Mastering Prepositions: The Little Words That Make a Big Difference
If you’ve ever wondered why English sentences sometimes sound “off” even when all the big words are correct—the culprit is often a tiny one: the preposition.
Prepositions are those small but mighty words like in, on, at, under, over, and between that connect nouns and pronouns to the rest of a sentence. They show relationships of place, time, direction, movement, and even abstract ideas. Leave them out—or use the wrong one—and your meaning flips upside down.
👉 “The cat is on the table” vs. “The cat is under the table.”
Same cat. Totally different dinner experience.
Why Prepositions Matter
Think of prepositions as the GPS of language. They tell us:
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Where something is (in the room, on the table, at the station)
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When something happens (in the morning, on Sunday, at midnight)
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How something moves (into the box, out of the house, towards the goal)
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By what means something is done (by car, on foot, in my car)
Without them, we’d all be lost in a jumble of nouns and verbs.
A Quick Tour of Common Prepositions
1. Place Prepositions
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In → inside an enclosed space (I live in India.)
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On → touching a surface (The book is on the table.)
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At → a specific point (We met at the airport.)
2. Movement Prepositions
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Into → moving inside (She went into the kitchen.)
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Out of → moving away (The ball rolled out of the box.)
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Towards → in the direction of (He ran towards the bus.)
3. Time Prepositions
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In → months, years, seasons (in July, in 2025, in summer)
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On → days (on Monday, on my birthday)
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At → exact times (at 6 p.m., at midnight)
4. Transportation Prepositions
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By → general transport (by bus, by car)
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On → surface rides (on foot, on horseback)
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In → specific vehicles (in my car, in a taxi)
Fun Examples to Remember
Champion the dog sat in the car.
Petty the mouse hid under the chair.
Satan the serpent slid behind the sofa.
Silky the squirrel scurried up the tree.
One small word—total change of scene!
📝 Fill-in-the-Blank Questions
1. (Place – In/On/At)
My sister is ___ home while my brother is ___ the park.
Answer: at, in
2. (Time – In/On/At)
We always celebrate Diwali ___ October, but this year it falls ___ Monday.
Answer: in, on
3. (Movement – Into/Out of/Towards)
The children ran ___ the playground and then quickly came ___ the classroom.
Answer: into, out of
4. (Comparison – Above/Below/Under/Over)
The birds were flying ___ the trees while the cow rested ___ the tree.
Answer: over, under
5. (Transportation – By/On/In)
She prefers to travel ___ car, but sometimes she goes to office ___ foot.
Answer: by, on
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