Prepositions in English Grammar - Types, Rules and Usage

What are Prepositions in English Grammar?

A preposition is a word placed before a noun or pronoun to show its relation with other words in a sentence regarding time, place, direction, position, cause, reason, agency, or instrument. Common prepositions are in, on, at, to, from, with, by, for, of, about, under, over, between, among, into, onto, through, during, despite, beside, besides. Prepositions are crucial for SSC CGL, CHSL, CPO, Railway, Banking, CTET because error spotting, fill in the blanks, and cloze tests heavily test appropriate prepositions, fixed prepositional phrases, and commonly confused prepositions like in vs on vs at, beside vs besides, between vs among.

Types of Prepositions

Prepositions of Place, Position and Direction

Prepositions of Place show where something is: at for small places and exact points (at home, at school, at the station), in for big places enclosed (in Delhi, in India, in a room, in the garden), on for surface contact (on the table, on the wall, on the floor). Prepositions of Position show exact position: under (below and covered), below (lower than), over (above and covering), above (higher than), between (between two persons/things), among (among more than two), beside (next to), besides (in addition to), behind, in front of, inside, outside. Prepositions of Direction show movement: to (destination - go to school), into (movement inside - jump into river), onto (movement on surface - climb onto roof), towards (direction - walk towards market), from (source - come from Delhi), through (via inside - go through tunnel), across (from one side to other), along (in line with road).

Prepositions of Cause, Agency and Prepositional Phrases

Prepositions of Cause and Reason show why: because of (because of rain), due to (due to fever), for (for this reason), with (tremble with fear), from (suffer from cold). Prepositions of Agency and Instrument show how action done and by whom: by for doer (book written by Premchand), with for instrument (cut with knife, write with pen). Many fixed prepositional phrases are asked: in spite of, instead of, in front of, on behalf of, by means of, according to, due to, owing to, apart from. Appropriate prepositions are fixed with verbs, adjectives, nouns - good at maths, fond of sweets, afraid of dogs, interested in music, responsible for work, angry with person but angry at behaviour, eligible for post, capable of doing, accused of theft.

Commonly Confused Prepositions and Error Rules

Students confuse between vs among, beside vs besides, in vs into, on vs onto, since vs for. Between is used for two persons or things, among for more than two - divide between Ram and Shyam, distribute among students. Beside means next to (sit beside me), besides means in addition to or apart from (besides maths, he knows science). In shows position inside (he is in the room), into shows movement inside (he jumped into the river). On shows surface position (book on table), onto shows movement on surface (climbed onto table). Since is used for point of time (since Monday, since 2020), for is used for period of time (for two days, for three years). Preposition is not used before yesterday, today, tomorrow, last, next, this, that - we say last night, not in last night, next week not in next week. No preposition before home when direction - go home, come home, but at home for position. These error rules are most important for SSC exams - avoid preposition before transitive verbs like discuss, enter, reach, resemble, marry - we discuss the matter not discuss about, enter the room not enter into room, reach home not reach to home.