How to teach preposition

Tips for Teaching Prepositions | EnglishClub

The author of the ebook “English Prepositions List” summarizes some of the key points to understand when teaching prepositions and offers tips to make your teaching more effective

Prepositions form a small but important word class, being very frequently used. In fact, the prepositions to, of, in, for, on, with, at, by, from are all in the top 25 words in English. Helping students understand and correctly use prepositions contributes greatly to their fluency. In this article, Josef Essberger, author of English Prepositions List, summarizes some of the key points to understand when teaching prepositions and offers tips to make your teaching more effective.

What do prepositions do?

A clear understanding as to what prepositions are actually for is essential for the teacher, although it may not be necessary to go in detail into the grammar points below at all levels.

Function of a preposition

The function or “job” of a preposition is to express the relationship between two words in a sentence, specifically between a noun, verb or adjective and a noun or pronoun*:

• the woman beside John
• ran into the shop
• happy with you

A preposition is typically (not always) followed by a noun or pronoun (the “prepositional object”) and together they form a “prepositional phrase” (beside John, into the shop, with you).

*Strictly speaking this can be a noun (including proper noun), pronoun, noun group or gerund (verb in noun form):

• noun (dog, table, love) – They are in love.
• proper noun (Bangkok, Mary) – I went to Bangkok.
• pronoun (you, him, us) – She spoke to him.
• noun group (my first job) – I was poor before my first job.
• gerund (swimming) – She is passionate about swimming.

A prepositional phrase functions as an adjective or adverb to modify a noun, verb or adjective:

• the woman beside John (“beside John” functions as an adjective modifying the noun “woman”)
• He works before lunch. (“before lunch” functions as an adverb modifying the verb “works”)
• happy with it (“with it” functions as an adverb modifying the adjective “happy”)

Forms of prepositions

Prepositions have no particular form. The majority of prepositions are one-word prepositions, but some are two- or three-word phrases known as complex-prepositions:

• one-word prepositions (before, into, on)
• complex prepositions (according to, but for, in spite of, on account of)

“Complex prepositions” (on account of) should not be confused with “prepositional phrases” (on the table, on account of his age).

Types of prepositions

Many prepositions have more than one meaning. The meaning can be literal (in the box) or metaphorical (in love). The literal meanings fall into several categories, for example:

• place — under the bed
• time — on Sunday
• movement — towards the horizon
• manner — by train
• means —  with a blunt instrument
• accompaniment — without a job
• possession — a friend of mine
• purpose — done for charity

Note that many prepositions belong to more than one category (eg on the table/on Monday, with her friend/with a screwdriver).

A pronoun following a preposition should be in object form

The noun or pronoun that follows a preposition forms a ‘prepositional object’.  If it is a pronoun, it should therefore be in the objective form (me, her, them), not subjective form (I, she, they):

• This is from my wife and me.
• That’s between him and her.
• Mary gave it to them.

Teach by “meaning” category

While you could in theory teach prepositions in alphabetical order, it is generally more helpful to teach them in categories based on meaning, for example:

• prepositions of place — in the box, behind you, over my head
• prepositions of time — on Monday, in 1948, during the day, at night
• prepositions of movement — past the door, through the fence, across the road

By limiting a lesson to prepositions of space, for example, learners can compare, contrast and comprehend the meanings directly (on/under, inside/outside). This works better than trying to teach the various meanings of individual prepositions (on the table, on Monday, on purpose, on time).

Say farewell to the “end of a sentence” myth

Some people claim that a preposition must always come before its object. Although a preposition usually precedes its object, it can sometimes come after its object. Take the very common “Where are you from?” and “I am from England.” The object of from is clearly Where and England. While one could theoretically say “From where are you?”, no-one actually does say that. Normal English usage is “Where are you from?”

There are four main cases where a preposition may naturally fall at the end of a sentence or clause:

• who, where, what questions — What are you interested in?
• relative clause — the plan (that) they are working on
• infinitive — Do you have someone to go with?
• passive — She hates being stared at.

The name “preposition” indicates that prepositions come before something:

• I put it in the box.

But even when a preposition does not come before its object, it is still closely linked to its object:

• Who(m) did you talk to?
• I talked to Jane.

Many prepositions can also be adverbs

It may help your more grammar-oriented students to recognize the difference between a preposition and an adverb. A preposition always has an object. An adverb does not have an object.

• They are in the kitchen. (preposition in has object the kitchen)
  Please come in. (adverb in has no object)
• There was a doorway before me.  (preposition before has object me)
  I had never seen it before. (adverb before has no object)
• I will call after work. (preposition after has object work)
  He called soon after. (adverb after has no object)

Good news. Prepositions are limited in number

Although prepositions may seem difficult to learn, the task is not insurmountable. There are only 150 prepositions and only about 70 of these are commonly used. What’s more, all single-word prepositions are “closed-class”, meaning they are unlikely to be added to. 

The infinitive particle “to” (to sing, to live) often befuddles English learners who may confuse it for the preposition “to” (to London, to me).

to as preposition

• I look forward to lunch
  I look forward to seeing you
  I look forward to see you
• They are committed to the project.
  They are committed to keeping the price down.
  They are committed to keep the price down.
• I am used to cars.
  I am used to driving.
  I am used to drive.

to as infinitive particle

• They used to live in Moscow.
• They love to sing.

Use simple illustrations

Help students understand prepositions of place and movement with simple illustrations.

Where appropriate, try to find contrasting pairs to make the meaning clearer.

Illustrations from English Prepositions List

Use preposition activities

Try to use fun activities in teaching your students and checking their understanding. You can find many preposition games and quizzes that can be used online or offline. The ebook English Prepositions List includes printable preposition quiz sheets (with answers) ideal for classroom use.

Be aware of first-language interference

Be aware that some languages may use a preposition where English does not. So, depending on a student’s first language, you may hear for example:

• Will you marry with me? (marry me)
• He entered to the room. (entered the room)
• I hate from that. (hate that)
• They discussed about the problem. (discussed the problem)
• I have paid for the bill. (paid the bill)

Or, conversely, some languages use no preposition where English requires one:

• She reminds me my childhood. (of my childhood)
• He is waiting the bus. (for the bus)
• She likes to listen music. (to music)

Explain the preposition rule

There is one very simple rule about prepositions. And, unlike most rules, this rule has no exceptions.**

Rule: A preposition is always followed by a “noun”. It is never followed by a verb. By “noun” we include:

• noun (dog, table, love) – This is food for dogs.
• proper noun (Bangkok, Mary) – I went to Bangkok.
• pronoun (you, him, us) – She spoke to him.
• noun group (my first job) – I was poor before my first job.
• gerund (swimming) – She is passionate about swimming.

A preposition cannot be followed by a verb. If we want to follow a preposition by a verb, we must use the “-ing” form which is really a gerund or verb in noun form.

**You didn’t really believe that, did you? Actually, it’s more accurate to say “A preposition is always related to a noun. ” Normally the “noun” comes after the preposition, but occasionally it may come before it (What country do you come from?). But before or after, it is always a “noun”. And “always followed by a noun” is useful at lower levels.

Try this mini preposition quiz

The rule says “a preposition is always followed by a noun”. In the following sentences, why is the preposition “to” followed by a verb? That should be impossible, according to the rule above.

1. I would like to go now.
2. She used to smoke.

The answer is that in “I would like to go now” and “She used to smoke”, the word “to” is not a preposition. It is part of the infinitive (“to go”, “to smoke”). In 1 it is fairly obvious. In constructions like “used to do” it is less obvious.

Give contextual examples

When giving examples, and where possible, try to show prepositions in context by writing full sentences. This makes it far easier for your students to understand or deduce the meaning.

Have students use prepositions in sentences of their own

You can also test understanding by getting your students to use specific prepositions in their own original sentences. Only in this way can you know if they have fully grasped both the concept of prepositions in general and the meaning of particular prepositions.

Illustrations from English Prepositions List

See also:

How to Teach Prepositions of Position to Young Learners

How To Teach Prepositions Easily And Effectively

Prepositions in the English language form an extremely important word class because of their frequent use. In fact, some prepositions, such as from, to, of, and for, are in the list of 50 most frequently used English words.

When you’re teaching prepositions, it’s important to provide students with plenty of resources to help them visualize and understand the concept of prepositions.

In this guide, we’ll explain how to teach prepositions step by step and discuss some important key points that you should keep in mind while teaching prepositions. We’ll also provide some fun preposition activities and resources that you can use in class to teach prepositions.

How To Teach Prepositions: Step-By-Step

Follow these step-by-step instructions to teach prepositions to students easily and effectively. And don’t forget to check the bottom of the page for related resources for teaching prepositions.

Step 1: Introduce Prepositions

The first step is to teaching prepositions is to provide an easy definition of prepositions and explain how they are used in English. Here is an easy definition of prepositions you can use:

Definition: A preposition is a word (or a combination of words) that you typically use in a sentence before a noun or pronoun to show place, time, direction, or spatial relationship.

Of course, just providing a definition is not enough to help students understand prepositions. So, after providing the definition, you should explain prepositions in more detail and provide lots of examples.

Step 2: Give Examples of Prepositions

After explaining what prepositions are and what function they serve, the next step is to give lots of examples. Most ESL curriculums teach prepositions of place first as these are the easiest to understand for English language learners. Start with showing students some examples of prepositions of place, and when students are ready, move on to the other types of prepositions.

Prepositions of Place Example Sentences

Here are some example sentences using the prepositions of place on, in, under, in front of, behind, next to, and between.

• The eraser is on the desk.
• Let’s meet in the restaurant.
• There is a spider under the bench.
• The car in front of my car is expensive.
• Sarah is hiding behind the tree.
• The bookstore is next to the restaurant.
• Chris is sitting between Kelly and Sam.

Prepositions of Time Example Sentences

Here are some example sentences using the prepositions of time on, at, and in.

• George works in the evening.
• He was born in 1991.
• They go for a walk at night.
• I only work on Mondays.
• Let’s meet at 11 am on Tuesday.

Prepositions of Direction Example Sentences

Here are some example sentences using prepositions of direction:

• Ana drove to the hospital.
• Go into that room over there.
• The dog jumped onto the sofa.
• The Han River runs through Seoul.

Of course, there are more types of prepositions, but teaching students prepositions of place, time, and direction first is best so that students are not overwhelmed. Once you have shown students many examples and they are beginning to grasp the concept, it’s time for students to practice with some fun preposition games and activities.

Step 3: Practice Prepositions With Fun Games And Activities

Once you have explained the basics of prepositions to your students, you’ll need to make sure that they practice a lot so that they can retain the information and use prepositions easily. Here are some games and activity ideas you can use when teaching prepositions:

Prepositions Memory Game

Prepositions Memory Game

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This fun prepositions game is great for practicing prepositions of place. Students will see a picture for 5 seconds and must remember where the objects are. Then, students will be asked to choose the correct sentence that describes the location of the object.

Hands-on Practice

This activity is probably the most common way to teach prepositions of place in class. Ask all students to take out one of their notebooks and a pencil and start giving them directions like the following:

• Place the pencil on top of the notebook.
• Grab the pencil and place it inside the notebook.
• Now remove the pencil and place it beneath the notebook.
• Pick up the pencil again and place it in front of the notebook.

You can also use other prepositions, such as around, below, above, next to, and under, for this drill. This simple activity helps students to visualize and understand the concept of prepositions better.

After that, you can grab a pencil and notebook (or any other classroom object) and perform an action in front of the class, such as placing the pencil on top of the notebook. Then, ask any of the students to explain the action you performed using the correct preposition.

Preposition Passages

Another great way to help students practice prepositions is to write down a long passage on the board. Then you can start asking students to point out prepositions in the passage. Here is an example passage you can use:

I keep my study room well-organized and tidy. It has white walls and a dark brown rug on the floor. I have placed a single bed beside the room’s entrance. It has a beige-colored bed sheet and a light brown fluffy pillow. I study on the wooden desk that’s placed beside the window. There’s a water dispenser on the right side and a wooden bookshelf on the left side of the desk.

As you can see, this paragraph contains many prepositions. You can ask the following question to draw the students’ attention to prepositions in the passage:

• Where is the dark brown rug placed in the room?
• Where is the study desk in the room?
• Where is the bed located?
• What’s placed on the bed?

Prepositions Of Time Quiz

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This fun quiz is a great way to review prepositions of time. Students are asked to choose at, on, or in, to complete the sentence.

The Picture Activity

You can also use different pictures to help students practice prepositions better. You can download a picture of a garden or a room from the internet and show them to your class.

Then, ask students to write sentences in their notebooks about the objects they can see in the picture. After that, check their sentences to find out if they have used correct prepositions or not.

Step 4: Review With Preposition Worksheets

To help students review what they have learned, provide them with plenty of preposition worksheets. To get started, you can download free prepositions of place worsheets here and free prepositions of time worksheets here.

Related Resources

Thanks for reading! We hope you found this guide useful. Before you go, don’t forget to check out these related resources for teaching prepositions:

Why Are Prepositions So Difficult To Learn?
Prepositions Of Time Exercises
Prepositions Of Place Exercises
Prepositions Of Time Lesson Plan
Prepositions Of Place Lesson Plan

How to learn English prepositions | OK English

English prepositions are probably one of the most difficult topics in learning this language. There are a lot of prepositions in English, about 200. Yes, not all of them are used, but you will have to deal with hundreds of prepositions. The matter is complicated by the fact that English and Russian prepositions do not converge. One English preposition, even if it intersects with some Russian prepositions in terms of meanings, can have a number of other uses. For example, it appears depending on the word with which it is associated. nine0003

Cases

So are there cases in English or not? Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, in English, unlike Russian, there are no cases and endings. Therefore, the order of words in a sentence and prepositions are responsible for the relationship of all members of the sentence.

Formally, nevertheless, in English 2 cases are distinguished - nominative and object . Nominative - everything is clear here - who? or what? The word (subject) in the nominative case does not require any prepositions. All other cases that you and I learned at school (let me remind you, who forgot - genitive, dative, accusative, instrumental, prepositional, and in Ukrainian also "call") are replaced by one English case - object. nine0003

In the video tutorial on the OK English channel, the author tries to draw an analogy between some English prepositions and Russian cases.

How to understand cases and prepositions?

Let's replace the word "case" with "connection". How are connections between words transmitted? For example, “went to store”, “bought a bun from ”, etc. This is how we are used to in Russian. English will have its own cases and its own prepositions. nine0003

In order to understand English prepositions, you need to look at them in action, that is, in context. Here are some tips on what you can do right now to get started with English prepositions:

1. Learn prepositions in sentences or at least in phrases. Do not teach without context, in a list. Do not try to teach them on the principle: "this English preposition corresponds to this Russian." so just get yourself into a trap.

2. Start with the simplest prepositions. For this, prepositions indicating the direction, place, time are suitable. It is highly likely that some of the cases in English and Russian converge. It will be great if the prepositions are illustrated, for example, with a good picture. Often it is a well-chosen illustration that helps to remember the case when the necessary preposition is used. nine0003

3. Look for as many examples and cases as possible with the same preposition. Just don't ask me where to look. For two twenty-first century. In every smartphone with the Internet, consider, there is an online English dictionary, where not just a translation of a word is given, but, which is especially valuable for us, an example of a sentence. One of the best dictionaries in my opinion is the Cambridge Dictionary.

4. Don't try to learn all the prepositions at once! You can't and, as they say, you'll overstrain. Don't waste your time on rare prepositions. How do you know if something is rare? This is something that you almost never see in texts, audio and video materials. If you rarely see this or that preposition (for example, while), then leave it for later. Or forget it even exists. nine0003

5. Do more exercises to memorize prepositions. These are exercises like “insert one of the 5 prepositions into the gaps”, there are many such exercises in grammar books. Or on our website ok-tests.ru.

6. Don't try to learn everything at once. Get familiar with the basics. I remind you once again that it is impossible to learn English in three hours (but I tried). If you learn 20 prepositions well, it's much better than you get to know a hundred, but do not recall anything at all. nine0003

And now, go ahead, watch the lessons on English prepositions, where there are a lot of examples!

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Why do Russian-speaking students often get confused in English prepositions? Difficulties arise because in English, unlike the Russian language, there are practically no cases. And prepositions here perform a very important function: they logically connect the words in a sentence with each other. With their help, you can deftly give different meanings to one verb, form the correct cases, etc. nine0003

There are a lot of prepositions in English. But gradually you can learn everything. If you know the rules for using prepositions in English and understand which group a particular option belongs to, it will not be difficult to correctly use them in sentences.

A better understanding of the purpose of English prepositions is provided by illustrative examples of their use. We propose to consider 4 groups of these important service parts of speech and cases of their use.

1. Prepositions of place in English

In this category of prepositions, the prepositions at, in, on are the best known and most frequently used. They indicate the position of someone (something) in space and usually answer the question "where?".

Preposition	How to translate	How is it used/What does	Usage example
In	in, inside	someone (something) is inside something	Mark put his toys in a box. Mark put his toys in the box.
At	at, in, at	someone is inside something for a specific purpose	My younger sister is at school now. My little sister is at school now.
On	to	someone (something) is on the surface of something	Our cat is sleeping on the sofa now. Our cat is currently sleeping on the couch.
Under	under	someone (something) is under something	He hid under the bed. He hid under the bed.
Above	over	someone (something) is above something	There's a mirror above the sink. nine0101 A mirror hangs over the sink.
Between	between	someone (something) is between someone (something)	There is a break of ten minutes between classes. There is a ten minute break between classes.

2. Prepositions of direction in English

Prepositions of this category indicate the direction of movement.

Preposition	How to translate	How is it used/What does	Usage example
To	to, to, to	towards what (to whom) someone (something) is moving	Let's go to the disco tonight! Let's go to the disco tonight.
Into	to	someone (something) gets in, goes somewhere	They came into the restaurant. They entered the restaurant.
Out of	out of	someone (something) moves from the inside out	Get out of the classroom! Get out of class!
From	from, from, from, from	someone (something) is moving away from someone (something)	They came back from Egypt yesterday morning. nine0101 They returned from Egypt yesterday morning.
Through	through, through	someone (something) is moving from one side to the other	They decided to go through the mountains. They decided to go through the mountains.
Along	lengthwise, by	someone (something) is moving towards something
Across	through	someone (something) moves from one side of something to the other side	We are going to go across the road. We are going to cross the road.

3. Prepositions of time in English

From the name of this group of prepositions it becomes clear that they indicate the time when something is happening, has already happened or will happen in the future. nine0003

Preposition	How to translate	How is it used/What does	Usage example
In	in, through	with days, months, years, time of day, season, time intervals	Mike was born in June. Mike was born in June. We will go to the trip in a few weeks. nine0101 In a few weeks we will go on a trip.
At	to	with hours, weekends, holidays, specific moments of the day	Our English class begins at 5 o'clock. Our English lesson starts at 5 o'clock. They will come back at night. They will return at night.
On	to	We were at the Zoo on Monday. On Monday we were at the zoo. Her birthday is on the 5th of May. Her birthday is May 5th.
By	to	indicates the date by which action	I will prepare all the documents by noon. I will have all the documents ready by noon.
Before	before, before	indicates that something happens before a certain action/event	Call me before you leave. Call me before you leave.
After	after	indicates that something happened after a certain action/event	How do you feel after your first yoga class? nine0101 How do you feel after your first yoga class?
Till/until	to	indicates that something is happening up to a certain point	Give me your answer until Sunday please. Please give me an answer by Sunday.
Ago	back	shows how long ago something happened
During	during	Indicates that something is happening during a given finite amount of time, usually during some other event	You're not allowed to talk during the exam. You are not allowed to talk during the exam.
Since	since	indicates that something is happening/has been happening since a certain period of time	We have been friends since childhood. We have been friends since childhood.
For	within	indicates how long the situation/action took place	I was on a business trip for a few months. I was on a business trip for 3 months. nine0085

4. Prepositions of reason in English

These prepositions are needed to say why (for what) some action (event) happened.

Preposition	How to translate	How is it used/What does	Usage example
Of	due to, from, to	points to the reason why something happened	She died of a heart attack. She died of a heart attack.
For	for, for, for	indicates that something is happening because of something or for some purpose	What are the plans for your vacation? What are your vacation plans?
Because of	because of because	He was upset because of you. He was upset with you.
From	from, to	it can be used to tell why we think or believe something	From his behavior, I understood he was nervous. From his behavior, I understood that he was nervous.
Through	due to, thanks to	is used to say that something is happening because of something	She lost her final test through illness. She missed the last test due to illness.
Due to	due to, thanks to	is used to say that something happened because of something (usually with a negative connotation)	The match was canceled due to a bad weather. The match was canceled due to bad weather.
Thanks to	due to, thanks to	is used to say that something happened because of something (usually with a positive outcome)	I found the way thanks to your help. Learn more Free english rhyme for kids Scholastic guided reading levels chart Teaching young child Why is it important to follow instructions Alphabet treasure hunt Examples of first grade math Illusions for kids Free ar test at home Stories for babies in the womb pdf How many syllables in important Learn letters games