📖 Introduction

Look around the room you are in right now. Your chair may be beside a table, your bag might be under a desk, and a clock could be hanging on the wall.

The words beside, under and on help us describe the position or relationship of one thing to another. These words are called prepositions.

Prepositions help us explain where, when and how things are connected. They are small words, but they play a very important role in making sentences complete and easy to understand.

🎯 What You’ll Learn

By the end of this lesson, you should be able to:

  • explain what a preposition is.
  • identify different types of prepositions.
  • use prepositions correctly to describe place, time and direction.
  • avoid common mistakes when using prepositions.

💡 Let’s Explore

What Is a Preposition?

A preposition is a word that shows the relationship between a noun (or pronoun) and another word in a sentence.

Prepositions often tell us:

  • where something is,
  • when something happens,
  • or how one thing relates to another.

Types of Prepositions

1. Prepositions of Place

These tell where something is.

Examples

  • in
  • on
  • under
  • beside
  • between
  • behind
  • in front of
  • above
  • below
  • near

Sentences

  • The cat is under the table.
  • The picture hangs on the wall.
  • The library is near the school.

2. Prepositions of Time

These tell when something happens.

Examples

  • at
  • on
  • in
  • before
  • after
  • during
  • since
  • until

Sentences

  • The meeting begins at 9:00 a.m.
  • We celebrate the festival in December.
  • Our class starts on Monday.

3. Prepositions of Direction or Movement

These show where someone or something is moving.

Examples

  • to
  • into
  • through
  • across
  • towards
  • along
  • around
  • from

Sentences

  • The children walked across the bridge.
  • Ava ran into the classroom.
  • The birds flew towards the lake.

Common Prepositions

Place Time Direction
in at to
on on into
under in across
beside before through
behind after towards
between during along

🌟 Example

Read the paragraph.

On Saturday morning, Noah walked to the park with his sister. They sat under a large tree and watched birds flying across the sky. After lunch, they returned home before sunset.

Prepositions

  • On — time
  • to — direction
  • with — relationship
  • under — place
  • across — direction
  • After — time
  • before — time

Each preposition helps explain when, where or how the events happened.

🌍 Real-Life Example

During a geography field trip, the guide asked the learners to observe their surroundings.

They walked through a forest, crossed over a small bridge and stopped beside a river to record their observations. After the activity, they returned to school and discussed what they had learned.

The prepositions clearly describe the learners’ movement, location and time.

💡 Tips for Using Prepositions

✔ Use in, on and at correctly when talking about time and place.

✔ Read the whole sentence to decide which preposition makes sense.

✔ Remember that different verbs are often followed by different prepositions.

✔ Practise using prepositions in everyday conversations.

✔ Check that the preposition clearly shows the relationship between words.

✨ Quick Tips

📍 A preposition shows the relationship between words.

🏫 Prepositions can describe place, time and direction.

📝 Common prepositions include in, on, at, under, between and through.

🌟 Using the correct prepositions makes your sentences clearer and more accurate.

🎯 Let’s Practise!

A. Choose the Correct Answer

1. Which preposition best completes the sentence?

“The keys are ________ the table.”

A. under

B. quickly

C. happy

D. singing

2. Which sentence contains a preposition of time?

A. The children played behind the school.

B. We will meet at 10:00 a.m.

C. The bird flew across the river.

D. Liam sat beside his friend.

3. Which preposition best completes the sentence?

“The hikers walked ________ the tunnel.”

A. through

B. yesterday

C. cheerful

D. quietly

B. True or False

4. A preposition shows the relationship between words in a sentence.

5. The word under is a preposition of time.

C. Short Answer

6. What is a preposition?

7. Identify the prepositions in these sentences.

a. The bicycle is behind the garage.

b. We travelled to the museum on Friday.

8. Complete each sentence with a suitable preposition.

a. The children gathered ________ the playground before assembly.

b. The airplane flew ________ the clouds.

c. We stayed indoors ________ the heavy rain.

Answers: 1 A 2 B 3 A 4 True 5 False

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