BY no mais tarde que; limite mximo da ao:

Ill have finished all the reports by Friday.

DURING por todo um perodo de tempo:

Hes staying with us during the holidays.

FOR durao:

Katie has been married for 4 years.

FROM TO / FROM UNTIL / FROM TILL durao entre dois pontos especficos
no tempo:

Extra classes in the afternoon, from 2 to 6 / from 2 until 6. / from 2 till 6.

IN meses, anos, estaes:

He was born in July / in 1973 / in the summer.

ON dias da semana, datas:

He was born on a Monday / on July 20th.

PAST mais tarde do que:

Its twenty past five.

He arrived past midnight.

SINCE incio da ao/situao:

Shes been having dance classes since last year.

TILL/ UNTIL final da ao / situao:

Jennas staying in Brazil till / until November.

UP TO limite mximo da durao:

You can play computer games up to 1 hour a day.

WITHIN dentro de um determinado perodo de tempo:

This problem must be solved within two hours.

PREPOSITIONS OF PLACE
ABOVE posio mais elevada, no necessariamente numa linha vertical:

The sun was shining above us.

ACROSS de um lado para o outro:

Theres a beautiful bridge across that river.

AFTER seguindo:

The fat cat ran after the little mouse.

AGAINST diretamente oposto:

Sailing against the wind.

ALONG numa linha paralela a algo, ou num ponto desta linha:

Lets walk along the beach.

A tiny house along the river.

Three checkpoints along the road.

AMONG em um grupo:

They came across in the homecoming, among other former students.

AROUND em um crculo; no distante:

The athletes ran around the square.

He lives around here.

AT local especfico:

Why dont we meet at school?

BEFORE na frente de:

There he was, standing before me.

I promise before Almighty God that the evidence which I shall give shall be the truth,
the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

BEHIND numa posio anterior:

She couldnt see the play because she was sitting behind a bulky man.

BELOW posio inferior:

Hypothermia, which is body temperature below 95 degrees, is life-threatening.

BESIDE contguo; adjacente, ao lado:

Come on, sit here beside me.

BETWEEN entre dois pontos de referncia:

Park your car between those two poles.

BY prximo; ao lado:

He sat by the window, grabbed his book and forgot about the world outside.

CLOSE TO uma pequena distncia:

I wish you were so close to me.

DOWN de posio mais elevada para outra abaixo:

We watched the sun go down.

FOR destino:

This ship is leaving for Indonesia.

FROM local de origem:

Where are you from?

IN num espao interior:

Somebody had left a wallet in the taxi.

IN FRONT OF diretamente em frente:

Avoid standing in front of doors. You could get knocked down unexpectedly.

INSIDE num espao anterior (enfatiza o contraste com espao exterior):

Come inside. Its very cold out there.

INTO movimento para dentro:

Three dogs ran into the small garden.

NEAR a uma curta distncia:

Due to a restraining order, he cant come anywhere near here.

NEXT TO contguo; adjacente, ao lado:

Who sits next to you at school?

OFF longe de algo, no exterior:

She put on her hat and off she went!

ON em uma superfcie:

Put all those books back on the shelf.

ONTO movimento numa superfcie:

There was a myriad of worms crawling onto the dead body.

OPPOSITE de frente para algo:

Her grandparents used to live opposite the bank; thats how they saw the robbery.

OUT OF indica movimento de sada ou lado externo:

Get out of my room!

OUTSIDE exterior:

He parked outside so as not to pay $20.

OVER posio mais elevada, sem haver contato:

Your cat has jumped over my fence again!

PAST aps algo:

Go past the supermarket; the bank is the second building.

ROUND num movimento circular:

The scouts were sitting round the campfire.

THROUGH de uma extremidade a outra:

Theres a shortcut to the nearest taxi rank. Just walk through the park and youll be
there in five minutes.

TO destino:

This ship is going to Indonesia.

TOWARDS em direo a algo:

The thief walked towards me and I ran away.

UNDER verticalmente numa posio inferior:

She found his wallet under the bed.

UP indica movimento para ou em uma posio mais elevada:

Stand up and say your name.

2. FUNES
Para usar bem as preposies fora do contexto tempo/lugar, preciso pensar na alma da
preposio, ou seja, a ideia que ela expressa. Por exemplo, se quero indicar que algo est em
contato como as roupas que visto esto sobre meu corpo, ou o contato eltrico de um
equipamento ligado devo usar a preposio on, que exatamente a que expressa esse
conceito! Simples, no?
Veja abaixo uma relao das principais preposies e suas funes:
ABOUT em relao a algo, ou de forma aproximada:

We were talking about the news.

About 20% of the population disagree with the measure.

AT algo especfico:

Hes very good at fixing computer bugs.

This new proposal for a joint action aims at incorporating two additional elements.

BY meio; meio de transporte; agente:

I would prefer even to fail with honor than win by cheating (Sophocles).

Dont come by car; take the train instead.

The speech delivered by the candidate was a real shame.

FROM origem de algo:

This park is a gift from the community to the environment.

FOR inteno:

Are these flowers for me?

OF causa, material, quantidade:

Jos Alencar, former Brazilian vice-president, died of cancer.

Find the coolest objects made of wood here.

Is drinking 2 liters of water a day a healthy habit?

OFF separar segmentos:

The branch broke off and fell on the car; two people were injured.

ON contato:

Put on your shoes.

Turn on the TV.

Put the books on the shelf.

OVER ultrapassando:

Go over that bridge and turn right.

The new figures show an increase of over 10%.

THROUGH de uma extremidade a outra; de forma completa:

We were supposed to read through that three-thousand-page report in just one week.

TO destino; propsito:

Its quarter to eight.

Have you come here just to talk?

UP completamente:

In 1998, the band broke up when their arguments over money grew too stressful.

WITH indica acompanhamento:

Stop complaining about your sedentarism and come with me to the gym.

WITHOUT indica ausncia:

Without music, the world would be a boring place.

3. WORD COMBINATIONS (VERB / NOUN /

ADJECTIVE + PREPOSITION)
Muitos substantivos, adjetivos e verbos combinam-se frequentemente com preposies. Nesse
caso, regras no so geralmente aplicadas. O ideal ir aprendendo aos poucos, em vez de
tentar memorizar extensas listas. No vou listar aqui todas as combinaes possveis de
substantivos, adjetivos e verbos + preposies, pois o post ficaria interminvel, e podemos

facilmente encontrar vrias listas na Internet. Veja abaixo alguns exemplos de cada um dos
casos:
NOUN + PREPOSITION

Theres going to be a complete ban on fishing in the North Atlantic.

The movie star became a slave to alcohol and cocaine and eventually died.

I have every sympathy with his family.

I cant stand discrimination against women.

ADJECTIVE + PREPOSITION

I feel so sad about Georges leaving town for good.

She keeps saying hes not fond of her.

Look at this collection! You must be crazy about music!

Dont you know hes allergic to peanuts?

VERB + PREPOSITION

Last night, I dreamed about green fields, birds, streams

Who objects to this measure?

I dont approve of the way my nephew behaves in class.

The critics were puzzled by the avant-garde character of his dance.

Voc notou que nos exemplos acima as preposies no correspondem quelas usadas em
portugus? Pois O segredo ir aprendendo gradualmente. E, em caso de dvida, basta
procurar num bom dicionrio! Lembre-se de que entre os phrasal verbs existe a combinao de
verbo + preposio, porm com significado geralmente distinto do verbo que o origina. Tambm
nestes casos, no h regra especfica para a preposio a ser utilizada. Vale o mesmo princpio
de ir aprendendo aos poucos.
E uma ltima dica: como sempre, analise o contexto. Voc pode conhecer um significado, mas
a expresso estar sendo utilizada em outro contexto, ou em sentido figurado. Observe:

TAKE OFF levantar voo:

The plane is taking off. (sentido literal)

Her career as a model is taking off. (sentido figurado)