Learn Prepositions of Place: Grammar, Usage, and Practice Exercises

🔍 What are Prepositions?

Prepositions are function words that show the relationship between words in a sentence. They help us define time, place, direction, cause, and other important aspects of communication. Prepositions don’t change according to person, number, or tense, but using them correctly is extremely important for accurate and grammatically correct expression.

English has more than 100 prepositions, though approximately 50 are commonly used. The most common categories of prepositions include:

• Prepositions of place
• Prepositions of time
• Prepositions of direction
• Prepositions of reason

Grammatical characteristics of prepositions:

• Prepositions typically come before a noun or pronoun
• They do not change form based on gender, number, or case
• They often form fixed expressions with verbs (phrasal verbs)
• They can sometimes appear at the end of a sentence (particularly in conversational English)

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📍 Prepositions of Place

Prepositions of place are words that indicate the location of objects in space. They answer the question “where?” and help to precisely describe the position of an object.

Table of Common Prepositions of Place

Below is a table of the most commonly used prepositions of place in English, sorted approximately by frequency of use:

Preposition	Meaning	Example
in	inside, within	in the room
on	on (a surface)	on the table
at	at, near (a point)	at the station
under	below, beneath	under the bed
behind	at the back of	behind the house
in front of	before, facing	in front of the cinema
next to	beside, adjacent to	next to the window
between	in the space separating two things	between the trees
above	higher than (without contact)	above the clouds
over	higher than (may involve covering)	over the bridge
below	lower than	below sea level
by / beside	close to, near	by the river
across	on the opposite side of	across the street
opposite	facing, on the other side	opposite the bank
among	surrounded by (many)	among the crowd
through	from one side to the other	through the forest
inside	within	inside the box
outside	not within	outside the building
near	close to	near the station
along	following the length of	along the river
around	surrounding, encircling	around the park
against	touching, in contact with	against the wall

Main prepositions of place and their usage

🔹 at — used to indicate:

• A specific point in space
• An address without a house number
• A meeting place
• Certain establishments where typical activities occur

Examples:

• I’m waiting at the bus stop.
• She lives at 42 Park Avenue.
• We’ll meet at the entrance.
• My brother works at the hospital.

🔹 in — used to indicate:

• Location inside an enclosed space
• Countries, cities, large districts
• Parts of the day, month, year, season

Examples:

• There are some books in the box.
• They live in London.
• He was born in Ukraine.
• The meeting is in the conference room.

🔹 on — used to indicate:

• Contact with a surface
• Streets, avenues
• Floors of a building
• Public transportation (except for taxis and cars)

Examples:

• The book is on the table.
• She lives on Oxford Street.
• His office is on the third floor.
• We were traveling on the bus.

🔹 under — used to indicate:

• Position beneath something
• Being covered by something

Examples:

• The cat is hiding under the bed.
• I put the box under the table.
• The city is under snow.

🔹 above / over — used to indicate:

• Position higher than something (without contact)
• Higher position

Examples:

• The plane is flying above/over the clouds.
• The picture is hanging above/over the fireplace.
• The temperature is above zero.

🔹 below / under — used to indicate:

• Position lower than something
• Lower position

Examples:

• The temperature is below zero.
• The submarine is below the surface of the ocean.
• We live below them in the apartment building.

🔹 between — used to indicate:

• Position among two objects

Examples:

• The bank is between the post office and the supermarket.
• She was sitting between her parents.

🔹 among — used to indicate:

• Position surrounded by many objects

Examples:

• The house is hidden among the trees.
• She felt comfortable among friends.

🔹 next to / beside — used to indicate:

• Position adjacent to something/someone

Examples:

• The library is next to the park.
• He was sitting beside me during the concert.

🔹 in front of — used to indicate:

• Position before an object (from the front side)

Examples:

• There’s a beautiful garden in front of our house.
• The car is parked in front of the restaurant.

🔹 behind — used to indicate:

• Position at the back of an object

Examples:

• The garage is behind the house.
• The child was hiding behind the tree.

🔹 across — used to indicate:

• Position on the opposite side
• Crossing from one edge to another

Examples:

• The park is across the street.
• They walked across the bridge.

🔹 through — used to indicate:

• Movement inside something from one end to another

Examples:

• We drove through the tunnel.
• The sun was shining through the window.

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💡 Complex Cases and Exceptions

Specific cases of using prepositions of place:

1️⃣ Buildings and establishments:

• at — when referring to a building as a place of activity:
  • She’s at school. (She is studying at school.)
  • He’s at work. (He is working.)
• in — when referring to physical presence inside a building:
  • She’s in the school building. (She is physically inside the school building.)
  • He’s in the office. (He is inside the office.)

2️⃣ Public transportation:

• on — for buses, trains, planes, ships:
  • She’s on the bus. (She is riding the bus.)
  • We’re on the train. (We are riding the train.)
• in — for cars, taxis:
  • He’s in the car. (He is inside the car.)
  • They’re in a taxi. (They are inside a taxi.)

3️⃣ Streets and roads:

• on — for streets:
  • They live on Baker Street. (They live on Baker Street.)
• in — for roads connecting cities:
  • We stopped in the road to ask for directions. (We stopped in the road to ask for directions.)

Compound prepositions of place:

• next to (adjacent to)
• in front of (before)
• on top of (on the upper surface)
• underneath (beneath)
• in the middle of (in the center)
• at the back of (behind)
• on the corner of (at the intersection)

Examples:

• The dog is sleeping next to the fireplace.
• The plates are on top of the cupboard.
• There’s a fountain in the middle of the square.

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🧠 Practical Tips for Using Prepositions of Place

How to remember correct usage:

1. Visualize spatial relationships.
2. Practice through exercises and daily use.
3. Pay attention to context in authentic materials.
4. Create personal examples for each preposition.

Common mistakes to avoid:

• Confusing in and at for buildings:
  • ❌ I was in the airport. (when referring to the process, not physical presence)
  • ✅ I was at the airport. (when referring to being at the airport for travel purposes)
• Incorrect use of in and on for transportation:
  • ❌ I am in the bus.
  • ✅ I am on the bus.
• Confusion between between and among:
  • ❌ The book is between many others on the shelf.
  • ✅ The book is among many others on the shelf.

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📝 Practice Exercises for Prepositions of Place

Test your knowledge of prepositions of place! Fill in the blanks in the sentences below with the correct prepositions. Click the button to check your answer.

📚 Level 1: Beginner

1️⃣ The book is _____ the table.

▶️ Show answer

on — We use “on” to indicate contact with a surface.

2️⃣ My cat is hiding _____ the bed.

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under — We use “under” to indicate a position below something.

3️⃣ She’s waiting _____ the bus stop.

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at — We use “at” to indicate a specific point or location.

4️⃣ We live _____ London.

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in — We use “in” to indicate location within cities.

5️⃣ The picture is hanging _____ the wall.

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on — We use “on” to indicate contact with a vertical surface.

📘 Level 2: Intermediate

6️⃣ The café is _____ the bank and the post office.

▶️ Show answer

between — We use “between” to indicate a position with two objects on either side.

7️⃣ The birds are flying _____ the trees.

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above/over — We use “above” or “over” to indicate a position higher than something else.

8️⃣ Please put the milk _____ the refrigerator.

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in — We use “in” to indicate location inside an enclosed space.

9️⃣ The supermarket is _____ the cinema.

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opposite — We use “opposite” to indicate location facing something across a space.

🔟 The restaurant is _____ the street, next to the bank.

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across — We use “across” to indicate location on the other side of a street or area.

🔍 Level 3: Advanced

1️⃣1️⃣ The hikers walked _____ the forest for two hours.

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through — We use “through” to indicate movement within and across a space or medium.

1️⃣2️⃣ The children were playing _____ the trees in the park.

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among — We use “among” to indicate position surrounded by multiple objects.

1️⃣3️⃣ I couldn’t find my keys, but they were right _____ me on the desk.

▶️ Show answer

in front of — We use “in front of” to indicate position directly before someone/something.

1️⃣4️⃣ We’re waiting _____ the entrance to the theater.

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at — We use “at” to indicate a specific point or location.

1️⃣5️⃣ The boat is sailing _____ the river.

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down/along — We use “down” or “along” to indicate movement following the course of a river.

🏆 Level 4: Expert

1️⃣6️⃣ Our office is located _____ the fourth floor of the building.

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on — We use “on” to indicate levels or floors of buildings.

1️⃣7️⃣ The painting hangs _____ the fireplace.

▶️ Show answer

above — We use “above” to indicate position higher than another object without physical contact.

1️⃣8️⃣ The ball rolled _____ the table and stopped _____ the wall.

▶️ Show answer

under, against — We use “under” for movement beneath something and “against” to indicate contact with and pressure on a vertical surface.

1️⃣9️⃣ We stood _____ the rain for almost an hour.

▶️ Show answer

in — We use “in” to indicate being surrounded by weather conditions.

2️⃣0️⃣ The climbers finally reached the peak and planted their flag _____ the mountain.

▶️ Show answer

on top of — We use “on top of” to indicate the highest point of an object.

📊 Check Your Results

How many correct answers did you get?

• 18-20 — Excellent! You have a great understanding of prepositions of place.
• 15-17 — Very good! Just a few points to clarify.
• 10-14 — Not bad! But more practice would be helpful.
• Less than 10 — You need more practice. Review the theory and try again.

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🌟 Summary

Correct use of prepositions of place is an important aspect of learning English. It allows you to precisely describe the location of objects in space and avoid misunderstandings.

The main prepositions of place have their specific usage patterns:

• at — for specific points in space
• in — for enclosed spaces
• on — for surfaces
• under — for positions beneath something
• above/over — for positions above something
• between — for positions between two objects
• among — for positions surrounded by many objects

Regular practice and attention to context will help you master these important elements of English grammar and make your speech more natural and precise.