Prepositions are among the smallest words in English and easily the most frustrating. You can know 5,000 vocabulary items and still hesitate between on Monday and in Monday, or between arrive at and arrive in. That hesitation is normal: prepositions rarely translate one-to-one between languages, and most of their meanings are decided by convention rather than logic.
This guide gives you the full working list of English prepositions, organised so you can actually retain them — grouped by function, illustrated with real sentences, and followed by the patterns that cause the most errors.
What a Preposition Actually Does
A preposition links a noun (or pronoun, or -ing form) to the rest of the sentence, showing a relationship of place, time, direction, cause or manner. The noun that follows it is called the object of the preposition, and together they form a prepositional phrase.
- The keys are under the sofa. (place)
- We’ll meet after lunch. (time)
- She did it for her sister. (reason)
- He left without saying goodbye. (preposition + -ing form)
Note that last example. After a preposition, an English verb takes the -ing form, never the infinitive: interested in learning, not interested in to learn. This single rule fixes a large share of intermediate-level errors.
English has roughly 70 single-word prepositions in everyday use, plus around 80 multi-word phrases such as in front of and because of. It is a closed class: no new prepositions are being invented, so the list you learn now is the list for life.
The Core List of English Prepositions by Function
Learning prepositions alphabetically is a waste of effort. Learning them in functional clusters gives your memory something to hold on to.
| Function | Prepositions | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Place / position | in, on, at, under, over, above, below, beneath, behind, beside, between, among, near, by, inside, outside, opposite, against, around, along | The café is opposite the station. |
| Movement / direction | to, into, onto, from, out of, off, through, across, towards, past, up, down, around, along, via | She walked through the park towards the river. |
| Time | at, on, in, before, after, during, for, since, until/till, by, from, within, throughout, past | I’ve lived here since 2019. |
| Cause, purpose, reason | for, because of, due to, owing to, thanks to, from, out of | The flight was cancelled due to fog. |
| Manner, means, instrument | by, with, without, like, as, on | He fixed it with a screwdriver. |
| Agent, topic, relation | by, of, about, concerning, regarding, according to, despite, in spite of, instead of, except, besides | A documentary about deep-sea life. |
In, On, At: The Three That Cause Most Errors
If you master only three prepositions properly, make them these. The useful mental model is size and precision: at is a point, on is a surface or a line, in is an enclosed space or a period.
| AT (point) | ON (surface / day) | IN (enclosed / period) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Place | at the bus stop, at the door, at work, at 42 Green Street | on the table, on the wall, on the second floor, on the coast | in the kitchen, in Berlin, in the car, in a queue |
| Time | at 6 p.m., at night, at Christmas, at the weekend (UK) | on Friday, on 3 May, on my birthday, on the weekend (US) | in April, in 2026, in the morning, in ten minutes |
| Watch out | at home, at school, at university | on the bus, on a plane, on the train | in bed, in hospital (UK), in a taxi |
The “watch out” row is where the logic breaks down. You are on a bus but in a car — because you can walk around inside a bus and not inside a car. That explanation is helpful, but don’t stretch it too far. In bed, on time and at night are simply fixed expressions, and treating them as vocabulary rather than grammar will save you hours.
Prepositions of Movement, Compared
Movement prepositions are more logical than time prepositions, which makes them fast to learn if you compare the near-synonyms directly.
- to vs into: to marks a destination (I went to the museum); into marks entry across a boundary (I went into the museum).
- across vs through: across is a flat surface (across the field); through passes inside something three-dimensional (through the forest).
- over vs above: over often implies covering or crossing (a bridge over the river); above is simply higher (the shelf above the sink).
- between vs among: between takes two or more separate, identifiable items (between Spain, France and Italy); among takes an undifferentiated mass (among the crowd).
- past vs by: both mean going alongside and beyond, but past is more common for movement (drive past the church).
Dependent Prepositions: The Real Vocabulary Work
Most preposition errors at B2 level and above are not about place or time at all. They come from dependent prepositions — the fixed partner that a particular verb, adjective or noun demands. There is no rule here; these are collocations, and you learn them as units.
- Verbs: depend on, listen to, apologise for, belong to, insist on, succeed in, consist of, result in, accuse someone of, rely on, complain about
- Adjectives: good at, afraid of, interested in, similar to, different from, responsible for, married to, proud of, aware of, keen on
- Nouns: a reason for, an increase in, a solution to, an advantage of, a demand for, an effect on, an attitude towards
Some English verbs take no preposition where many languages expect one: discuss, enter, marry, call, answer, lack and approach are all followed directly by an object. Say We discussed the plan, not We discussed about the plan.
Multi-Word Prepositions
These behave as single units and are extremely common in written and formal English: in front of, on behalf of, in addition to, with regard to, in spite of, instead of, as well as, apart from, due to, according to, in terms of, by means of, ahead of, next to, close to, thanks to.
A practical distinction: despite and in spite of mean the same thing, but despite takes no of. Write despite the rain or in spite of the rain — never despite of the rain.
Five Errors Worth Eliminating This Week
- Infinitive after a preposition. Use -ing: I’m looking forward to meeting you.
- Arrive in vs arrive at. Arrive in a country or city; arrive at a building or specific point.
- Since vs for. Since takes a starting point (since March); for takes a duration (for three months).
- Married with. You are married to a person; you have a house with a garden.
- On the internet, not in the internet. Also on a website, but in an email.
How to Learn Prepositions So They Stick
Stop memorising isolated words. Record prepositions inside full phrases — depend on the weather, not just depend + on — because your brain retrieves chunks far more reliably than rules. Then read a lot and notice them; prepositions are high-frequency, so a single hour of reading exposes you to hundreds of correct examples. Finally, get your speaking corrected. Preposition errors almost never block comprehension, which is exactly why they survive for years unless someone points them out.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many prepositions are there in English?
Around 70 single-word prepositions are in regular use, though about 15 of them — of, in, to, for, with, on, at, from, by, about, as, into, like, over, after — account for the overwhelming majority of everyday occurrences. Add multi-word phrases such as in front of and the total rises to roughly 150.
Can a sentence end with a preposition?
Yes. “Never end a sentence with a preposition” is a myth imported from Latin grammar in the 18th century. Natural English regularly does it: Who are you waiting for? and That’s the book I told you about. Avoiding it in speech sounds stiff; in very formal writing you may prefer for whom are you waiting, but it is a style choice, not a rule.
What is the difference between a preposition and an adverb particle?
A preposition always has an object; a particle in a phrasal verb does not. Compare She ran up the hill (preposition — up introduces the hill) with She made up a story (particle — up belongs to the verb make up). The test: if you can move the word after the object, it’s a particle (She made a story up).
What’s the fastest way to stop making preposition mistakes?
Focus on your own recurring errors rather than the whole list. Keep a running note of every preposition correction you receive, group them by verb or adjective, and review that personal list weekly. Twenty targeted collocations will improve your accuracy more than memorising all 150 prepositions.
Prepositions reward feedback more than any other area of English grammar — you need someone to catch the small slips you can’t hear yourself. Book a lesson with a tutor at The Cognitio and turn the guesswork into instinct.